Barbara Davitt Reduces Daily Schedule, Not Retiring

Press release

Barbara Davitt reduces daily schedule, not retiring

WATERBURY – Veteran WATR radio personality Barbara Davitt this morning announced she is trimming a large portion of her daily work schedule but is not fully retiring.

Davitt said her long-running “Coffee Break” program beginning April 2 will continue as a segment at 9 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays on “Mornings with Chris & Allison,” hosted by Christopher Fortier and Allison Demers. She also will remain a senior sales executive at the station, maintaining her office and continuing to work with many of her leading clients.

“The time has come to not worry so much about the alarm clock anymore,” Davitt said. “Celebrating two pretty big milestones last year gave me pause and motivated me to think about what I want and don’t want out of a daily routine. Having the opportunity to make my own schedule is a compromise that works for everyone.”

Fortier, who also serves as WATR’s director of operations and programming, agreed. “It was certainly inevitable that she would be ready at some point to call it a career, but we are all very happy she will still be around. This is the house that Barbara built. It wouldn’t be the same without her.”

“Coffee Break” debuted in the late 1960s and is one of the longest-running radio programs in the country.

Davitt, of Prospect, has been an institution in the greater Waterbury area for decades, active in numerous organizations including the Waterbury Lions Club and the Greater Waterbury Campership Fund.

In November, she marked her 60th anniversary at WATR. (pictured above) The station celebrated with a three-hour on-air tribute hosted by Fortier and featuring dozens of guests, including Naugatuck Patch Mayor Nancy Sasso Janis. The fete aired just weeks before her 90th birthday.

Davitt in 2018 was the first Waterbury-area radio personality inducted into the Connecticut Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.