summer

Did You Know This About Summer?

Did you know young sunflowers move with the sun and follow it during the day to get as much sunlight as they can so they can grow big and strong? That’s so cool!

For Who Knew Wednesday today, we went over some super fun facts about summer as the season kicks off with the Summer Solstice on Friday, June 20th!

The Summer Solstice is when the Earth is tilted closest to the sun, making it the longest day of the year! To celebrate this day, you can watch the beautiful sunrise or sunset on Friday, and if the sky is clear, you can stargaze at the beautiful stars. If you look closely, you might be able to spot some planets up there in the sky as well, like Venus and Mars!

– Image Credit: Redbubble

Do you like to eat popsicles on a hot summer day? Did you know popsicles were created by accident? That’s right! In 1905, a man named Frank Epperson accidentally left a mixing stick in water and a soda mixture outside in the cold night, and came back to it, and it had become a frozen and delicious treat! He called it the ‘Epsicle’, which would be renamed later to the ‘popsicle’ after his kids came up with the name! It’s so cool to see what God can use out of a happy accident like that!

We played Who Am I? today! This is where you get five biographical facts about a famous person born today, and you try to guess who it is! Here were the facts:

I was born today in a small town in Oklahoma and wrote my first song when I was just 15 years old.
I’ve won 10 CMA awards, 6 ACM awards, and I’ve had over 25 No. 1 country hits.
I was a longtime coach on NBC’s The Voice, where I led multiple contestants to win the competition!
I’m married to the pop star Gwen Stefani, who was also a coach on NBC’s The Voice, and we released a few songs together.
I became a Grand Ole Opry member in 2010!

I am… Blake Shelton.

Congratulations to Brandon from Danville for guessing me correctly! He won that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for Name That Tune!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

June 18, 2025 0

A Sunny Who Knew Wednesday!

Good afternoon! It was a hot one today, but we spent Who Knew Wednesday today talking about the benefits of sunscreen! Check out these sunscreen facts!

Apply sunscreen before you play, reapply every two hours or at the ninth hole. Don’t forget to apply on exposed scalp, the backs of hands, neck and ears.
Try to tee off at sunrise or late in the afternoon to avoid the sun when it’s most intense (10 am – 4 pm).
Between shots find some shade under a tree or in your cart.
Use a wide-brim hat to help shade your ears, face and neck. If temperatures allow, wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants.
Look for wraparound sunglasses that block UV radiation to protect eyes, eyelids and the surrounding area.
Treat overcast days like sunny ones, as up to 80 percent of UV rays can penetrate cloud cover.
It doesn’t matter if you are casting off the shore or in a boat, the same protections recommended for golfers work for anglers. Several studies have shown fishermen are at a high risk for skin disorders.
Try to find a shady area to cast from.
Sun reflecting off the water can burn you in areas you may not normally consider, like the backs of knees or under the chin.
The World Health Organization warns that every 3,200 ft. of elevation increases the intensity of UV rays by as much as 10 percent.

And I think we’ve all heard the term ‘SPF’, but do we all know what it means and how the SPF on a sunscreen really works? Read below to find out!

Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.

You might be asking yourself what kind of sunscreen you should be using… well…
The answer depends on how much sun exposure you’re anticipating. In all cases we recommend a broad-spectrum sunscreen offering protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Read more about the type of sunscreen you should be using here!

Our word of the day today was aptly… Ultraviolet!
adj || [uhl-truh–vahy–uh-lit]
This means beyond the violet in the spectrum, corresponding to light havingwavelengths shorter than 4000 angstrom units. Or pertaining to, producing, or utilizing light having such wavelengths.

Thanks for listening!

-Lilly

June 14, 2017 0

Who knew there were so many concerts and musical festivals this summer?!

For this week’s Who Knew Wednesday, we gave you all the information on the different summer concerts and festivals featuring some of your favorite artists.

The first festival we talked about was the 28th annual Alive Festival, which will take place June 17th – 20th at Atwood Lake Park in Mineral City, Ohio. There are going to be over 70 different artists and speakers, including TobyMac, Skillet, Lecrae, Jeremy Camp, NEEDTOBREATHE, Tenth Avenue North, For King & Country, Meredith Andrews, Colton Dixon, and MANY others! You can see the complete lineup, ticket information, and everything else you need to know about the Alive Festival here!

We also talked about the Creation Festival Northeast. This festival is June 24th – 27th at the Agape Farm in Mt. Union, Pennsylvania- perfect for a fun, mini-road trip! This festival also has an incredible lineup, with headliners TobyMac, Switchfoot, Skillet, and Lecrae! There will also be performances from Colton Dixon, Blanca, Natalie Grant, Matthew West, and many more of your favorite artists. For all the details on that festival, click here!

Another festival that starts just one day later than Creation Northeast is SpiritSong, which combines two awesome things – concerts and roller coasters! This festival takes place June 25th – 27th at Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason and, like the previously mentioned festivals, has an AWESOME lineup! You can catch Newsboys, Kari Jobe, For King & Country, Skillet, Jeremy Camp, Colton Dixon, Sidewalk Prophets, Tenth Avenue North, Love & the Outcome, and more! For the complete SpiritSong schedule and information on tickets, click here!

And the last festival we talked about is Creation Ichthus, which will take place July 8th – 11th in Lexington, Kentucky. At this festival, you’ll be able to see performances from Newsboys, Matthew West, Relient K, Natalie Grant, Colton Dixon, 7eventh Time Down, Rhett Walker Band, and many others. For more information on Ichthus, head over here!

If you don’t want to attend an entire festival, but still want to catch some live music this summer, we highlighted a couple concerts you can see.

If you’re a fan of Rend Collective, they’ll be at Grove City United Methodist Church on Sunday, June 28th. You can check out all the information on that concert here.

You can also check out Christ Tomlin at the Ohio State Fair on Monday, August 3rd. The concert starts at 7pm and you can get all the information on that over here!

And, even though it isn’t happening until September 26th, we gave some information on SonFest 2015! The first three artists who have been announced are Colton Dixon, Leeland, and I Am They. More artists will be added to the lineup soon, and we’ll tell you as soon as they’re announced. Tickets will go on sale soon and you can head over here to find out how to get those and for all the other information on SonFest 2015.

Our word of the day was Yooper, which is a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (I like to imagine there’s a superhero who lives on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who is named that Super Yooper)

Joe was also excited about his Soda Pop Shoppe Jelly Belly jelly beans. We tried all the different flavors – Orange and Grape Crush, A&W Root Beer and Cream Soda, 7-Up, and Dr. Pepper. If you could create any flavor of jelly bean, what would it be?

Have a great evening and thanks for listening!

-Jess

Driving Notes

The Official Blog of WNZR's Afternoon Drive

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Did You Know This About Summer?

A Sunny Who Knew Wednesday!

Summer Concert Mania!