Issue #20 MARCH, 2014

(Revised/Expanded Edition)

Luncheon Every third Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. This month: March 18, 2014 Gallery Restaurant - Club III Fargo Holiday Inn

MikeNotes Reprise News & Memories for WDAY AM & WDAY-WDAZ-TV Alumni Web archive of all issues http://sites.google.com/site/wdayalumni Editor: Larry Gauper (701) 237-5079 ~ Email: [email protected]

Roger Edward Mohrbacher passed away peacefully at age 84 on February 28, 2014, surrounded by his family. Rog was born to Roger and Inez (Webb) Mohrbacher in Minneapolis, MN, on December 29, 1929. He attended St. Thomas University and received his First Class Engineering license from Brown Institute. He served in the US Air Force. After his honorable discharge, he worked as a radio announcer in several cities. On June 1, 1957, Rog married Harriet Ellingson. Together they raised four daughters, Julie, Diane, Jane and Tricia. The family moved to Moorhead in 1969. Rog was employed by WDAY TV for 14 years. Those who loved him will miss his wonderful sense of humor, quick wit, joy for life and warm heart and we’ve missed him at our alumni luncheons for some time. He was a “regular” every month for many years. Roger Mohrbacher photo from June, 2009, WDAY Alumni Luncheon

We received the following from one of Roger’s daughters, notifying us of her dad’s passing: I just wanted to let you know that my dad, Roger, died last night at home under hospice care. His WDAY friends meant alot to him. Thanks for all you do - Jane Dickerson

Note from Jack Sand: “Hi Larry I attended the funeral for Roger Mohrbacher today. I did get the opportunity to visit with youngest daughter, Tricia. I had not seen her since she was that little girl in WDAY-TV’s The Magic Shop program (see photo, on right). She lives in Minnesota and is a volunteer firefighter in her community. The little boy on the show is Rory. Lee Massey and Ralph VonBank made the set. Lee directed the show. Marv Bossart did the intro for the show.” See page six for two more photos. Thanks, Jack, for the memories and photographs.

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Jim Shaw slightly improved!

I visited with Jim Shaw last week and he seemed to have more energy than the last time we visited, about a month ago. As most of you know, Jim is battling ulcertative colitis, both the disease itself and its complications. The drugs he must take also have troublesome side effects, which sap is energy. However, he recently went into the office for a few hours on several occasions (he’s News Director at Fox News/KVRR-TV in Fargo). After leaving WDAY-TV, Jim built an excellent news department at KVRR and added innvovations such as the market’s first 9:00 P.M. newscast, and then he expanded to a full hour. During last week’s school levy electiion, KVRR was first with the results. Having had a keen interest in the outcome, I was monitoring all news outlets as well as the Cass County Auditor’s website. However, T. J. Nelson, KVRR co-anchor, had the results before everybody else, including the county website. Our thoughts are with you, Jim, as we hope and pray for your continuing recovery and look forward to the day you’ll be back with us a luncheon regular!

We welcome two to the WDAY Alumni list

We happily added two and, to many of us, familiar names to the WDAY Alumni list: former WDAY-TV newsman Steve Bergeson. He joined the NDSU Communications staff in August of 1996 and is now holds the position of Senior Writer/News Coordinator.

Also good to see Conrad and Dorothy Rose at the Feburary luncheon, as they returned from snowbirding.

We also welcome the late Sumner Rasmussen’s son, Gary Rasmussen. We all remember “Ras,” both as Chief Engineer at WDAY-TV and, later, in the top general management position he held prior to his retirement.

Gary worked at WDAY part-time from 1969 until 1973 while attending NDSU. He rejoined WDAY in 1976. In 1990 he and his family moved to Boise, Idaho, Photos from last where he worked at Boise State University as Manager of Technical Services. month’s luncheon He retired in June of 2011.

on page four. Welcome to both Steve and Gary – and whenver it works with your schedule, we look forward to seeing you at an alumni luncheon!

Honoring Marv and fighting Parkinson’s

A foundation for Parkinson’s and Caregiver Support has been established in recogniton of Marv Bossart’s struggle with the disease and the support he received from his wife, Betty, his daughters and other family members, friends and other caregivers, both professiionals and volunteers alike. Marv was WDAY-TV’s anchor for 42 years and, in retirement, an enthusiastic WDAY Alumni luncheon “regular” and contributor. He passed away in 2013. According to a WDAY-TV news report, “the foundation will help fund programs for those battling Parkinson’s and it will provide caregivers’ support as well.” Liz Bossart, Marv’s daughter, said “We know what we through caring for dad. We thought if we could lend his name to a cause that would help others with Parkinson’s, that’s something he would want.” For more information on the foundation and how you can contribute, go to www.marvinbossartfund.org. We sure miss Marv at the luncheons and I always enjoyed our conversations about journalism and media. You’ll find a brief video of Marv and his first female anchor, Claudia Danovic, on YouTube. I recorded this brief clip at a luncheon, about two years prior to Marv’s passing. Do a Google search for Page 2 of six “Marv & Claudia Together Again.”

