One of the best surfing beaches in Korea.

Surffy Beach on the northern section of Hajodae - One of the best surfing beaches in Korea. KOREANA magazine Summer 2023

Via ULR link below see YouTube-posted video ...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IR4Uu1T5TWk

Mark (UO), Smokey (Fire prevention) and Gary (OSU) from 2016

This Firewise poster was on display in the past including in 2016 at the Oregon State Fair in Salem. Of the three seen in the photo, only Smokey Bear continues in the same job today. Mark Helfrich (left) was University of Oregon head football coach, 2013-2016. Gary Andersen (right) was Oregon State University head football coach, 2015-2017. Thanks to Keep Oregon Green for providing this and giving permission to post it. 

Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa 9/2023

Snake Alley, Burlington, Iowa, by Ed Minard Photography, www.edminardphotography.com

 

INSIDE THE ANIMAL HOUSE

INSIDE THE ANIMAL HOUSE

By Martin Klammer

Sometimes when I ask students to hand in their overdue writing assignments, I’m tempted to mimic Donald Sutherland playing the college professor in the 1978 movie Animal House. “I’m not joking,” he begs. “This is my job!”

I know the line well not because I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, but because I was in the room when he said it.

More than 30 years ago I was an English major at the University of Oregon in Eugene, one of 2,000 student hopefuls trying out as extras in the film and hoping our Hollywood good looks would catch the eye of talent scouts. We were herded into the main hall of the U of O student union and marched past a tribunal of casting personnel seated at a table, pointing us left or right like so many sheep and goats. I made it with about 200 other sheep, and I wasted no time asking why I was chosen.

“You’re tall and naïve looking,” the casting director told me. “That’s perfect for upperclassmen in the ‘good’ house.”

When I arrived that first day on the set — an actual fraternity with real frat boys coming and going as the lights and cameras were moved into place-- my assigned “upperclassman” role changed at the mere whim of director John Landis. He was handing out beanies to four or five extras he thought would make good freshman pledges.

“Here, put this on,” he said to me, holding out a little blue and yellow cap.

“I’m not a pledge, sir,” I said. “I’m an upperclassman.”

“You’re a pledge now,” he said. I took the beanie and put it on. “You look great!” He slapped me on the shoulder, smiling.

For the first couple of days I helped fill in the background of the pretentious Omega House party where Douglas Niedermeyer introduces Pinto and Flounder to his frat brothers. I appear for a millisecond in the background when the door opens -- “There! There I am!” – and a few seconds later at the party. I’m chatting with “fraternity brothers” and munching on what I think are hors de’ouvres. Actually, the food was plastic, a fact I discovered only after mashing an especially rigid spear of broccoli.

At the end of the second day Landis told us four beanie-wearing pledges to strip to our underwear for an initiation scene. I was mortified. No one told me this was part of the job. I’d never been seen by girls in my underwear -- not even my mom! I looked down at my tighty-whities. They were frayed at the waistband and, here I confess, a tad discolored. I considered telling Landis I couldn’t do it.

But then I thought, “Hey, what if this movie becomes famous? I could become famous -- well, sort of.”

I walked over to the assistant director.

“Uh. I’d like to do this, but I don’t have the right kind of shorts.”

“Good gawd.” He gave me an exasperated look then walked over to the president of the actual fraternity where we were filming and commanded him to produce a pair of clean shorts. Within minutes I was sporting a pristine pair of briefs, courtesy of Mr. Fraternity President or some poor novitiate he coerced into forfeiting his undies. My students now ask me if I appeared in Animal House in my underwear, and I tell them honestly, “No, not in my underwear.”

Fans of the film know this as the “Sir, yes sir, may I have another” scene. A young Kevin Bacon plays an initiate bent over in his briefs getting paddled by black-hooded brothers and asking for more. Four of us extras, two on each side, kneel motionless at attention, hands at our sides, eyes straight ahead.

During the shooting of this scene a lighting problem delayed us. While waiting for that to get fixed, I donned a winter jacket and sat protectively behind an empty couch.

Like out of some wacky dream, just at that moment civil rights leader Julian Bond walked in and sat on the couch in front of me. He was giving a lecture that night and apparently had been invited to the set by John Belushi after having guest-hosted Saturday Night Live (April 9, 1977) a few weeks earlier.

Not one to waste an educational opportunity, I introduced myself to Mr. Bond from behind the couch and began to engage him in a thoughtful political discussion, visible only from the waist up. We talked about apartheid and I remember asking him if he planned to run for Congress. He seemed to enjoy our chat, or maybe he didn’t have a choice. When Landis called us back to our places, I jumped up and peeled off the jacket, revealing my almost naked skinny white torso to a visibly shocked Julian Bond.

