Keystone Record Collectors

Our Officers and Volunteers 2024

The Officers

John Hertzog, President

My history with music started real young. I can remember listening to AM radio in my dad’s pickup. We frequented garage sales in my youth and I would buy albums by bands I knew and anything that looked interesting.

I started to play the drums in elementary school and it just added gasoline to the conflagration that was burning inside me. In the early 1980’s I came across an ad in the Reading Times about a “Record” show in Columbia, Pa. put on by the Keystone Record Collectors. I had to check it out. I was even more hooked.

Leap forward many years and I realize that I have been very blessed by having a record shop for a few decades. You truly do not work a day if you enjoy what you do.

Dan Hoover, Vice President

I’ve been collecting records since I can remember. The first record I ever bought was the “Doctor Doolittle” soundtrack with Rex Harrison, the second was “Abbey Road,” a natural progression. Music was always on in our home: Mom was Elvis, Dad was Johnny Cash, Grandmom was Sam Cooke, brothers were The Beatles, Beach Boys, Roy Orbison to James Gang, Grand Funk and Foghat! AM radio was forever playing. These days my wife plays Rush and Zeppelin and for me it’s Jazz to Rock and Classical to Punk—I dig it all. Music is a constant—music is life. I’ve always been a record collector and I’ve lost a lot of records over the years, a lot! A number of years ago, I wanted to start building a collection again and a friend told me about the Pennsylvania Music Expo. My wife and I went to a show when it was at the Continental Inn. I was hooked. It’s a great show, the officers and others that run this show month to month are the best. The vendors and people that come here are superb. I hope to offer whatever I can in continuing to promote the KRC Show, whether through social media, our Instagram page, word of mouth or out in the wild digging.

Arlene Stewart, Secretary

Arlene is the second youngest of nine children. She grew up with her siblings listening to many different genres of music. One of her favorite memories is sitting on her front porch with her friends listening to her parents 78’s of Rockin Robin, Beep Beep and Splish Splash to name a few. Her siblings all being older introduced her to music of the 1970’s which she still has a love of.

Growing up in the 80’s she was introduced to the pop era, hair bands and power ballads. She loves and listens to all types of music. Arlene started coming to the Pennsylvania Music Expo with her husband Bob, who is a collector and has a pretty large collection. Once her husband became a vendor, Arlene would accompany him at the shows and began volunteering last year, helping with the hand stamps and taking photos when the regular photographer couldn’t make it. She has become very fond of the KRC family.

When she was approached about the secretary position Arlene was happy to pitch in to help. She is enjoying her new role as the Secretary of the KRC and working closely with the new Treasurer and the KRC family.

Gay Williams, Treasurer

Gay has been interested in music since her elementary school days when she rushed home from school to watch American Bandstand when it broadcast from her hometown of Philadelphia. She kept a list of all the records she wanted to collect, and since her Dad managed a club with a jukebox, most of those requests were fulfilled.

The family had an extensive collection of 78’s, 33’s and 45’s. Unfortunately, with a move to New Jersey, much of the collection was discarded. Years later Gay again became a collector of 33’s, and with a connection to Columbia Records, she was able to amass quite a collection. That collection accompanied Gay and husband Will to Lancaster in the 1970’s. The collection was so large, Will found it necessary to build a large shelving unit in their basement.

Once Will and Gay visited the Pennsylvania Music Expo when held in the Columbia Market, they were hooked. Will became a member, collector and dealer, and they have been involved in the KRC ever since. In some way or other, Gay has always been a part of the KRC family. At the Lancaster Catholic location, Will was a dealer and Gay ran the cafeteria as a courtesy to KRC. When the need for a new Treasurer arose in March 2018, Gay’s background in finance was a perfect match, and she stepped up to accept the position as our Treasurer. Gay also assumed the position of Interim Secretary during the transition for that position and continues to work closely with the new KRC Secretary.

The Volunteers

TBD Phone Reservationist and Show Coordinator coming soon

B. Derek Shaw, Newsletter & Communications

At the ripe old age of 8, our Communications and KEY-NOTES Editor bought his first 45’s: “She Loves You” by the Beatles and Ricky Nelson’s, “The Very Thought of You”. 20,000 45’s, 5,000 LP’s and 3,000 CD’s later, he is still collecting music. “If I like it, I keep it!” Derek attended his first KRC show in 1984 and has been hooked ever since. He was Treasurer and Vice President and later served as President from 1989-91. Derek took on the job of Newsletter, now KEY-NOTES Editor with Issue #55. He performs many other functions for the club, including serving as one of the Facebook administrators.

Derek has been involved in various aspects of broadcast communications from 1975 to 1994, first with his college radio station, WLFC and later with commercial outlets in Ohio as well as Clearfield, WCPA; Pittsburgh, WNUF; Reading, WRAW; Allentown, WAEB, Scranton, WEJL; Wilkes-Barre, WKRZ and WSBA in York, PA. He operates a side-line DJ entertainment business; is a free-lance writer for numerous music and amusement industry publications and serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Museum of Music and Broadcast History. Derek brings to the KRC his knowledge of music/radio history and affiliations with various related organizations that aide him in coordinating overall media relations for the Pennsylvania Music Expo.

Phil Schwartz, Special Products Coordinator

Phil started listening to records (one of his earliest memories), when growing up in the northern PA community of Towanda. After relocating to Lancaster, to attend Franklin & Marshall College, he began a career as a college DJ, and Music Director on WWFM (now WFNM), and was hired by Susquehanna Broadcasting to do weekends on WSBA-AM, York, in 1971. This evolved into a nearly full time job, hosting the 7 pm to midnight show on and off for several years. Other radio gigs included WATS, Sayre, PA, WELM, Elmira, NY, and WHEX, Columbia, PA.

Tom Grosh, Assistant Coordinator

Thomas R. Grosh got his start in music collecting in second grade when he found a 45 rpm single in the hallway. When the teacher allowed Tom to keep the record after no one claimed it, a lifelong appreciation for rock and roll music collecting began. Saving his allowance, Toms’ grandfather would be coerced to take him to the record store over a frequent occurrence for of many years.

While in high school and college, Tom learned how to play guitar and continued to purchase and develop his interest in music, playing in a few local bands. Grosh, a 1977 York College Business Management graduate, utilized this background for a career in retail (Doneckers Men’s Store) while also introducing him to multi-tasking: buying for the men’s store and buying, trading, and selling records in New York. Remember, this pre-dates price guides, e-bay and the Internet. Eventually, Tom would take duplicates of records to New York to sell and thus, Very English and Rolling Stone, Groshs’ business, was born. Soon afterwards, Tom learned of the record collectors’ show (which would evolve into the Keystone Record Collectors) in Columbia, PA, setting up at the very first show. Throughout the years, Grosh has earned his real estate license, owns and manages residential and commercial property and has held positions as KRC Treasurer, Vice-President and President. Retiring after 32 years in retail, he currently works with Special Projects within the club with a goal of increasing the public’s awareness about membership, what the club has to offer and attracting new members. Tom continues to be a strong proponent of the idea that the beauty of record collecting is that one is never done collecting!