Define the Publicphone a simple radio is an understatement. It was the unforgettable "voice" of the Romagna summers. Always. His 150 speakers they spread the news and the hits of the moment about 15 km away beach in a Riviera colonized from summer to summer by millions of Italian and foreign bathers. And not only. She had an almost maternal task, a task of public usefulness. When a child got lost on the beach - and it happened and continues to happen an incalculable number of times - Publiphono transmitted her calm messages: "A child has been lost, he wears a red swimsuit ". And he repeated it, he repeated it. With her soft and reassuring voice, the voice of a mother that we know is there, and the simple fact that she is there puts us at ease.
From 1974 to September 2019, Publiphono 'hunted down' and brought something like 130.000 lost children, thanks also to the coordinated intervention of the "Angels of the beach". But of course his speakers also ran more. Advice, for example, or advertisements targeted. Some useful to divert foreign tourists to dine in trattorias made in Romagna, in dance halls, or wherever it could serve to keep the roaring economy of the Riviera rosy. And also announcements of events, shows on the beach and on the hills, a little bit of everything, even the "last hours", a summary of the day tailored for bathers.
With the arrival of each summer the Publiphono loudspeakers were mounted along the poles of the lifeguard cabins. 150 stairs, 150 electrical connections. Until today. Why in this one summer 2020given the lack of advertising revenue due to the lockdown, its microphones will remain off for the first time. The decision was announced in recent days by the president Hugh De Donato, son of one of the historical founders of the service. In fact, Publiphono was born from the collaboration of three minds creative: that of the sergeant Renato De Donato, That of Glaucous Cosmos and that - no less - of the then 21 year old Sergio Zavoli. It was the 1944. When Publiphono started broadcasting in 1947, there were only ten loudspeakers.
With the arrival of the magnificent '70s, Publiphono became a real "free radio"And his microphones alternated with historical djs of the Riviera: Gilberto Gattei above all, a myth of those colorful days. But even then Publiphono was the hen: the loss service it started at 8 in the morning and lasted until 19, and in exceptional cases lasted well beyond 20.
One of the historical voices that for decades announced the discovery of lost children is certainly that of Liliana. Affectionately remembered by all residents as "the mother of the Romagna Riviera”, He witnessed all the findings and still keeps them by heart today, all of them with emotion.
President Ugo De Donato was keen to clarify that this summer is not necessarily a definitive closure. Quite one suspension of the service and programs. From the summer of 2021, it is hoped that the megaphones will be turned on again and return to tourists and residents that unforgettable touch of Romagna that its frequencies scattered among the cries of children, cocchibelli, and the smell of tanning cream.