I worked 10 days as an extra, earning about $250. I learned to drink coffee as a way to keep myself awake between the time we arrived on the set (7 a.m.) and the time when the stars arrived, several hours later. I made a few friends and learned how much of filmmaking is just standing around. I also learned to juggle from the actor Jamie Widdoes, the “president” of Delta House.

For my final stint I spent four days in Oregon’s Cottage Grove, about 20 miles south of Eugene. Cottage Grove’s Main Street was where Animal House’ famous parade scene was filmed.

I’m one of the parade marshals in full military dress, though I’ve never been able to find myself in this part of the film. During a break from the shooting several of us “marshals” walked into a bar where World War II vets kept buying us drinks even though we told them we weren’t really soldiers.

Several of the parade days were rainy, and during one storm about 300 of us extras found shelter in the Catholic church basement. Most of the extras were senior citizens, and soon a bingo game started up and I was designated as caller. I asked the seniors, “Do you want to play for fun or for money?” “Money! Money!” the chant rose up. For that little gig keeping the masses happy I got to eat lunch in the actors’ line, a sumptuous spread of catered gourmet foods far superior to the boxed lunches they fed us extras.

My notoriety didn’t end with the movie. In its review of the movie Playboy included a still photo of the underwear scene. Yes, Dolly Parton’s on the (October 1978) cover, but I’m on the inside. I’d like to think I’m the only college professor in the U.S. who’s appeared semi-nude in Playboy. But then again, I don’t really know.

Note: Minor editing by Taxi Off Duty, Martin Klammer is a faculty member of a private college in the U.S. Midwest. He was an extra in the movie “Animal House” (July 28, 1978) and tried out to be an extra in the movie “Field of Dreams” (April 1, 1979).

Photos: Scene from 1978 movie “Animal House.” Beanie-wearing actor Martin Klammer is on the far right. Animal House tavern, 100 3^rd St. N, La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, on Sept. 4, 2023.

 

 

KUMA-AM Radio, Pendleton, 'Koffee Hour'/'Coffee Hour' and KODL-AM Radio, The Dalles, 'Coffee Break'

KUMA Radio “Coffee Time” jingle

Program open

Put down the mop.
Stand by the broom.
Find the softest chair in the room.
It’s Coffee Time ... coffee time, coffee time, coffee time … heeeeeeere.

Turn up the radio, tune it loud and clear.
Bring your cup of coffee up here.
‘cause it’s Coffee Time ... coffee time, coffee time ... It’s Coffee Time.

From the Tapadera (“Tap-ah-dare-ah”) Restaurant in downtown
Pendleton (“Pendle-tun”), it’s the KUMA Coffee Hour. And, now
with another interesting program, here’s your Coffee Hour host
for this morning.


Program close

Hear the KUMA Coffee Hour each Monday through Friday at
10-05 (“ten-oh-five”) … live from the Tapadera Restaurant
in downtown Pendleton

So, we go away for another day.
Please remember and tune in.

When Coffee Time … will be with you once again.

.........................

(Note: The jingle calls it "Coffee Time." And, for a few years it might have been called that. But, apparently for most of the time and even now (this postscript written in 2023) it has been "Coffee Hour.")

:::::::::::::::::

Bulletin: Ted A. Smith's "Coffee Hour/Koffee Hour" live breakfast time program in Pendleton started in 1957, says Greg Smith via Cherie Coonce, respective son and daughter of Ted and Phyllis Smith, on Sept. 19, 2023. It appears the program typically aired starting at 10 o'clock in the morning and originated in Gunther’s Fireside Restaurant at 32 S.E. Emigrant Ave. and/or 137 S. Main St. and then moved to the Tapadera Inn/Motel restaurant at 105 S.E. Court Ave., according to Taxi Off Duty research. However, perhaps the show originated in about 1955? A story in the Feb. 25, 1982, edition of the Heppner, Ore., Gazette-Times says KUMA “Koffee Hour” is a “popular talk show that has aired on KUMA, Pendleton for nearly 27 years.” Subtract 27 years from the year 1982 and it gives you the year 1955. The story says Ted A. Smith, KUMA manager, is host of the show. Photos of him are posted above. A Find-A-Grave posting about Ted A. Smith says he "interviewed a wide range of personalities including political figures and local guests" on the show.

::::::::::::::::::

PACIFIC NORTHWEST: Al Wynn’s love of radio keeps The Dalles talking, together. ‘I’m in the goosebump business,’ he says

By Tom Hallman Jr, Oregonian, Portland 17 Sept 2023

The voice of The Dalles slides into a booth – make that his own booth – at Cousins’ Restaurant as the breakfast crowd is pushing away their plates.

At 80, Al Wynn moves with the vigor of a much-younger man. He sets up microphones, tinkers with wires, adjusts a box that links everything to an antenna on the restaurant roof. He slips off his wristwatch, sets it on the table and keeps an eye on the dial.

At exactly 10:06 a.m., Wynn flips a switch. He leans into the microphone.

“Hey, good morning, good morning. This is show 11,279.”

