Dennis West-Station Manager
Williams Bay (Lake Geneva), Wisconsin. Publisher of a biweekly newspaper called The Beacon.
C. Eugene Angle-Station Manager
Darrell Burnett
Real Estate Developer
Paul Morel
Graphic artist WKRC-TV/Cincinnati
Mark DeSantis
VP/GM of WEEK-TV in Peoria
Chris Bartch
Video Honcho / Broward School District in Miami
Jill LaConto
Last heard of in Dallas
Joanna Robinson
Reporter
Joanne Williams
Camera
Patti Genko
Radio personality
Owner, Patti Genko Communications LLC
Josie Zamutto
Owner, Zamutto Consulting, Miami, Florida
Jim Zahrt
Cameraman
Dave Ross
The Patient Channel/Milwaukee
Barb Schobinger
Comcast Cable in the Chicago burbs
Sue Halverson
"Domestic Engineer"
Colorado Springs area
Terry Godfrey
Todd Powelson
WMAQ-TV NBC Chicago
"5 years to retirement...yahoooo"
Aaron Silberman
CBS4 Miami
Walter Naar
Turner Broadcasting/Atlanta
Paul Byckowski
Freelance director in Houston doing sports
Pete Barrett
Kansas City, MO
Owner/Peter Barrett Communications
Owner/InLobbyTV
Jack Keefe
Realtor/Bloomington, IL
Mary McCarthy
Public Relations Manager, Greenville SC Art Museum
http://www.greenvillemuseum.org/
Jim Ebaugh
Reporter
Kelly Daley
Plum Moving Media/Milwaukee
Snow Savich
Reporter/Anchor
Now a writer at WGN-TV Chicago
Gigi Lyons
Freelancer/Dallas, TX
Cece Rodgers
Freelancer Reporter/Chicago
Suzanne Bates
Bates Communications/Wellesley, MA
Judy Moen
Lives in the Atlanta area
Rich Schmig
Plum Moving Media/Milwaukee
Dave Abramson
Chief Engineer for the Phillies Baseball Club
Dave Coughlin
John Cummings
Cinematographer, Cleveland, OH
Sue Mroz
Popular 23 Weather Anchor, went on to working at the
Winnebago County Director of Economic Development.
Retired in 2013.
Ron Pelligrini
Mike Kipp
Rod Grams
Rick Price
KIRO-TV Seattle
Ed Crane
WCBS Radio
Carl Cherkin
VP Philadelphia Union Soccer Team
Clif Willis/Announcer
Passed away 7/15/11 in Colorado
John Bjoin
Tustin, CA. Golf pro shop owner
Tom LeTourneau
AV Manager for Elgin School System.
Mike Johnson
Camera op. Later owned Rockford Fence Co.
Mr. Mustache/Bruce Lewis
Commercial artist in Rockford
Mark Ovenden
Sportscaster for KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, SD.
Greg Miller
Engineer now in charge of the Arkansas Public Television Network microwave system.
Bill Natale
Freelance Director in Chicago.
Mark Wolfson
Director now freelancing doing sports.
Gary Seymour
Production Manager WISN Milwaukee
1960's-1970's WCEE/WIFR
Chuck Faber - News Director/Anchor
Passed away in Florida in 2009
"Goodnight, Tiger"
Ken Staaf
Weather Announcer
Dean Turman - chief engineer
Jim Thomas - program director
Jerry Johnston - art department
Lorin Ostir - film photographer
John Anderson - engineer
Ben Pflederer - engineer
Mary Lou Manalli - reporter
Sherwin Williams - reporter
Bill Williams - film dept
Jerry Mayer - reporter
Owner, Hometown Productions, Baton Rouge, LA
www.hometownproductions.com
Larry ??? - director
18 comments:
How did I forget C. Eugene Angle, station manager. Does anyone remember him getting on the station speakers and beginning with "This is the Captain speaking"?
Dave Abramson
Sherwin Williams? Ya gotta be kidding!
What about Gigi Lyons (Westerman)?!
Angle was just.....batshit. I am trying to imagine such behavior these days. I never knew him really.
Debbie Goodman DeSantis Boton said:
Remember Gene Angle and that soft drink? "Damn good product!" was all he could say.