How hay fever shut down a radio station by Bob Aronson

Bob, 2014 Facebook photo

On August 21, 2007, Bob Aronson received a new heart at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Bob says: All these years later I am very active, happy and loving life. God bless my donor and his family. His generosity toward a complete stranger will never be forgotten. Read more about what Bob is doing to encourage organ donation on the web at this address: bobsnewheart.wordpress.com Bob was the original host of WDAY Radio’s first call-in talk show, Viewpoint, It aired Monday through Friday, beginning at 9:00 A.M. During the same late 1960searly 70s period, John Erling was first to host an afternoon talk show on WDAY Radio, What’s Your Opinion?

AS A YOUTH I WAS SUBJECT TO EXTREME ALLERGY ATTACKS. I had asthma, hay fever and on occasion would get hives. The doctors said I was allergic to almost everything from fish and seafood to dust, pollen, and some things they said had not yet been discovered. The result was that attacks of Asthma and Hay fever in particular could come at almost any time and they did. My first job in radio was at WMFG in Hibbing, Minnesota on the Iron Range. Hibbing is 7 miles away from my home town of Chisholm where I was living with my parents. A month or two after I had started this glorious new career inradio I was hit by a serious attack of hay fever. If you've never had it you cannot imagine how terrible it is. My nose literally ran like a faucet. I don't know where it all came from. You would think that at some point there wouldn't be enough liquid in your body to make your nose run that much but obviously there was because run it did. When I left for work at 5:00 that Saturday morning there were no stores open in which I could buy some Kleenex so I grabbed a stack of about a dozen hankies to take with me. I signed the station on at 6:00 AM and began the days programming with my clean hankies neatly stacked near the left turntable. By 6:30 I had already soaked two of them and was miserable. I could not stop sneezing and my nose ran as though it was connected to a water main. There was an anti-histamine at the time called Dristan. It was supposed to dry you out but all it did was make me dizzy,,, and may have released even more liquids from my body. I had never been so miserable. It was so bad that while on the air reading commercials I had to hold a hankie to nose. By 9 AM I only had three dry ones left so during a long record I took my soiled linens into the rest room, washed them thoroughly with hand soap and looked for a place to dry them. I thought maybe I could find a fan but no such luck then it occurred to me that the hottest place in the building was the transmitter and there was a fan in there. I walked to the transmitter room, went to the back of the unit, opened the door and neatly hung my wet linen over some wires. I then partially closed the door enough so that it looked latched, but wasn't and went back to my announcing duties as my hankies fluttered in the breeze created by the powerful transmitter fan. About a half hour later the phone rang. It was the owner, Frank Befera wanting to know why we weren't on the air. Surprised at hearing that news I explained to him that when I came in I followed all the procedures necessary to turn the transmitter on and that the meter readings indicated that we were "On the air," but when I looked up I could see quite clearly that the needles were not dancing as usual, they all lay flat on their left sides. Panic started to set in. He was right. We weren't on the air. I asked Mr. Befera to hold. I put the phone down, went to the front of the transmitter and repeated the process I had followed at sign on. No luck. It would not come on. I reported the malfunction to Befera who said he would call Howard Jackson our engineer to come in to check on it, and within just a few minutes Howard was there with the front door of the transmitter open as he checked wires and tubes all the while shaking his head in disbelief. Howard was a good engineer but was mystified. The phone rang again. "Why the hell are we still off the air," said an impatient Befera. I said I didn't know and Howard on another phone said he was puzzled as well. Befera was no doubt seeing dollar signs go out the window because as long as we were off the air we were not running commercials but were still generating overhead Page 3, continued on page six

