One of Covington's favorite people was Rick Webb, station manager at WARB radio station, located on U.S. 190 just west of the city. He was quite active in the community, serving as emcee for the St. Tammany Parish Fair Baby Contests and Beauty Pageants each year.
For the last several years he was a mainstay at the Covington Farmers Market selling his jams and jellies (shown above). He died in 2014 at the age of 92 and is sadly missed by all those who enjoyed his years in local broadcasting.
He was born in Ponchatoula in 1922, the son of Burton Scarborough and Julia Mixon Webb. Leaving home at age 16, he joined the Civil Conservation Corps working in Oregon and Washington, aiming for a career in radio broadcasting by studying at Gallops Island, Boston, Massachusetts, for the Merchant Marines to earn his Radio Telegraph license.
He gained wartime Veterans Status as a shipboard radio operator on Sun Oil Company tanker ships in the western Atlantic and the Southern Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico.
It was on one of his trips home that he met and married Barbara "Buzzy" Deak. After the war, he flew with Pan American Airlines in the Caribbean and Central and South America as a radio operator.
His broadcast career of 40 years began first at WIHL in Hammond and then WARB in Covington. After retirement, he and Buzzy made a new career selling homemade jams and jellies featuring Mayhaws, growing most of the fruits on his farm south of Robert and selling at the Covington Farmers' Market. Throughout his life he enjoyed farming, raising cattle and horses, Ham radio, travelling, hunting and fishing.
His obituary is at this link.
In 1984, the St. Tammany Parish Fair was dedicated to Rick Webb
Pat Clanton, with the Covington Chamber of Commerce; Rick Webb, WARB Radio; Mayor Ernest J. Cooper, and student Cindy Labourdette at Keep Covington Clean parade in 1967.
Pat Clanton, with the Covington Chamber of Commerce; Rick Webb, WARB Radio; Mayor Ernest J. Cooper, and student Cindy Labourdette at Keep Covington Clean parade in 1967.
Giving Mayor Cooper the "Golden Broom."
Discover St. Tammany Tour: Donis Jenkins, Ralph Privette, Covington Mayor Ernest Cooper and Rick Webb of WARB, who was broadcasting progress of the day-long event.
Rick Webb
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