He hired me cuz he thought I was cute. His secretary (Jeannie?) told me. How would that play out today?
It was so much fun strolling down memory lane with you all!
The first WCEE newscast Sept 65' called "Scope"...Chuck Faber news, John Drilling weather, Faber on sports...Don Doughty Chief Engineer, Brownie Ackers Kerr-Magee comsultant, Jim Lilga News Photographer, Johnny Brown Sales, Dick Ensley Studio Camera, Joanne Blunt receptionist, Tom Hexamer Production Manager just to name a few on board at the begining.
I live in Williams Bay (Lake Geneva), Wis. and publish a biweekly newspaper called The Beacon. You can see it on the Web at www.readthebeacon.com. Some other people who worked at WCEE (the on-air identification as WC-TV, contrary to the opinion of a shocked stockholder's wife, did not stand for water closet) and Wonderful Wiffer, were: Sharon Tammen, the station's first promotion manager who designed the WCEE logo that is now used by Neighborhood Watch organizations; Dean Ward, the sales manager who became GM after Earl Hickerson left; Dean Turman, Chief Engineer; Jim Brady, Chief Engineer; Betty Reynolds, copywriter; Lorraine Hanley, copywriter; Ralph Reynolds, copywriter; Loen Ostir, photographer; Roy Billsbarrow, Controller; Mike Lennon, General Sales Manager; Dennis Grill, Local Sales Manager; Gloria Cardenas Cudia, Sec. to the G.M. and Personnel Mgr.; Sally Kolkmeyer, Receptionist, who went to WREX and then to WISN TV, Milwaukee, where she has been a Weathercaster for more than 20 years; Gene Talbot "Old Folks," one of the original Account Executives; Bill Walters, A.E.; Terry Bobzien, A.E.; Wayne Morris, A.E.; Rick Moore, News Anchor and Bon Vivant (to say the least); Dave Watts, photographer; Linda (??) Bjoin, Sales Secretary, and many others.
Someone mentioned that C. Eugene was in the habit of picking up the mike at the front desk and saying, "Attention, this is you captain speaking." When he first arrived and was changing WCEE to WIFR with the 23 Action News image makeover, he was so excited when he got the new jingle that he went to the front desk, opened the mike, said "Now hear this," and began to blast the music over the P.A. Chief Engineer Dean Turman stormed up to the desk, grabbed the recorder out of his hand, flipped off the switch and said, "Are you our of your goddamned mind? We can't hear the audio at master control!" C. Eugene apologized and slunk back to his office.
Before Mr. Angle showed up to take control of the station (this was before the official handover) he sent a Virginia ham to Dean Ward's house so we could enjoy a bit of the Deep South at our Christmas party. Even though Dean was a southerner himself, he didn't know that you were supposed to soak the salt-encrusted ham for about a week before you served it. (It got there too late to do that, anyway.) So we were all non-plussed when we made ham sandwiches, took a bite and then spit it out. It was not unlike eating lütefisk that had been preserved in lye and not soaked enough before eating. It was, indeed, a harbinger of things to come.
Dennis West
Hi Guys
I'm not hard to find just spell my name patti gEnko (no "i")
who do I send a pic to for posting?
Patti
Hi Patti-Send it to 23actionnews (at)gmail.com along with any update you want to include and I'll see it gets posted...sorry about the misspelling! Thanks
I found this last night and this should kick-start a few memories, mine included below for starters,
http://www.constantinconstant.com/2010/12/07/chuck-faber-action-news/
There was the time we got hit by lightning during the news and director Tom LeTourneau wigged out saying we were off the air. I was the stage manager and walked up to Chuck at the desk to tell him. I stood on camera with him for a minute or so just leaning on the desk and doing a guest appearance on Scope news. Finally an engineering voice told Tom we were still on the air and the switcher had blown out all the light bulbs. Now knowing Chuck and I have been staring blankly live, I just told him to stand-by and I slipped off camera. I never told him the real story.
Then there was the night a cat jumped up on his desk right in front of him during the 10pm tease. You have to reply and beg to get the rest of the story.
And Dennis, don't forget The Captain sending all of us large cans of Virginia peanuts for Christmas presents. We were already paid peanuts and he managed to remind us at the holiday.