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costs. This was costing the owner some money and he didn't' like it. Befera. also a licensed broadcast engineer, muttered something and hung up. About that time the two announcers, Keith Knox and Ron Marinelli, came in to see if they could help but not being engineers they were only good for moral support. Finally about 11:30 AM Befera arrived. He didn't say a word as he rushed into the transmitter room. Through the window I could see that the boss was in a very animated and agitated discussion with the engineer animated and loud, albeit muffled. He repeated the tests made by Jackson but thought he would try one more thing. He went to the back of the transmitter, opened the door and stood there in stunned silence before he bellowed, "Who is hanging their Goddamned laundry in the transmitter?" Up until that then I had forgotten about my hankies and thought it was probably best I remain silent. Fortunately at about the same time scores of expletives were rushing forth from behind the transmitter my shift had ended and Howard was to take over until signoff. Marinelli nudged me and said, “We have to get you out of here now…come with me.” Frank Befera was Ron's cousin and Ron knew that when Frank got angry he might make a decision (firing me) that he would later regret. He also knew that Frank eventually would cool down so Ron and Keith with me in tow ran out the door, got into Ron's Mercury and escaped at high speed. Keith said, “Go to the airport.” Keith was a pilot and had rented a plane that morning to take on a little joy ride around the Iron Range. It was a four seat Cessna and it was sitting on the tarmac with the engine running when we got there. Like three guys out of an old slapstick comedy we ran for the plane, got in and took off. Now there was no way for Mr. Befera to reach us. Keith’s plan was to fly around for a couple of hours then quietly land, get in the car and go home hoping that by then Mr. Befera would have cooled down. He and Ron surmised that by scurrying me out of the building they had become accomplices and their jobs were in jeopardy as well. Well, we had a nice flight, landed, went home and no one got fired. Befera didn't come looking for us and nothing was ever said. I felt innocent enough about the situation because no one had told me that opening the door to a transmitter, whether front or back, automatically turned it off. As to my "Laundry" I never did find out if my hankies dried…the fact is I never saw them again. I would imagine Mr. Befera took them out of the transmitter and tossed them. I never asked and he never volunteered an answer. Actually he never mentioned the incident, it was almost as though it never happened. Well, not quite. A small sign almost magically appeared on both the front and back doors of the transmitters overnight. The sign said, "Opening this door turns the transmitter off." I had many other hay fever attacks after that but using the transmitter as a clothes dryer was never again an option. – B.A. (Editor’s note: Ron Marinelli, you may recall was a WDAY Radio announcer in the 1960s and early 1970s).

WDAY Luncheon Group on February 18, 2014. The 15th attendee, moi, is taking the photograph.

INSET: Dorothy and Conrad Rose, back from snowbirding; great to see “Conee’s” smile again! Page 4 of six

“A little insider info” by Karen Selberg-Lavelle Daughter of the late Norm Selberg, WDAY-TV graphic artist

I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE SOMETHING WITH YOU about some artwork that has been frequently aired during the 60th anniversary year of WDAY. The character sitting on the fence, walking across the screen, and driving the sportscar across the screen have a deeper meaning than being one of the T and V characters. We always referred to the character as the Potatohead guy. I was standing in the lobby being filmed for an interview story about my father, Norm Selberg, after his passing on September 1, 2007. Kevin was listening to me as I reviewed the various pictures on the wall that were either my father's artwork or pictures of him. Then I started to laugh as I was looking at T and V. The Potatohead guy is a rough characature of Bill Snyder! And the female is his wife, Evy! My father was sly with his artwork. I am pretty sure that is what he did. T and V are Bill and Evy. Not sure about the cowboy playing guitar while sitting on the fence. The character driving the car, well, that has to be Bill in our 1952 MG TD. You will also see the MG, with my father driving it, on the wall leading to the WDAY-TV studio. I just wish he were here to verify what I believe to be his sense of humor while creating this artwork for the station. His sense of humor was sometimes quiet. While sitting at our kitchen table with my five kids and our foster son, he would frequently have pen and paper in hand, drawing what he found to be his interpretaion of something. This particular occasion was not too long after a very long film about a soldier becoming friends with the Indians. They thought he was a little crazy. He was eventually welcomed into their tribe as one of them. Now for my father's artwork. We all watched as, one after another, animals that looked like huge dogs standing on their hind feet appeared on the paper. One human was drawn, in a dance like position with one of the dogs; one of my children asked Grandpa what he drew. With his sly little chuckle he responded, “Dances with wolves.”

Karen also informed us that her mom, Gladys (Vicki) Selberg is currently living near Karen’s sister, Andrea, in Tucson, Arizona. Like Karen, Andrea paid her dues at WDAY; she worked the evening switchboard. You may have known her as “Sam,” her nickname at that time, according to Karen. During the Selberg’s WDAY-TV years, Vicki, as we knew her back then, served as one of Bill Weaver’s co-hosts on PARTY LINE

My father is gone, but for me, thanks to WDAY, I have him near everyday when I see his artwork come to life. He also would be very impressed with the fact that his artwork has appears on a very large electronic outdoor advertisement screen. The one by JT Cigarro is near my home. I sat in the parking lot just south of there, waiting for it to appear so I could take a picture. I sent this to his grandchildren, who though it was pretty cool that Grandpa's artwork was on an electronic billboard. Anyone who remembers what Bill Snyder looked can now look at the anniversary clips in a new light . Thanks for ‘listening’ and a big thanks for keeping the memories alive for the WDAY alumni. Always fun to read the updates. — K. S.-L. (Thank YOU for sharing, Karen, L.G.) Page 5 of six

Tempo Toyland Remember the Tempo store? It was the area’s first “big box discounter,” located in the Holiday Mall in Moorhead. They were the sponsor of Tempo Toyland with Jack Sand for a number of years. When they went out of business the program’s name was changed to Santa's Toyland and the sponsors were Hardees and JCPenney. Thanks for these memories and photos, Jack. You were magic back in those days–and still are!

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