When dialed in to WGY Radio, Mike Patrick’s voice is often one of the first heard by listeners each morning. A 45-year veteran of broadcasting, Patrick has been the station’s morning news anchor for the past 11 years.

“It always is [exciting],” Patrick said in between newsbreaks during a late February broadcast. “It’s the sense of surprise. I’ve had a 45 year hobby, a paid hobby, of doing this, and it’s part of my love of what I picked up as a kid.”

Along with Patrick, WGY’s morning team is made up of host Doug Goudie and producer Rachel Davis, whose almost constant juggling between the hosts and callers has her playing the role of traffic cop.

“It’s a little tricky, but I don’t know, you get used to it,” Davis says. “It’s a lot of multitasking.”

The trio is one part of a rich legacy at WGY, which became New York State’s first commercial radio station in 1922.

“Every once in a while, it is in the back of my mind that my grandfather used to listen to this station,” said Davis, who grew up in Rotterdam. “It’s really cool that I work here.”

WGY’s format has evolved from music and entertainment to the mostly news and talk heard today. For the past month, a big topic of conversation on and off air has been the station’s centennial anniversary in February.

“What they did with this radio station, there was no blueprint,” said Goudie, who arrived at the station about a year ago. “They didn’t know what they were doing and how they were going to do it; they just knew they were onto something.”

The historic milestone is more than just news at the station. On the day of the anniversary, the Museum of Innovation and Science’s Chris Hunter gave a presentation on WGY’s history, which featured photos and artifacts from the museum’s ongoing exhibit.

“The pictures bring back a lot of memories for people and they also show the creativity that this region has had for such a long time,” Hunter said.

“It is a blast from the past, and I think you don’t get a chance very often to see historical preservation like this,” Schenectady resident Susan Fedak said.

Fedak, one of about 60 people to attend the presentation, said her mother played music on the station as a teen in the 1940s.

“I remember all these names from my elementary school years when my mother was in the household having WGY on in the background,” Fedak said as she scanned the dozens of old photos on display. “We listened to all the Yankees games, too.”

The evening culminated with a re-creation of WGY’s first-ever broadcast, featuring music and a modernized retelling of a dramedy acted out by Patrick and the WGY Players.

One hundred years after WGY first hit the airwaves, Patrick says it’s a great honor for everyone still adding to the station’s legacy.

“When you say those three letters, that is history, that is legacy,” he said. “I am beyond proud to be working for this station.”