And we should add Morey Owens doing high school basketball in B&W film by chief photographer Loren Ostir to the list of giants. It was shot on Friday nights and shown for an hour on Saturday,
Dave A
I just came across this site!
I was a reporter at WCEE-TV, Channel 23 from mid-1969 (leaving WTVO after 3 months when Bruce Richardson told me the station manager thought I looked too young to be on the air. I went up Meridian to Chuck and hiring me on the spot, I was able to join Lennie Ingrassia and Pete Chapman (I think was his name) as Channel 23 reporter/photographers
Ken Stasf was weather and I recall there were several sports anchors during my time there.
I got the first VASCAR ticket (doing 93.9 in a 65 zone on my way to DeKalb to cover the Kent State Riots at Northern where I was living while my first wife was working on her master's degree.
It was a long daily commute.
So many stories come to mind!
We covered the "streets" while Chuck did the tuxedo routine at the station for the first (at least in Rockford) Jerry Lewis telethon for a couple of years.
If I recall, Chuck was remarried during my time there -- or was it he got a divorce?
I do remember helping him move at some point in the years I worked for him.
He was both a mentor and a jerk--all wrapped up in to a single package. I do believe the goal was to make me a better reporter and by extension, person.
Several things he told me are remembered: "You can decide to be a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond" and coming to Rockford after NYC and Milwaukee, he said he liked the big fish/little pond of Rockford much better.
Another statement was "love me or hate me, just don't ignore me"
And: "If you're going to write about me, good or bad, make sure the story is (1) above the fold and (2) you spell my name right".
Yet another: "any publicity is ultimately good publicity". I never could reconcile that one as an absolute.
I left in December of 1971 for a reporter/back-up anchor job at WREX and my first day on live television was the morning of the Israeli Olympic kidnapping and murders in September, 1972.
I left the media in June, 1973 when the Gilmore Broadcasting Group bought and later took-over WREX. Within a couple of weeks, virtually anyone with a face was gone as they revamped the news set, the news approach, the anchor and reporter teams in their quest to bolster their their market share in Rockford.
To this day, after a career in trial court administration (the CEO/COO/CAO of court systems), a lengthy HR and Operations management career in the public and private sectors plus now, a managing partner in a HR/Operations Management Consulting Company,people want to know about "what was it like to be on television?"
Well I got to do what others dream of doing and something that was part of my larger life plan so
Thank You Chuck and the others in the Rockford media now gone and my best wishes to those remaining.
Fred R. Cooper
Chuck Faber, a name -- and a person -- to remember. RIP Chuck!
Just stumbled on this site and wondered what's the latest on everyone? My first job out of school...so many, many memories. I met a lot of great people in Rockford. Hope all are well and successful.
Hello to anyone out there listening!
Find me at www.strategicimage.com
Gigi Westerman
Who covered the evening news back in the days of Sue Mroz? I'm drawing a total blank and did not see his name (or recall seeing his name) on the list.
I was among that earliest list of employees at WCEE, signing on in February of 1966 as a film)editor with Larry and Jim Hague. Does anyone have contact information for Mr. Hague?
I am still involved as a 16mm film hobbyist, and some years back, obtained Channel 23's newsfilm from 1965-1973. They need a good re-edit and when I am finished, will DVD them so that Midway Village might give them out. It's a part of our local history. Anyone having any newsfilm that I can use, please contact me at nameless1@comcast.ne
I was able to share emails with Jim Lilja, our newsfilm photog. He is retired in Colorado, where he moved after leaving. He managed a film dept. and taught film, as well. He splits his time between Colorado and Arridzona and is always up for a game of golf.
In my search for Lorin Ostir, I am sad to say that it appears he has passed away in Florida. He owned a photography business there and I found an obit online. Went to Earl Hickerson's funeral. Great bossman. His son worked with us on the VTR machines. He 'fessed up that he was the one who threw spitballs at me during the news block. I had almost forgotten that.
I remember a Larry Batten as newsblock director. John Boettcher worked in the studio. Dick Clay was an engineer. He has passed on in Minneapolis. Used to be a radio jock on WRRR. Bob Brown was an engineer and I wonder where he is. Most relaxed man at Master Control that I remember. And of course, there was Ol' Red, our janitor. These are some of the folks I remember, some of whom have not been previously discussed.I also remember one Joanne Blunt, a receptionist of stunning beauty.
