Twenty-five and a half years ago, I tried out for the position of co-host with Van Harden by doing a four hour show with him live at the Iowa State Fair.When I was chosen for the job, I asked my former employer, Stan Glawe of Communication Innovators, to hold my job open for a year in case this radio thing didn’t work out.Little did I know it would last for over 25 years!
In those 25 years, Van and I won 4 Marconi awards together, which is the most prestigious award in radio.We have been inducted into the Iowa Radio Hall of Fame and have numerous other community awards.But what means the most to me is the experiences I have been honored to have with WHO Radio listeners.We have taken our listeners through radio to the Olympic Bobsled run in Park City, Utah, where we rode in an Olympic bobsled with the USA team driver and Carlos Kirby (our own Des Moines Olympic bobsledder as brake-man).We broadcast from the deck of the USS Harry S Truman at sea and were shot off the deck in a COD Plane! We set up a card table on a corner in New York City to broadcast our program.(Our listeners told us not to go, we would be shot!) We attended a space shuttle lift-off that was cancelled just 20 minutes before blast-off.
We had free morning shows for people to Journey to the Center of the Earth in a limestone mine, watch a pumpkin cannon shoot pumpkins up to a mile, several free Chocolate Breakfasts, placed free quarters in a giant gumball machine for a chance to win free gems, used a cement truck and basketballs with numbers on them for a Lottery promotion in a parking lot, gave people gold in exchange for moldy things from their refrigerator for National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day (all thru a bank drive-up window) and so much more!
Management at WHO Radio allowed me to take WHO Radio listener trips all over the world that has made many permanent friendships for me and my husband Gene. We have traveled to Israel, Egypt, Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Switzerland, Peru, China, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Russia, Austria, Hungary, Vatican City, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Belgium, French Polynesian Islands, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Canada…and this summer, Norway.
How could life get any better than all this?! It’s time for me to give up the coveted position of getting up at 2:30AM every morning and spend more time with family doing the things normal people do that can stay up in the evening. Plus I can go on trips and not have to worry about being back in time to go back to work. I will always cherish my time at WHO Radio and all the people that have come and gone thru the years! And to all you beloved WHO Radio listeners, thank you for supporting me through more than 25 years!!!! WHO Radio really does have the very best listeners in the whole world!!!
Bonnie
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