Don Sidney's real name was Donald (Sidney) Steinberg.
From WBAY's archives (date unknown):
DON SIDNEY - WBAY-TV NEWS
It's a long way from a G.I. entertainment show touring the Korean battlefront to becoming "Mr. TV News" in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but it's just par for the course for Don Sidney, an energetic young man. Don, a Chicago native, majored in speech and English at the University of Illinois, and graduated from Chicago's Columbia College with a major in TV and radio broadcasting.
His first broadcasting job was at WOMT in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 957, and later that same year he became WBAY radio's nighttime DJ. In 1958, he joined WBAY-TV as a staff announcer, a position which led to his becoming B-A-Y Land's top TV newscaster.
From WBAY's archives, 1958:
Don Sidney
WBAY-TV Staff Announcer
Even though Don Sidney is a comparative newcomer to the Green Bay television scene, he has garnered a vast host of friends through his personable on-the-air work combining a workman-like selling flair with an inborn knack for showmanship.
Yes, Don is a "new face" on the Channel 2 screens, but WBAY Radio fans have heard that familiar voice interspersed with top tunes of the day since November of 1957 when "Symphony Sid" first made with the music as night-time tune-smith on the 1360 spot on the dial. The ground-work for his professional air work was laid in Manitowoc at WOMT, and the foundation dug at Columbia College in Chicago where Don majored in radio and television broadcasting.
It was only natural that a Chicago school was chosen by Don because the Windy City is his home town... and that of his wife, Rita. But there were many years when there were many miles separating Don from the State Street breezes. Some of these years were spent at the University of Illinois, and there was a two year hitch in Uncle Sam's marching army where Don learned much about Korean-type living. During this "command performance" period, Don appeared in many G.I. entertainment units and was master of ceremonies for a 30-day engagement with a show that toured most of Korea. This was the brighter part of the picture. On the other side of the scene was a military policeman's uniform and the duty that goes with it.
With service obligations out of the way, he returned to the "big city on the shores of Lake Michigan" entering the off-set printing business as lithographer. But a printing press didn't hold as much fascination for Don as "hot pressed platters" and that's when Columbia College beckoned and a career was started with his first assignment in professional radio at the completion of this broadcasting course.
His Manitowoc mission was the first venture into Wisconsin for Don and his wife, and now that they're living in the great Green Bay country, he's taking advantage of the golfing and fishing possibilities in the area "and could really become a regular fairway fanatic and fishing fan" as he put it.
Don Sidney and his wife love to travel and are exploring the country-side surrounding Green Bay, hoping to get to know 'BAY-land a bit better. They were married in 1951, have no children and both take an active interest in civic projects and activities.
Don works hard at doing a good job and if people like him as much as he likes people, Don Sidney will certainly succeed in his chosen feeld of television which started just recently at WBAY-TV.
