Dave Clarke’s enjoyable pageant flashbacks

Editor’s notice: The Kewanee Voice requested Correspondent Dave Clarke to recall a few of his reminiscences of Hog Days previous.

That goes again fairly a methods...

In the early 70s, throughout my summer season holidays from WIU, I toiled within the trenches at WKEI, with fourth flooring studios excessive atop the Hotel Kewanee.

One of my information assignments was masking the conferences of the Hog Festival Committee which then met within the Chamber of Commerce workplace simply contained in the entrance door of the lodge.

The forged of characters (committee members), and consider me, there have been some characters within the bunch, included Anne Murchison, her husband George, his father Ed Murchison, Ralph Nuding, Ray Behnke, John and Irene Spiegel, