Luncheon every third Tuesday This month: July 21, 2009 Club Room - Gallery Restaurant Fargo Holiday Inn

Mike Notes

Reprise

News & Memories for WDAY Radio & WDAY-WDAZ-TV Alumni

Issue #10 ~ July, 2009

Web archive of all issues http://sites.google.com/site/wdayalumni Editor: Larry Gauper (701) 237-5079 ~ Email: [email protected]

I’m Dave...

I’m Al...

...and we’re the Aamodt brothers!

D

T

hose of us in the WDAY-AM listening area can hear Al Aamodt daily as the morning radio news anchor from 3:30 A.M. until 12:00 noon. Al works from the special WDAY Radio News Studio, part of the Forum Newsroom on the second floor of the newspaper’s downtown Fargo building. I enjoyed spending time with Al, a 35-year (this November) WDAY veteran, talking over old times and all the new changes in the news business. From where he sits within the Forum newsroom, he’s clearly at the center of the digital revolution, which involves “merging” broadcast, web and print (see photos on page 4). Al was a Moorhead State student of Marv Bossart and credits Marv with giving him the tools he needed for a multi-decade career in broadcast news. Al and his spouse, Renee,enjoy having their three adult kids, Nathan (a WDAY-TV news photographer), Lindsay and Emilee and their families Editor’s note: It was great hearing from you, Dave. I do remember when close-by, along with their three you sat at the desk next to me in the grandchildren, all living in the area. He radio copy dept. and, later on, when says he really enjoys the grandfather you were turning in those service role and shared the news that yet orders as a radio salesman. It was fun another grandchild is on the way! Al then and fun getting back in touch with also loves his ’40 Chevrolet “street you now! - Larry Gauper rod,” but we didn’t get into that subject.

ave Aamodt writes from Yakima, Washington: “Reading the Memorial Roster causes me to pause and think, where has the past 38-years gone anyway? It was 1971 when I was first exposed to WDAY Radio and TV through an internship arranged by Howard Binford of the Moorhead State University Mass Communications Department with Bill Burn. That internship opened the door to my career in Radio Advertising Sales, Sales Management, and Station Management. “There are the names of so many mentors, coaches and teachers on that Memorial Roster, and of course of those of you receiving Mike Notes Reprise today. For all of you that assisted in coaching, mentoring, nurturing and teaching me, I say Thank You!” —Dave Aamodt

Greetings from Scott & Moon!

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his newsletter has heard from Scott Park and his wife, Moon, who living in Arroyo Grande, California. Scott says, “We live close to the beautiful California coast and enjoying the weather. You are doing a great service for WDAY/DAZ’ers. Keep up the great work and stay off the list!” Editor’s note: Scott is referring to the MEMORIAL ROSTER of departed alumni that Don Ford supplied to this publication and was created by he and the late Jack Lester. An updated ROSTER will be published this fall. To refresh our memories, I asked Scott to send a rundown of his positions with the company: • 1964-67: WDAY-TV, Sales • 1967-1973: Manager, WDAZ TV • 1973-1977: General Manager, KSFY-KABY TV, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, South Dakota • 1977-1980: General Manager of WDAY-WDAZ TV and Vice President of the SD stations. All WDAZ’ers, please note: Starting

with this issue, WDAZ is included in our masthead–so let’s hear from any alumni from up North. Next month’s luncheon Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dan Fandrich 1917-2009

Thanks to Erik Swee (on right with the 70’s hairdo) for sending me a very rich cache of photos from his negative archive. Paul Anderson, WDAY staffer, is going over negs with Erik, then chief commercial photographer at WDAY-TV. He ran the Photo Lab at the station and later had a business by the same name; he’s now retired but doing a few projects. When your Editor was with the Flint Agency, there were many mornings I was standing outside Erik’s door at his south Moorhead buisness picking-up last minute changes in 35mm slides for some presentation (a very long time before PowerPoint). You’ll see all of Erik’s photos in upcoming issues of this newsletter, like the shot below:

With sadness we report the loss of a faithful member of our Luncheon Group on June 12th when Daniel Fandrich of Moorhead passed away. He was 92. Dan was the husband of Dorothy Fandrich, also known as “Linda Lou, the Singing Cowgirl.” Both attended many of our luncheons together and Dorothy still does. Dan studied journalism and graduated with a degree in Communications in 1945. He was employed for a time in the WDAY newsroom. Dan and Dorothy have three children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Our condoloances to the Fandrich family. Dan will surely be missed by all of us.