And with that, “Coffee Break” is underway.

PHOTO Al Wynn hosts his daily radio show, Coffee Break on KODL, in a booth at Cousins’ Restaurant in The Dalles, Oregon on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

 

The talk show, which airs five times a week on KODL AM/FM radio, is a throwback to a bygone era. For the next 54 minutes, Wynn holds forth, his voice covering the city like a warm blanket on a cold day. Those out there in radioland are reminded, once more, the meaning of community and what it is to live in The Dalles, a city of about 16,000.

Wynn talks about the weather and mentions when and where the Kiwanis Club next meets. He offers praise to volunteers doing good things in town, takes calls from listeners and hosts on-air interviews with politicians and civic leaders who drop by his booth. He sometimes heralds the soup of the day at Cousins’.

He somehow combines folksiness and authority. He’s a neighbor, the one who’s always in the know.

“Not one person in The Dalles can do a thing about Russia and Ukraine,” said Chet Petersen, 83, a long-time resident. “Other than voting, it’s the same with national and state issues. The only place we can have an impact is here in The Dalles.”

As such, Petersen makes it a daily habit to tune in to “Coffee Break”.

“On my home radio,” he said. “Or in my pickup. I want to know from Al what’s going on.”

Around these parts, you see, KODL isn’t a call sign.

It’s Al Wynn.

***

PHOTO A booth at Cousins’ Restaurant in The Dalles, Oregon, is set aside for Al Wynn's show five days a week. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

 

Wynn became infatuated with radio when he was 12 and living with his family in Spokane. He had a daily paper route that included a stop at the local radio station. He’d hand-deliver the newspaper to the man who did it all – spinning records, reading the news and doing live, play-by-play commentary for the high-school teams.

“One day he asked me if I liked sports,” Wynn said. “Of course. He told me he had no sons, just five daughters, and wondered if I’d ever like to go to a baseball game with him.”

Wynn got his parents’ approval.

“I got to watch him work,” said Wynn. “I started going to all the games. When football season came along, I was there every Friday. I sat in the press box and spotted tackles for him.”

That, Wynn said, was all it took.

“Ah, you know how kids dream,” said Wynn. “I was fascinated by the radio business.”

Wynn graduated from high school but had no interest in college and bounced around doing what he described as “a bunch of other things.” His constant companion – in the car or at home – was the radio.

By then he’d landed on Whidbey Island, on the western side of Washington, about 35 miles north of Seattle. It was there he decided to make radio a career.

He signed up for a year-long correspondence class offered by the National Institute of Broadcasting out of Canada. Records were shipped to Wynn, who played them continually at home to learn radio lingo, the patter of a DJ, the rhythm of a news reader’s voice, tricks to keep listeners engaged.

“I followed a written lesson plan and submitted taped auditions on a regular basis that were critiqued,” he said.

At age 21, he landed a disc-jockey job at the small radio station on the island.

He later moved on to another small Washington station in Quincy, working the morning shift and then doing play-by-play for high-school sports.

“I was in hog heaven,” he said. “I had the best life.”

The company that owned the station acquired another in Yakima, and they named Wynn station manager there.

“Just short of 24 years old, and I was running a radio station,” he said.

In 1974, when he was 31, Wynn and another man learned that KODL, a 5,000-watt station in The Dalles that hit the air in 1940, was for sale. They teamed up and bought it. In addition to disc-jockey work, Wynn did play-by-play for local high-school sports, which he still does.

Four years later, Wynn became the station’s sole owner and launched “Coffee Break,” which became his passion.

“It’s not about my ego,” he said. “The community has given me so much. This is my way of giving back. It’s a way to talk about ideas and issues, to let people know – in a non-partisan way – what is going on so they can be informed.”

In 2006, the Oregon Association of Broadcasters named him the state’s broadcaster of the year.

 

PHOTO Al Wynn is a fixture at Cousins’ Restaurant in The Dalles, Oregon, where he broadcasts his show. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

He has no plans to sign off anytime soon.

“All my friends are retired,” he said. “Across the board they tell me they quit too soon. I use my brain. I don’t have to get up in the morning and think about what I should do with my time.”

He’s been forced to change with the times. Wynn has mastered radio technology that once would have seemed like science fiction to him.

He loves working in radio as much – or more than – he ever has.

“I’m in the goosebump business, and I’m still excited,” he said.

“To say, ‘Good evening everybody, we’re here at the Quinton Street Ballpark’ makes me feel like that 12-year-old boy I was back in Spokane. Getting to live out my dream is the name of the game.”

He’s never gotten rich doing what he does.

KODL is a shoestring operation. In addition to running “Coffee Break,” Wynn is a sportscaster, a salesman and a bookkeeper. He keeps track of the commercials and when they run. For much of the day, the station plays country music – with the technology today, no DJ is necessary.

