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Local Heroes, Sidekicks, and Mentors -- NEW inductees have their Class year highlighted in RED Roger Flemmer (Class of 2004) Roger was our police reporter when first hired at KFAB a position he held for quite a few years. He was then moved into the farm/ag side of our station to work with Warren Neilson, a few years later, Good Old Rog became farm director and stayed there until his retirement a couple years ago. He was Mister Steady, always did a job that was professional and always informative. he knew how to dig for facts and information and deliver them, in a no nonsense style. Not many left like him.. - Tom Johnson Ross "Gellar" Hayes (Class of 2003) I was looking for my break to
work for a commercial Station. Geller gave me a chance as his stuntman. I've
seen newspaper clippings of him staying in a tub for three days to sell the
Sweet 98 antenna balls, him being on the news for Slandering Boystown and later
give a public apology. Before Omaha, he worked afternoons at WRHT/WCBZ in
Greenville, NC and moved to nights and brought the station to a 60 share!!! Now,
he's working nights at KZHT Salt Lake City and already added more than 2 shares
to their ratings. Stacy Kelley (Class of 2003) Back in 1993 I was finishing up
my broadcasting degree at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO.
I would come home quiet a lot therefore I would listen to all the personalities
on the air. By far, the one that made me want to be what I am today is
Stacy Kelley, KQKQ, Midday talent. She always had enthusiasm for the job,
information that I could use in everyday converstations, and she always was
prepared to do her breaks. I always wanted to be just like her! :)
-Shari Stone Ed Mimms (Class of 2003) Ed Mims was an old pro in radio
in general and gospel music radio in particular. When I came to KCRO, one
of my duties was to fill-in for Ed on one of his long-running weekend programs.
I learned stuff from Ed I either never knew before or forgot long ago in just
one hour with him. This after nearly 30 years in the business myself.
Ed was also a leader in Omaha in the Civil Rights movement and worked tirelessly
for equal opportunities. Ed was a father figure to us all at KCRO
and though we miss him greatly we are thankful for the time we had with him.
-Mike Shane Walt Gibbs (Class of 2001) Omaha/Council Bluffs
My earliest memory of radio was during elementary school when I took a tour
of a radio station. I was led into the control room where Walt Gibbs was
on the air and I recall actually holding my breath. Later, I was fortunate
to become employed at KRCB with Walt. Walt was the master of the control
room. He had the combined timing, mastery of the equipment, and just the
right word for the right moment. Walt would have a cold-ending song
playing, have ABC in "cue", and pot up ABC right after the warning
tone. He'd lean way back in the chair, put his feet up on the console, and
let the network bring itself in! Flawless!! Another time, a song
would be ending with no other song in sight, and he'd burst into the control room,
open the mic, start talking, grab another record or cart without looking,
start it, and inevitably talk right up to the vocal. Walt was the original
"multi-tasker." On the air in one studio, he would go back and
forth to
the production studio, checking his spots to record, and during a song on
the air he'd select the background music, roll the tape, record the
spot ALWAYS in one take dub the spot to cart, label the cart, and
sign
off on that spot. The not-so-funny thing was, his spots were as good or
better than anything else on the air. Walt was a deejay,
play-by-play
announcer, newscaster he did it all. I learned a lot about the
flexibility, the skills, and the good humor needed for radio from Walt Gibbs.
-Gary Dwight Lane (Class of 2001) Never flashy but always dependable and popular on-air, Dwight anchored afternoons in Omaha before moving upstairs as General Manager. As a programmer, he persuaded many a talent to not give up on radio, keeping many a career afloat in Omaha (including mine -- twice!) with a weekend or fill-in. His work with college broadcasters also makes him a mentor of note. Jack Payne (Class of 2001) Jack's tenure as the longtime voice of the College World Series alone would make him a local hero, but his long broadcasting career only reinforces his qualifications for our charter group. Gary Sadlemyer (Class of 2001) The epitome of a "local hero". Gary's smooth on-air style has been a comforting presence on Omaha radio for more than two decades. His professionalism is a model for fellow broadcasters, and his dry humor a treat for listeners. -Tony Wike Doug Sorensen (Class of 2001)
Doug is no longer with us, he passed away July of 98. Doug had just
received R N R's Rock Programmer of the Year. Quite an honor. He
knew rock
radio better than anyone. He was a mentor to everyone he worked with
professionally and personally. He was a friend to anyone he met. I
was so
glad I was working for this top ranked programmer. I knew that Doug would
be great mentor during my radio career it was a sad day for rock radio when
he died of a heart attack at the age of 43.
-Allison Steele Jay Stevens I am currently a student of Jay Stevens'
teachings and I owe my whole career to him. I met Jay in Fremont at KHUB/KFMT
a year ago and he took me and mentored me during his time there. And, when
he joined Retro Rock, the Charlie Wariner (Class of 2001)Charlie was never on the radio. He kept the radio on. Any announcer who worked with him appreciated him almost instantly. While the transmitters were on, he might drop by to talk about his old days in Chicago with NBC (Back when television was still new, and there was something called a Union). He would name names of famous people as if they were simply a next door neighbor. Charlie was in no way a braggart. I doubt he realized his impact on McCook radio. After all, he wasn't really employed by any station. He simply got called in when the transmitter went down, or there was a technical problem. Chances are there was never even a contract drawn up with either of the local stations. I find it interesting that he was used by the two McCook stations, and eventually a third since there was 'mostly' unspoken rivalry between stations. Perhaps Charlie lent some peace, in some sort of unspoken way. He never got excited or let a problem worry him. He could pull out a schematic of a 1950's Collins Transmitter and read it like USA Today. He made the jocks wait to get back on the air entertaining and informative. Not only would he explain what he was doing (in words you could understand), he would do it literally in a hands on manner. I recall one Saturday afternoon at the transmitter site where he literally took two fingers, moved them up and down the inside of the breaker box and said casually, "We're not getting any 220...". Today they're called 'contract' engineers and they are as common as corporate clusters. They know things Charlie never did. Things like computers, digital audio, ISDN, and High Speed Local and Wide Area Networking. Chances are, they still have yet to fill the brain capacity that could house the information Charlie forgot (While still remaining a top notch, intelligent, well educated engineer). - Dave Matthews Vern Wirka (Class of 2004) Vern is another Nebraska radio stalwart. He worked for KHUB and KRVN in the 70's before coming to KFAB where he stayed until 1991. He also graced the halls at KCRO for about 7 years and has been faculty advisor to or director of KDCV at Blair's Dana College over the years besides having a ventriloquist act on the side, which for awhile recently was his primary occupation. The Omaha newspaper did a write up on him not too long ago and they actually seemed to get their facts right! Lately he has been back on the air at KFAB on the weekends. I learned to pay attention to history from Vern. I never was much of an historian until I met him. After Vern left KFAB, I became one of the primary history founts at KFAB, from stuff he told me and stuff I just experienced myself.
We apologize for any omission or error. Please contact the NRPHOF with corrections.
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