Jack Lester memorial

Erik believes this photo documents Boyd’s Christenson’s last day on Party Line. He and Verna Newell must have been reviewing some of the fun moments of their years together hosting the show. This issue and all past issues of Mike Notes Reprise are available for viewing and downloading at: http://sites.google.com/site/wdayalumni (select the above address and paste into your browser; do not enter “www.”)

TV art by Norm Selberg

As reported last month, a lakeside event celebrating Jack’s life is planned for Saturday, July 18th, at the Minnesota lake home of Bob Ulmer on Cotton Lake. A light lunch is being planned for 1:00 P.M. and, afterwards, a mike will be available for anyone to share stories and memories. If attending, contact Paul Lester a.s.a.p. so he can get a guest/food count. His email address is: [email protected] or call him at 701-610-6795. The address of the Ulmer’s lake home is 20477 County Highway 32, on Cotton Lake. You should be able to find directions quite easily by lookingup the address on Google maps or MapQuest. Watch for the “JML” signs as you near the site. Your editor thanks Grace Lester for her recent mail and words of encouragement regarding MIKE NOTES REPRISE 2

Gallery of Luncheon Attendees

As of June 16, 2009 luncheon. While we heartily welcome photos of and from readers, this is a gallery of those 38 living legends who have attended a luncheon—The Editor.

Claudia Danovic

Don Dresser

Eldora Dresser

Jack Sand

Lance Lee

Ardis Lee

Liz Nelson

Bill Nelson

Genelle Cook

Lynette Cook

Dale Anderson

Marge Anderson

Dorothy Frandrich

Shirley Manning

Conrad Rose

Dorothy Rose

Boyd Christenson

Jim Shaw

Cole Carley

Phyllis Hoffsommer

Don Geiken

Roger Morbacher

Betty Frisch

Clyde VanCleve

Isabelle Weaver

Kevin Weaver

Bill Burn

Glenn Schlicht

Angie Schlicht

Earl Williams

Sharon Williams

Marv Bossart

Ellen Burn

Howard Campbell

Austen Schauer

As you may have already discovered in the above photos, we welcomed several new faces at our June luncheon: Former WDAY Radio General Manager, Bill Burn, and his wife, Ellen, were in attendance— and so was Lance Lee’s spouse, Ardis. Great seeing these folks and all of the twenty attendees at our new Fargo Holiday Inn venue. Jerry Connelly

Erik Swee

Larry Gauper

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WDAY-AM’s news studio located within The Forum’s newsroom on the 2nd floor of the Forum Building.

Marv Bossart says this program was ill-fated from the beginning because he didn’t know anything about cars. Apparently it was a programming idea of the late Jack Lester and, despite many successes, this idea didn’t have any gas.

Morning radio news anchor, Al Aamodt delivers a newscast; the compact device in the white case, on Al’s right, is an audio editing and storage machine. Incoming audio files, sent as email attachments, can be routed to this digital editing device and prepared for broadcast. These reports can then be played back on-the-air directly from this machine. Light years away from the ol’ “Spotmaster 101” beast some of us worked with decades ago.

Ye olde AP teletype with those purple or black ink ribbons has been replaced by the PC screen on Al’s left. Along with all AP wire copy, this online computer also receives internal and external email and news reports from in-town and around the state. Many of these stories contain pieces of audio. The studio’s window looks out onto the Forum’s newsroom. (photos by your Editor)

TIM STOFLET is shown in the Videotape Room, circa 1970s, in this photo by Erik Swee. Tim continues to provide the modern-day version of this resource, a role he has filled since 1967. Incidentally, back then there was one rare day when Earl Williams was working FM, your Editor was covering AM and Tim was in TV videotape control. All three of us came to WDAY from the late Bob Ingstad Senior’s KOVC Radio in Valley City. Earl mentioned this to me last week and added that “Bob would have been proud of his guys running the entire WDAY operation.”

The late RALPH VON BANK, as many of us remember him, at his drawing board in the basement Art Department in the American Life Building. Photo by Erik Swee, circa 1970s. 4