Wynn has a part-time engineer who helps. His wife, Marcia Wynn, 75, a retired elementary and high-school physical-education teacher, takes care of scheduling. When her husband is broadcasting sports from the playing field, Marcia is back at the station handling production. The couple, both previously married, will celebrate their 35th anniversary this year.

“People rely on Al,” she said. “This is a small town. He always says he’s a big fish in a little fishbowl.”

Together the couple have seven grown children, none of whom have any interest in taking over the station when it’s time for Al Wynn to sign off for good.

“I need to figure it all out,” he said. “At this point, I don’t have an exit plan.”

For now, as he figures it, the future is only as far away as the next edition of “Coffee Break.”

“I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” he said. “How many people can say that?”

***

Cousins’ Restaurant is not only a local hangout, it’s attached to Cousins’ Country Inn, a hotel. That means the restaurant is usually busy when Wynn takes the air.

On a recent morning, a couple at a table ask the waitress what’s going on, telling her they are from Medford and about to head home. At another table, a pair of locals listen in to Wynn, commenting loud enough for others to hear.

The back booth where Al Wynn does the show – a permanent sign tells people it is reserved for “Coffee Break” between 10 and 11 in the morning – is kind of a local attraction, the place to watch and eavesdrop.

When Steve Lawrence was the town’s mayor from 2013 to 2019, he appeared on “Coffee Break” once a month. Even now he drops by the booth to discuss local issues. The show, he said, is part of the fabric of the town. He said people used to stop him on the sidewalk and weigh in on what he’d said on air during “Coffee Break.”

“Al makes sure important facts, ideas and issues get discussed,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said the wife of one of his former high-school teachers used to come in to Cousins’ when, as mayor, he appeared on “Coffee Break.”

“She’d sit in the booth behind me and listen to everything,” said Lawrence. “At the end of the program she’d give me a report on how I did.”

Recent local movers and shakers who’ve appeared on the show include the city manager, county commissioners, school-district officials. As has become the tradition, the city’s current mayor, Rich Mays, is on at least once a month.

Billy Brost, the 47-year-old athletic director for the North Wasco County School District, met Wynn when Brost was 7 years old.

“We had just moved to The Dalles,” said Brost. “I was an only child, and my father drove me to the baseball park. Mr. Wynn was the first person I met. He called me ‘young fellow’ and asked me what I was doing. I told him nothing, that I’d just moved to town. He told me to come with him.”

From that moment forward, Brost said, he was a fixture at the local games.

“I helped Mr. Wynn carry his gear,” he said. “I was a ball boy. My time was spent sitting on a little bucket next to him in the press box.”

He knows that sooner or later Wynn’s tenure at KODL will come to an end. He doesn’t know how to prepare for that day. He said he plans to have Wynn record a voice message on his cellphone, something Brost can keep forever.

“Al Wynn,” he said, “is the soundtrack of my life.”

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2023/09/al-wynns-love-of-radio-keeps-the-dalles-talking-together-im-in-the-goosebump-business-he-says.html

 

…

Station Still Spry at 80

KODL has covered the Gorge through changes in frequency and ownership

By Rodger Nichols, Northern Wasco County PUD, The Dalles, Dec 1, 2020

Inside Rualite

The oldest radio station in the Columbia River Gorge recently celebrated its 80th anniversary.

When KODL signed on the air in October 1940, it was the only station between Portland and La Grande. In the eight decades since, it’s been on three different frequencies, affiliated with three different networks, broadcast from studios in three different locations, and had three different owners.

The man who put the station on the air was V. Barney Kenworthy, a banker and businessman who, according to William H. McNeal’s 1953 “History of Wasco County, Oregon,” converted his wireless hobby into station ownership. He later added stations in Pendleton and Pasco.

At the time, The Dalles was the smallest town in Oregon to have its own radio station. For that reason, the 36-by-46-foot studio building was built with a floor plan that could easily be converted to a house, providing an asset that could be sold if the station wasn’t profitable.

The station was housed where Trevitt Street ended. At the time, Scenic Drive did not go through to Sorosis Park from the west. The empty area had become a popular lovers’ lane. Some folks were annoyed when the studios were built with a bright light illuminating the area.

Following Pearl Harbor, the Federal Communications Commission ordered stations on the West Coast off the air at night for fear Japanese carriers launching bombers could use station signals as navigation beacons to guide their attacks.

In a 1980 interview for the 40th anniversary of the station, KODL’s longtime Station Manager Paul Walden said, “Until they could get out the bombers and fighters and sweep the coasts in the mornings, we were off the air, sometimes not getting back on until maybe 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning.”

The station was also required to have an employee on duty through the night to sign on the station for emergency broadcasts in case an attack came. The station built a small building behind the studio to house that employee.

The station created promotional material for its anniversary celebration.