In conclusion, some of the best times of my life were spent signing on and off at Rock River Television. I was young, the station was sparkling new and we had the first color film chain in town! I count it a joy to have worked there with all the others. To all of the early folk, and our later arrivals, God bless you. Herb Carlson
I was a high school intern in 1973-74 with Chuck, Mary Lou, Rick Soldat and Sherwin. To add to DA's stories, there was the summer night when Chuck opened his mouth a little too wide and a fly flew in. Dave probably remembers cutting to a quick commercial. I did the rewrite for the 10:00 news after the day crew left and remember pulling the news that Nixon had resigned off the old AP wire machine. Exciting times that come back with today's news. Arles Hendershott Love came after me, but I didn't see her name on your list: news assignment editor, Station WIFR-television, Rockford, 1983-1986; news director, Station WIFR-television, Rockford, 1986-1997; director community relations, Benedek Broadcasting Corporation/WIFR-television. now with Milestone Inc., I believe.
Brad Collins, Chicago
Well, look what I found in a boredom-driven Google search. I started my TV career at WIFR in 1978 and left for greener (but not nearly as much fun) pastures (at WDCA in Washington DC) in 1981. I met life long friends there. Mark DeSantis, Chis Bartch, Walt Naar, Dave Abramson, Aaron Silberman come to mind (I think Mark and I are the only ones still toiling in the TV salt mines; Mark as GM at WEEK; me as Production Manager at WCIA Champaign, IL). I could not begin to describe the memories there. When I retire i will try and post here again with the news I've published to Amazon a wildly entertaining account of my misbegotten adventures at WIFR. I posted a truckload of YouTube videos from my days there; search "pbarrett" and WIFR. WHAT a station.:)
Just found this site by accident while searching for the history of WCEE-TV. I worked there on and off from 1967 to 1970 in the film department (mostly nights). I had been recently discharged from the USAF (honorably, contrary to what some of my media colleagues might think) and was hired by Tom Hague. Larry ?? also worked in the film department.
Please forgive me if I get these names wrong but I remember Chuck Faber as the news director/anchor, Jim Thomas as the Station Mgr and Earl Hickerson as the General Mgr. I think the Weatherman was Tom Lee and Sports was done by Bob Morrison. After Tom left, Ken Staaf did the weather.
While I was there Bill Williams was hired to work with me and his brother Sherman was doing something with news. A woman named Barb took over as the head of the film department (I think sometime in 1969).
I also remember Tom LeTourneau being a Director and Johnny Brown in Sales.
I was ever asked to play Santa Claus for one of the annual holiday parties - loved it!
The event that sticks with me the most was when I was working on the night of June 5, 1968. Everyone had left the station except for me and the guy who was the Master Control. In those days, local stations (at least in Rockford) did not broadcast 24/7 and we would go off the air after the Late Show movie ended. While the movie was running, I noticed a feed from the network. I asked the MC to turn up the sound and that's when we learned that Robert Kennedy had been shot. I called Jim Thomas at home and asked him what we should do.
He said to go to the network. I made an announcement over the air (my one and only time) that we had learned of the incident and would be joining the network's broadcast in progress.
At Jim's direction, the two of us stuck around until the day shift came in. I can't remember what my hourly wage was then (not too much I'm sure) but because of the overtime and shift premium, my paycheck was the largest I ever received.
To all of those great people with whom I worked, thanks for teaching me so much about broadcast media... and life.
Sincerely,
Michael Burns
I enjoyed my time at WCEE then WIFR, I was hired by Chuck after 2 years at WROK, replacing Ann Garvin and joining Rick Soldat and Chris Bowman (deceased) shooting and reporting the news each day. We shot and developed film, then when Worrell bought the station we transitioned to ENG. Worked with Mary McCarthy, Glen Olmstead and Sue Mroz weather, Bill Powell and Carl Cherkin sports, reporters were Suzanne Bates, Joanna Schneider, Jody Moen, Dean Adams (deceased) Dave Westerman, Jock Thomas, Paul Masquelier, Bill Phillips (deceased), Kerry Donovan, Mark Overton. I left in 1979 for Asheville now in Baton Rouge. Great memories!
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