Another "Face" from Radio Found....on Facebook

The rains came in from the south yesterday afternoon about 3 O'clock...the wind then switched to the north at 30 or so MPH, and the temperatures dropped to the low 40s...this made for one miserable afternoon...probably an inch or more fell, before it ended around Midnight.  Today, sunshine and somewhere in the 50s is forecast, and the next 10 days or so, look to be "normal" for November...high temperatures fluctuating between the low 40s to near 60 by this coming Sunday, then cooler next week.

Facebook, finding another face from the past_____

I signed up with the Internet site Facebook about 2 years ago...didn't think much of it at that time, it was basically, or so it appeared, to be a site where the kiddies were looking to hook up with the opposite sex, or BS with friends off at college or out-of-state.  I didn't use it much, until a few of those that blogged in my circles started posting on their sites, so I joined in...things were still slow, at least until the past election season neared...then I started using the site as a compliment to this blog, to get the word out to more folks.  It also became a Political Site for folks with like minded views on politics.  Most of the 650+ "friends" I have, lean to the right...a few lefties remain, and some apolitical types from my past are also on that list....but by far and away, most of those are right wing/patriot types who have the same dislike of the Obama crowd in common with yours truly.

On occasion I do come across a name from the past....and make contact with folks I have not talked with or seen in 20, 30, or in the case of one person, almost 50 years...some old childhood friends, siblings of deceased friends, or guys I was in the Military, College, or worked with back in my broadcasting days of the 1970s and 80s.  Before I left for Wisconsin last week, I came across the name and photo of a guy named Chuck Coon.  I had worked with a Chuck Coon at WJMT Radio in Merrill, Wisconsin, in my early days of radio, at my first full time gig, upon graduation from Ray Szamada's Trans American School of Broadcasting, in Wausau, Wisconsin....I worked at WJMT AM/FM just a short while...from the late Summer of 1978 until the next June, when I headed off to Kokomo as Morning News Anchor WIOU/WZWZ.

Chuck Coon(I forget his on air name, mine was Pat "Rogers", for the only time in radio that I did not use my real name), proceeded me on the air...he worked the midday shift, while I worked the "Afternoon Drive, and Evening Shift...all that glory for a starting salary of $112.00 a week.  The pay didn't matter, I had made it full time in Broadcasting...something I would do for the next 5 years full time, and the next 20 after that on a part-time basis.  The part time portion, which included radio and cable TV work, would be in News and Sports play-by-play, while I was working full time in the Environmental Health field.

It happens that this Chuck Coon was the guy I had worked with in Merrill...he is from southeast Michigan, and has lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the past few decades, working in News and for the past 20 years or so with the Wyoming Department of Tourism:

http://www.wyomingtourism.org/

....It is always good to meet someone from your past, especially someone that has had some success in their chosen field.  Now, I'm not sure if Chuck would be into or agree with my political views and postings, but it is good to add him to the list of old radio and Air Force comrades that I have found on Facebook, and other places on the vast Internet...damn, shouldn't we all just thank old Fat Al Gore for inventing this thing called the Internet{insert major sarcasm here}?

The basketball scrimmage season has arrived for those schools not still involved in the football playoffs...I put off my first work until this Saturday, when I head to Lincolnview for a boys Varsity/JV Scrimmage session...hopefully my legs, lungs, and back, are ready...tonight I head for meeting #4 of the local rules association in Van Wert, that will give me my required sessions, so from here on out, I can attend or not as I please.

back later>>>>

Photo-The old sheepskin from Trans American School of Broadcasting in Wausau, Wisconsin, which was owned by Ray Szmanda, the voice behind the Menard's Commercials....the Late Mike Rockwell, was my main instructor.  I am pleased that the money from the GI Bill I spent to go to TA, as well as Hocking Tech and Wright State, where I majored in Environmental Health. both led to long careers in Broadcasting and EH work.  Not many can say that they followed the career paths that they studied post high school.  I am lucky to say I did.