Sunday, June 12, 2011

Night At The Museum!

   Remember the movie "Night at the
Museum" when the dinosaur and all the
other exhibits came to life?
 Well the same thing happened at
Stirna's Restaurant in Scranton last
night. Except this time is was old
broadcasters that took over the place!
 They came for the 2nd annual
WDAU/WYOU reunion.
 Talk about 'oldies but goodies!'
 Many were there in person while
others came to life in the stories
and memories of the old WDAU (later
WYOU) TV!
 Channel 22 produced some of the
best broadcasters in the
business over the years.
  You never got a chance to meet or
see many of them because they were
secretaries,sales men and women,
cameramen. and producers who
always worked behind the scenes.
  On and Off Air veterans
shared their memories of the 'good
old days.'
  Several recalled the late News
Director Tom Powell who checked
every word of every story written
after it had aired.
  I always wondered why he didn't
do that before we broadcast the
story so we could 'correct' our
mistakes before we shared them with
all the viewers.
  Tom was fussy! I remember getting
a script back with the word 'per'
in the phrase 'miles per hour.'
circled in red. Tom told me "We
don't use Latin."
  But we all learned from Tom and
some current reporters could use a
few of his red circles!
  Some of the guys at the reunion
worked at the station when we were
still using film.
  I remember the times the film
broke while in the processor.
  They got it fixed and rolling
as soon as possible but the finished
product was a little like Goldilocks
 and the porridge.
   Some of the film was too light.
   Some was way too dark.
   And some was just right!
   I spent part of my reunion time
visiting with the 'weather guys',
Derry Bird, Barry Finn, Scott
Stuccio, and Dave Kuharchik.
   We had a lot in common.
   They all told you about the
terrible snow storms we were
having then sent me out in them to
show you just how terrible they were!
    Thanks guys!
    Some folks couldn't make the
gathering. They were separated from
us by distance or other responsibilities.
     Their ears must have been burning
throughout the night as nary a name
was left unspoken!
    There was, undoubtedly,several
hundred years worth of experience
and know how represented by the
people at our 'Night at the Museum.'
     And I'll bet everyone there
would be more than happy to share
that wealth of knowledge with people
in the business today.
     Too bad nobody covered the event!
     Hope all your NEWS is good!
      

1 comment:

  1. It was great seeing everyone again last night. It was like going back in time. I remember one of our photogs, now celebrating 20 years with World Vision, re-wrote Jimmy Buffet's margaritaville about WDAU, and one of the lines was " and I've got a film break down in the lab." good times. Those notes TP put on our scripts afer the fact I found annoying at the time, but today they are my own pet peeves. I learned so much from everyone I worked with at 415 Lackawanna avenue, from Chief Photo Jimmy Keenan (so glad to see him last night) to this Wilkes-Barre Bureau Chief Named Dave something or other...;-) to friendships with Account Execs like David Katz, and production guys like Bill Jewett, Those years are still the highlight of my career. I love ya all!

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