A Good Job
I like my job, however there was a time when I loved my job. I was
once a radio announcer, a most enjoyable occupation. I ended up in a
conversation with Chris Melbye, also a radio alumnus, about a month
ago. We both gushed to one another about how we enjoyed our radio
days and I made a note to share a few stories about my radio career
in my column.

First off, the radio you see isn’t always the radio you hear. As a
young sports announcer in Fosston, Minnesota, I would arrive well before the
game to string cords from my spot on the bleachers to a phone in the
Athletic Directors. That is how we go the audio feed back to the
station for broadcast. I used up lots of duct tape and the knees of
my pants taping hundreds of feet of cord to a gymnasium floor. I
would then try to scrape off the dust and sweat and transition into
the relaxed sports announcer you might have heard on your radio,
circa late 80’s.

Sports announcers must possess stamina; I recall one Saturday
schedule that included a volleyball tournament in Thief River Falls,
the “Coaches Corner” show in between volleyball matches then
finishing up my day standing on a van in a snowmobile suit announcing
a football game in Plummer. We used to mount a twenty-five foot
antennae mast to the station van when I announced football games at
the old Fosston station. Imagine standing on top of a van, trying to
counter the leverage from a tall mast in heavy winds, all the while
trying to remember twenty-two different players on the football field.

Working at the studio was also a challenge, like the first night I
operated the Fosston station in 1987. Small-town stations typically
had lots of local programming at the time. I had to read the local
news, connect with the Bagley and Mahnomen news correspondents by
phone, read the public service announcements and the obituaries all
in my first hour. The station manager appreciated my anxiety at that
moment and told me I would do fine, then scurried to his car to
listen to me slowly die on the air. It actually went pretty well, but
I would have “dead-air” dreams the first few weeks of my employment.
People listen to radio to hear something and “dead-air” is when the
announcer fails to provide for that need; it can be a nightmare. The
people were good to me there and it was a nice place; although maybe
a bit lonely for a 19 year old. I learned a lot about radio and
myself in Fosston.

I hit stride when I worked at KKAQ. I was the sports director in
addition to my duties as announcer. I was comfortable on the air and
country music was finally getting back to its traditional roots. I
also had people like Danni Halvorson and Kevin Nelson to help me with
sports play by play by adding their color commentary. I really
enjoyed my on-air shift and would imagine that I was talking to a
family member, which made it more comfortable for me to talk and for
others to listen. I started out at KKAQ working from six to ten at
night. My friend, Mike Anderson, would come by during the last hour
of my shift to visit, help me pick out music and then go out for the
night. It was really nice.

Later I worked a regular day shift, the only time in my life when I
haven’t had to work at night. On the week-end; I would arise at
five-thirty in the morning, call the transmitter by phone to get it
warmed up, then dash into town to arrive at the studio ten seconds
before my shift, kick the transmitter into “broadcast mode,” turn on
the news and collapse into my chair. Sundays were even better; I just
made sure the church services were on the air and I could sit in the
sun of the front lobby buried under the blanket I brought from home.

Al Melbye always used to tease me that I used my “radio voice” when I
answered the phone at work. I don’t believe much of that polished
delivery is left when I speak, however the memories still linger.
Radio was a good job.