Monday, November 23, 2009

A few radio memories...

KCSR Radio had been on the air for only about one year when they placed this display advertisement in the Chadron Record. It included the full weekly program schedule for the 250-watt AM radio station, the first in the far northern reaches of the Nebraska panhandle.

Many of the same programs were still on the air four years later when the Community Service Radio Corporation -- owned by Bob Fouse and Bill Finch -- sold the station to the Beef Empire Stations owned by the Huse Publishing Company out of Norfolk, Nebraska.

You'll find a larger, easier to read version of this schedule, along with a collection of photographs from some of the earlier days of KCSR Radio, by visiting our KCSR Gallery.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Ex-KCSR GM honored in Colorado

by Larry Miller
We’re not the swiftest of messengers, but we do like to share good news about folks who’ve been a part of the Chadron community over the years.

Many of you will remember Jack Miller, a native of Norfolk who moved to Chadron in 1959 to be manager of KCSR Radio. His wife Connie was a nurse for many years at the Chadron Community Hospital, and they both had a big impact on Chadron for the decade or so that they were in the community.

So it was with pride that we wrote a note on our Radio-TV Journal site about having lunch and visiting with Jack and another KCSR veteran, Don Grant, while we were in Fort Collins earlier this year.

Both Jack and Don had come out of WJAG Radio in Norfolk, the oldest licensed radio station in Nebraska. Don returned to Norfolk in short order, but Jack remained in Chadron, becoming involved in a wide range of civic activities, including a long tenure on the hospital board.

Jack and Don were only two of several ex-KCSR staffers who migrated to KCOL radio in Fort Collins in the 1970s. Veteran newsman John DeHaes and programmer Wil Huett both landed there, too. DeHaes had worked for the Chadron Record before switching to broadcast news with stints at KCSR and later at KMMJ in Grand Island. Huett – if memory serves me correctly – had come out of southeast Iowa, perhaps the Keokuk area – before arriving in Chadron.

Of course, they’re all gone from the Chadron scene, but Jack Miller – no relation to yours truly – made quite a splash with Colorado broadcasters. Two years ago, he was named to their Colorado Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Hence, my opening apology for a long delay in acknowledging that recognition.

Jack Miller and Don Grant are retired in Fort Collins, as are – I believe – John DeHaes and Wil Huett. Both John and Wil are widowers. John married a bit later in life to Lorraine Ford, mother of JoAnne and Laurie Ford, Chadron High graduates from the early 1960s.

This posting was spurred by the video tribute to Jack Miller that we found on the worldwide web. We've archived it below. Simply click on the arrow at the bottom left of the image box to see the video. If you watch closely, you can catch a glimpse of John DeHaes, too.

A belated tip of the hat…again…. to Jack Miller!


~
NOTE:  We're saddened to report that Jack Miller passed away in April of 2013.  You'll find his obituary on our Radio-TV Journal site.