In the early days, the station featured many live musical performances. The most famous of those was by a young man named Carl from Arlington, who played trumpet. In later years, he would be known as Doc Severinsen, bandleader for “The Tonight Show” for decades during Johnny Carson’s tenure.

Originally, the station was licensed to operate with 250 watts during the day and 100 watts at night, at 1,200 kilohertz on the radio dial.

In 1941, the FCC realigned the AM broadcast spectrum, assigning each frequency as local, regional, or “clear channel.” KODL was moved to 1230 kHz, one of six designated local frequencies.

The last shift came in 1955. Facing its first local competition in KRMW—later to become KACI—KODL was granted a move to a regional frequency, 1440, and increase power to 1,000 watts.

In 1967, V. Barney sold the station to Sterling Recreation Organization, a Seattle- based company that owned movie theaters and bowling alleys. This was the company’s first radio station. It changed the call letters to KGLX, “the golden X,” and played current pop hits among the oldies. The company went on to own a string of stations.

In 1974, the station was sold to Larson-Wynn Inc. For the nearly half-century since, the face of KODL has been that of Al Wynn. He introduced several innovations, but the most lasting has been the Coffee Break program. Every weekday at 10 a.m., he—or his sidekick, John Frederick—hosts a live talk show from a local restaurant, most recently at Cousins’ Restaurant.

The first guest was Trailblazers Sportscaster Bill Schonely. Since then, guests have been community leaders of all stripes as well as governors, senators, educators, artists, authors, merchants, and representatives of many local organizations.

The original main studio, with the control booth at the left. It was from this room that Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen made his first broadcast as a teenager. Materials Courtesy of KODL

On August 14, 2018, the program celebrated its 10,000th show. Bill, who was 89 at the time, returned for that show to reminisce, along with many former employees.

A key component of KODL through the decades has been its devotion to sports coverage. Al hasn’t kept track of the number of sporting events for which he’s done play-by-play, but the number is in the thousands. He has covered everything from The Dalles High School football, basketball, and baseball to American Legion baseball and Columbia Gorge Hustlers baseball, and the Fort Dalles Rodeo.

Al has also been tapped by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters to broadcast state playoff tournament games. The same organization named him broadcaster of the year in 2006.

In addition to the Trailblazers and local sports, the station has broadcast the World Series, the Seattle Seahawks, the first season of the Seattle Mariners, college football, and even Evel Knievel’s failed attempt to jump the Grand Canyon.

“It’s been an honor to serve this community in so many ways over the years,” Al says. “KODL appreciates the great community support from listeners and advertisers.”

He says growing up in the Spokane Valley and following his childhood dream makes him feel—at 77 years old—like he never worked a day in his life.

“People ask when will I retire, and the answer is when it’s no longer fun,” he says. Thanks for the memories.”

https://www.nwascopud.org/station-still-spry-at-80

 

.....................

AL WYNN Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/al.wynn.39

Al Wynn - Central Valley High School · Lives in The Dalles, Oregon

Good night!!! This hits the nail on the head!

Thanks to my Mom & Dad for teaching me right from wrong, honesty, how to work for what I wanted and that family is a priority.

I was raised in Spokane Valley in Washington state While I know I was lucky to have grown up there.... I was raised during a time when most everyone treated each other with respect. We didn't eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink. We ate lunch meat sandwiches, or even tuna (which was in a can not a pouch), PB&J & grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, pot pies, but mostly homemade meals consisting of mainly meat, potatoes, vegetable, bread & butter, and homemade dessert.

We grew up during a time when we mowed lawns, pulled weeds, babysat, helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money. We went outside a lot to play games, make hay forts, ride horses..cows..pigs and sheep ride bikes, roller skate, run with siblings and friends & played hide and seek, played in ditches , baseball, softball, even dodge ball. We drank tap water from the hose outside... bottled water was unheard of.. licked on the cow and horse salt blocks, ate corn out of the animal feed...

We watched TV shows like Little House on the Prairie, American Bandstand, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, The Dukes of Hazzard, Andy Griffith, The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy. After school, we came home and did homework and chores before going outside or having friends over.  We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our parents where we were going, who we were going with, & what time we'd be back.

You LEARNED from your Mom instead of DISRESPECTING  her and treating her as if she knew absolutely nothing. What she said was LAW!! And you had better know it!!!

You had to be close enough to home to hear your Mom yelling to tell you it’s time to come home for dinner. We ate around the dinner table and talked to each other as a family unit. In school we said the Pledge of Allegiance, we stood for the National Anthem & listened to our teachers.

We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we DISRESPECTED any grown-up we would get our behinds whipped, it wasn't called abuse, it was called discipline! We held doors, carried groceries and gave up our seat for an older person without being asked.

You didn't hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth and had to stand in the corner. “Please” and “Thank you” were part of our daily vocabulary!

You grew up to respect the Nation, the flag, and the President, NO MATTER who it was.

