John Vogt

John Vogt is the son of Regis and Dorothy Vogt of Emporium, Pennsylvania. Both his Dad and Mom have gone home to be with the Lord along with his brother, James Leo Vogt. John’s sister, Cathy, lives in Coudersport with her husband, Dean Dow.

John is the husband of Sara and the dad of Johanna and Julianna. John and Sara married on August 21, 1971. They have an older son, Regis, daughter-in-love, Lydia, and two incredible grandchildren, Tucker and Gabe, who live in the Washington, DC area.

John currently serves the people of Tioga County, Pennsylvania as owner and President of Vogt Media / The Home Page Network. He grew up in Northfield, Ilinois just outside Chicago. Between his sophomore and junior year of high school, John’s dad had semi-retired and moved the family back to his hometown of Emporium, Pennsylvania. John became a Cameron County Red Raider and participated in football and track.

After graduating in the class of ’68, John attended Career Academy of Broadcasting in Washington, DC. He landed his first radio job in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania working for WNBT/WGCR. That’s literally where he met his wife, Sara, when she and her girlfriends came up to the station one evening looking for a disc recorded by the 2+2s. At that time WNBT-AM and WGCR-FM were located overtop of Garrisons Men’s Shop on Main Street. Lou Garrison was John’s first landlord after John moved out of the Park View Hotel where he stayed during his first year in Wellsboro.

Next, it was off to Corning, NY, and WCBA where John was employed as a staff announcer. Eventually, John left WCBA and opened up an advertising agency with his business partner, Dan Romaneo. John met Dan as a musician back in the day. Dan, who is now the current owner of The Log Cabin Restaurant on Rt 6 just outside of Wellsboro, was the leader and lead singer of the band “Them Five and Eye.” John was their drummer.

After Hurricane Agnus wiped out the advertising business in Corning, John and Sara relocated to the Washington, DC area where John played drums for the Nancy Crawford Band and the recording group, Rain. He became the assistant night auditor for Howard Johnson’s in Crystal City, Virginia. Over the years, John sold insurance, carpet, advertising, cars, and money. He became the Business Manager of a large and respected Auto Dealership in the Washington, DC Metro area. But, John says that the most important job he has ever held was a janitor position at Christian Assembly in Vienna, Virginia under Pastors Derrell Emmerson and Dan Duis. That’s where John and Sara opened their hearts to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour on July 10, 1977. That’s where God prepared John’s heart for the next 40 years. That’s where he learned about sacrifice and humility – on his knees cleaning toilets. That’s where John learned to love and respect those who really do work for a living. And, that is where he learned to pray and trust God.

John spent the next 25 years of his life working for Seven Locks Broadcasting Company, Inc. serving the Nation’s Capital area. He has hosted over 8,000 broadcasts and conducted thousands of interviews. John has interviewed Congressmen, Senators, and Presidential Candidates as well as Authors, National Sports Figures and Recording Artists. John was responsible for writing and producing thousands of features while in the Nation’s Capital, including “Touchdown” with Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins. John was able to syndicate Coach Gibbs on 17 radio stations in the Northeast. During his time at Seven Locks, John worked for Jim McIlvaine and an outstanding board of directors who taught him how to conduct business to the glory of God. Jim and Mary McIlvaine still encourage John and Sara and support them in prayer to this day. The most important lessons that John learned from these incredible people was how to love others by looking beyond one’s self to the needs of others. John says, “they taught me how to love and serve – they taught me how to give.”

John launched “John Vogt Productions, LLC” / Vogt Media in November of 2007. Studios and offices are located in beautiful Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, home of the famous Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Wellsboro is a wonderful place to visit when you want to get out of the rat-race, relax a little, get the creative juices flowing and then get some real work done in Vogt Media’s creative offices or studios.

John came up with the idea for Home Page during his later years at Seven Locks Broadcasting. By that time John was part owner of the company and steered Seven Locks toward the internet. Seven Locks Broadcasting was one of the first companies in the United States to stream live content back in the 90s. The potential for this new media experience was mind-boggling. Vogt said, “In terrestrial broadcasting, you are spending money on transmitters and towers and all kinds of equipment trying to eke out every mile of coverage that the FCC will allow you to have. Now, with one simple click, we can watch something taking place on the other side of the world – or Mars or the moon for that matter. For my generation, it’s absolutely amazing – a gift from God. Now, what will we do with this gift?”

John attempted to get Wellsboro Home Page launched for several years, but with slow Tioga County internet service and clunky computers at the time, things just didn’t work. Then in 2012, after consulting with John and Nancy Dunham, John decided to go for it! Rather than go the investors’ route owing money to family and friends, they mortgaged their debt-free house and gave it a shot. John said, “We prayed for the right person to oversee video productions, and God sent Andrew Moore. Andrew is a loving, caring, God-fearing, humble genius behind the camera and in the editing suite.” John and Sara’s daughter, Johanna Vogt, along with Sarah Vickery, Joseph Carreon, Corrin Binford, Drew Patrick, Morgan Koziar, Victoria Pearson, and Lauren Gooch, were some of their early staff members.

On January 6, 2014, John and Sara launched Wellsboro Home Page. They were hoping for one thousand viewers in the first thirty days to help get them off to a good start. Wellsboro Home Page was slammed with over 13,000 views in just three weeks in a community of 3,400 and life has never been the same.

John continued to pray and ask the Lord for wisdom and quality key staff members to move the train forward. The Lord brought Ed Weaver as IT Manager and Sports Director. John says, “Ed’s the best! He built our last website and this website and did not shoot me in the process.” As Sports Director and Owner/Operator of Circle W Sports with whom Home Page partners, Ed is loved and respected by all. God blessed John and Sara again with Rhonda Pearson. Rhonda is The Home Page Network’s Operations Manager. She runs the show from top to bottom. She does the work of three full-time people. John and Sara thank God for her every day. Lauren Gooch continues to work with The Home Page Network as one of their senior staff members at a very young age. Lauren always does a remarkable job on the air, and behind the scenes, she helps direct the ship with her enthusiasm and creative ideas. John and Sara’s oldest daughter, Johanna, has become one of Home Page’s best Anchor/Correspondents. She plans on attempting a double major in Violin Performance and Broadcast Communications next year. And, John and Sara’s youngest daughter, Julianna, has begun to blossom on the anchor desk.

John, Sara, and the Home Page Staff have now opened three markets – Wellsboro Home Page, Mansfield Home Page, and Blossburg Home Page. They are excited to find out what the Lord will do next.

From John Vogt:

Over the years I have been challenged with autoimmune problems, ruptured discs in my lower back, double-lobe pneumonia, four broken ribs – all at once, and two broken vertebrae. I have faced heart failure, a failed heart operation, three rounds of cardiac ablation, tinnitus, hyperacusis, kidney failure, vertigo, torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders, financial stress, rejection by others and the fallout from my own sin and selfishness.

Through it all, I have learned to trust in Jesus Christ, the lover of my soul. The joy of the Lord has been my strength and is the reason I keep going. The Lord has never left me or forsaken me. He has never let me down and has always poured out His grace upon me and given me compassion for others. He has forgiven my sins, made me whole and blessed me with eternal life through Jesus. To God be the glory for the things He has done, is doing and is about to do. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love each other deeply from the heart. He is the one who makes your dreams come true. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him – put God first – and He will make a way for you. He will crown your efforts with success.