Re-post if you're thankful for your childhood and will never forget where you came from & the time you came from! Wouldn't it be nice if it were possible to get back to this way of life?

If this is how you grew up...Copy and paste... just change the town.

Oh how I miss those days

……..

It appears Al Wynn posted this about Dick Wright at the Spokane Valley Memories Facebook page ...

"Dick Wright took time for a young 12 year-old boy to learn by watching and helping as a spotter at high school football games. This year makes my 56th year of broadcasting games at many levels. Nice to see him being remembered."

.............

 

After A Long Battle, Dick Wright ("Wright Times for Sports") Succumbs To Cancer

By John Blanchette, Spokane Spokesman-Review Tue., Feb. 17, 1998

A friend attended the basketball game at Gonzaga University a couple of weeks ago when Dick Wright had his “jersey” retired - No. 50 for his 50-year relationship with the school - and noticed that even one of three officials applauded politely.

Come to think of it, when he was broadcasting GU games that’s all Dick Wright ever expected of the refs.

That one out of three get it right.

Or rather see it like Wright.

In that respect, Dick Wright was just like the rest of us, only on the radio. And if you didn’t necessarily share his allegiances, there were occasions you just had to laugh and holler along with him, “Blow the whistle, you busher!”

Feel free to do so now - for therapeutic reasons or just in respect to the memory of Dick Wright, whose brave battle with cancer came to an end Monday at the age of 70.

That fight had kept him off the dial for the past year and damned if we didn’t miss both his voice and his viewpoint - both inimitable - in spite of our highbrow pretensions.

What will be missed even more is how, aided by his wife Jeanne, he kept caring and doing behind the scenes - for kids, for long-time contributors, for the common fan - even in such ill health.

The sports banquet, the B Tournament, the Hall of Fame were once just notions; they became Spokane institutions thanks in good measure to the dogged stewardship of Dick Wright, who was old-fashioned enough to see them as not only worthy of our participation but mandatory.

As long as the program moved along swiftly, of course.

When Dick emceed an awards show, there wasn’t a presenter or a recipient who didn’t receive a gentle zinger suggesting his remarks be abridged to save wear and tear on everyone’s bladder.

Everyone, Wright believed, deserved a slice of fame - but 15 minutes was stretching it.

Spokane first got a taste of the Wright stuff in 1947, when he came to school at GU from Anaconda, Mont. Within a decade of graduation, he was a fixture on the radio - as Frank Herron’s sidekick on Spokane Indians broadcasts, as the host of many incarnations of his own “Wright Time for Sports” and narrator of just about every high school game you could find between 530 and 1600 on the dial.

He called games for the Indians and Whitworth and Spokane Falls, the GSL and Border League and more than 30 State Bs. He would schlep radio gear upstairs to as many as four different press boxes on a football weekend or into a half-dozen gyms a week.

A three-game night was routine. If the Ferris hotshot’s name somehow popped up on a Shadle broadcast or KZUN got its call letters mentioned on a KGA station break, hey, was it any wonder?

He could turn a phrase - Santa Clara’s 7-foot-2 Ron Reis was “big enough to burn diesel” - and save a slipup with guileless humor. One of his best came after a B Tournament basket by Davenport’s Lana Becker.

“What a nice play by Lana Turner!” Dick gushed. “What a great looking shot! I’m sorry, I meant Lana Becker. But I remember Lana Turner, and she was great, too.”

And, of course, there was the most unforgettable line of all, when a long home run rocketed out of Pecarovich Field and Wright drew an uncustomary blank trying to equate it to a major-league shot.

“That would have been out of any park,” he said, “including … Greyhound.”

He installed himself in the self-deprecation Hall of Fame. Among his favorite recollections was a call from a secretary at Springdale High School, asking if he could emcee an awards banquet. Wright allowed that he would, for a fee.

“I don’t know if they want you that bad,” the secretary said.

And when GU roasted him one year, he joined with a full house in wearing a “Blow the whistle, you busher!” lapel button - never bothering to dispute that he saw every Gonzaga game for the past 15 years “through Bulldog eyes.”

“He made us run a little faster and jump a little higher and coach a little better,” acknowledged his friend, Dan Fitzgerald, the former Bulldogs coach. “He made the small guys a lot bigger - and that included all of us.”

 

It didn’t all happen over the airwaves. One year when it looked as if he wouldn’t have any prep games to broadcast, he led a drive that raised $100,000 to save city league sports. The breakfast that fetes all State B teams was his baby. And his passing means the Inland Empire Sports Writers and Broadcasters will have to elect a new president for the first time in, oh, a decade.

His was the pure joy of sports and all its corny trappings. His devotion to kids and causes was uncorrupted - and his dismay with any corruptions obvious.

Dick Wright was a homer, all right, but in the best way - long before he decided to champion one team on the radio.

Now there’s a voice urging us to keep this short, to wrap it up while everyone’s clothes are still in style. And there’s a tug at the sleeve, insisting we move along.

It’s just Dick Wright, blowing the whistle on us one last time.

 

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/feb/17/after-a-long-battle-wright-succumbs-to-cancer

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This brings us to which eastern Oregon radio station was the apparent first to have a breakfast time program featuring live interviews with newsmakers.

Was it Ted Smith’s KUMA Radio in Pendleton or Al Wynn’s  KODL Radio in The Dalles?

 

Find A Grave for Theodore A. “Ted” Smith …

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77642903/theodore-a.-smith

… includes

“Ted Smith was a well known radio broadcaster in Oregon. He is best remembered in Pendleton, Oregon, for his "Coffee Hour" program held week days at the (then) Tapadera Hotel. He interviewed a wide range of personalities including political figures and local guests.”

………..

Also see Ted Smith Obituary

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/idahostatesman/name/ted-smith-obituary?id=13638546

…………….

Oregonain story of Sept 17, 2023, about Al Wynn says Al and a partner learned in 1974 The Dalles' radio station KODL was for sale and they bought it. " Four years later, Wynn became the station’s sole owner and launched 'Coffee Break,' which became his passion."

KODL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KODL

… says KODL "was acquired by Larson-Wynn, Inc., on September 1, 1974."

So, this answers the question.

KUMA “Coffee Hour” in Pendleton started before KODL “Coffee Break” in The Dalles.

 

When Ted Smith started "Coffee Hour" is not known, but he and Mrs. Smith bought KUMA in 1966. Al Wynn and partner bought KODL in 1978. So, presumably Ted Smith had “Coffee Hour” on the air for the first time between 1966-1978. That would be before Al Wynn got “Coffee Break” on the air in 1978.

(Note: A March 17, 1986, story in the Oregonian mentioned Ted A. Smith, KUMA owner-manager radio "Coffee Hour." It cited a comment Ted Smith made during the program "about five years ago." That means the program was airing in 1981. But, does not answer what year the program had its debut on KUMA.)

 

Postscript: Coffee Time jingle may be heard here:

http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2008/06/kuma-radio-coffee-time-jingle.html

 

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Heppner, Ore., Gazette-Times Feb. 25, 1982 

However, perhaps the show originated in about 1955? A story in the Feb. 25, 1982, edition of the Heppner, Ore., Gazette-Times says KUMA “Koffee Hour” is a “popular talk show that has aired on KUMA, Pendleton for nearly 27 years.” Subtract 27 years from the year 1982 and it gives you the year 1955. The story says Ted A. Smith, KUMA manager, is host of the show. 

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KUMA ad in Aug 25, 1955 -East Oregonian daily newspaper, Pendleton, Oregon

ON THE AIR

TOMORROW!

 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26th

Pendleton’s great new

1000 watt radio station …

KUMA

(Previous Assigned Call Letters K. O. E. R.)

DIAL 1370

Special Opening Day Program

And Ceremonies Starting at ..

12 NOON

KUMA will go on the air with the latest high-fidelity RCA broadcasting equipment … the finest available. The transmitter located two miles east of town in Riverside will be operated by remote control with the studio location at 1815 S.W. Emigrant. The equipment used throughout KUMA is all new and makes it the most completely equipped new radio station in the Pacific Northwest.

Kuma will concentrate on program service aimed at serving Umatilla County and those people who shop in this area. KUMA will feature news and notes about the people you know; with heavy accent on good music, news and special events. A radio station, while privately owned, is charged with operating in the public interest. Please consider KUMA as YOUR station … feel free to make suggestions, comments or criticism at any time and let us know what type of programs you would like to hear.

 

Ted A. Smith, Gen. Mgr. - 12 years radio experience, 8 years as Mgr. of KWRC

Herb Everitt, Sales Mgr. - 11 years radio experience, former manager KRPL, Moscow, Idaho, and KTVR, Hillsboro.

Bob Runion, Sales Dept. - Gradate of U of O in Bus. Administration and Salesmanship

Doris Forsman, Office Mgr. - 11 years radio experience in Pendleton area

Jim Platz, Chief Engineer - 30 yeas radio experience. 17 years with NBC in Chicago and recently with KVAL TV in Eugene.

Len Serdar, Engineer - Announcer 4 years radio experience. Previously with KLBM, La Grande; KBND, Bend, Oregon.

Tom Warner, Announcer - Graduate, Northwest School of Broadcasting. Six months working with KVAN, Vancouver, Wash.

Karl Metzenberg, Continuity Dept. - Graduate Northwest School of Broadcasting. University of Chicago.

 

WATCH FOR OPEN HOUSE WHEN THE PUBLIC WILL BE INVITED TO TOUR THE KUMA STUDIOS AND INSPECT OUR OPERATIONS.

Congratulations to KUMA from The Following Contractor and Subcontractors

GENERAL CONTRACTOR -- FRANCIS McGEE All Types of Buildings Riverside  Phone 1203

ELECTRICAL WIRING -- BY ZEPHYR ELECTRIC We Have Built Our Trade On Service - Satisfaction - Safety 332 S.E. Emigrant Phone 494

THE FLOORING -- FURNISHED BY MEADE’S Floor Covering 2 Convenient Locations

Pendleton 213 Hermiston 6212

PLUMBING -- INSTALLED BY PENDLETON PLUMBING & HEATING Large or Small We Do Them All 217 S.E. Court Ave. Phone 443

/////////////////

Story about KUMA in Aug725, 1955 -East Oregonian daily newspaper, Pendleton, Oregon

KUMA Starts Broadcasting

Pendleton became a tw0-radio city Friday at noon when C. H. Fisher, Portland, partner in Pendleton Broadcasters, and Art. C. Holmes, president of the Pendleton chamber of commerce, jointly threw a switch that put station KUMA on the air. KUMA is a 1000-watt daytime station broadcasting at 1370 kilocycles.

During August the station’s hours will be 6 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. The sunrise-to-sunset radio time changes each month, according to Ted A. Smith, manager.

Congratulatory messages were received from U.S. senators Wayne Morse and Dick Neuberger, Congressman Sam Coon and Gov. Paul Patterson of Oregon, also from numerous other radio and TV stations.

During the afternoon many Pendleton business men visited the station, which has headquarters at 1815 SW Emigrant avenue and which has its tower at Riverside.

Out-of-town visitors included Ru Lund, chairman of the board of the Oregon Advertising club, Portland; Bill McAllister, chief engineer of KPTV, Portland television station, and Don McCutcheon, manager of KIHR, Hood River. 

Not part of what’s posted above from the East Oregonian, but the obit (below) of Herb Everitt, who was at KUMA when it went on the air in 1955, might be of interest:

Herbert Erle Everitt

of Keizer, Oregon

May 12, 1924 — May 14, 2018

Herbert Erle Everitt was born in Eden, Idaho, the fourth of five children born to Coeur d'Vine and Mary Everitt.

At the age of 3, when the Depression began, Herb moved with his family to a small farm outside of Meridian, Idaho.

He attended all 12 grades in the Meridian school district, graduating from Meridian High School in 1942.

He married Vivian Rae Evans on July 29, 1950, in St. Michael's Episcopal Cathedral in Boise.

He began his academic career at Boise Junior College. Then, he attended Idaho State University where he earned his BA in English/Drama. Many years later he earned his MA in Speech from Washington State University. He was chosen as a Kellogg Fellow for a College Leadership Program at UCLA and Cal State Berkeley.

Herb used his academic training in a variety of ways. He had enjoyed drama at Boise JC, so he took off to the East, playing in the Priscilla Beach Theater and other theater groups before "making the big time" when he was asked to join the Boston Stock Company as an Equity actor. He also appeared in many radio soap operas, such as ‘Ma Perkins’ and ‘Pepper Young's Family’ on New York radio stations.

He returned to Idaho to write for stage and radio. He began as a copywriter and later announcer and sports broadcaster for KFXD in Nampa. Later, he worked for KIDO in Boise. He owned two radio stations, KART in Jerome, Idaho, and KOFE in Pullman, Wash. He put two radio stations on the air in Oregon, KTRV in Hillsboro and KUMA in Pendleton. He broadcast the Pendelton Roundup for ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Then Gov. Smylie asked him to return to Idaho in order to create the state's educational television network (modern Public Broadcasting System) with stations at the universities in Moscow, Boise and Pocatello.

Herb and his wife and two boys stayed in Pocatello, where he ran KBGL and was on the faculty at Idaho State University as Director of Radio/TV.

Toward the end of his career, he moved to Oregon to help Chemeketa Community College set up its distant learning centers in neighboring towns, allowing them to teach via TV.

He retired as Dean of Telecommunication at D'Anza College in Cupertino, Calif.

He is survived by: his wife of 67 years; his two sons, Kelly and his wife, Rita, and Tim and his wife, Verna; two blood grandchildren, Katherine and Samuel, two adopted grandchildren, Angel and Robert, three step-grandchildren, Loni, Jennifer and James.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 2 p.m., at the Willamette Lutheran Homes chapel, 7693 Wheatland Rd. N., in Keizer, Ore. He will be buried in Meridian, Idaho.

Published by Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal on May 18, 2018.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/statesmanjournal/name/herbert-everitt-obituary?id=16904088

 

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Roseburg News-Review Aug. 16, 1955

Heppner Gazette-Times Sept 8, 1960

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Ted Smith of KUMA Radio, Pendleton, received a Pendleton Round-Up "Appreciation Plaque" on Dec. 5, 1974."

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Pendleton EO/East Oregonian, Dec 23, 1966

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Pendleton EO/East Oregonian, Jan. 24, 1967

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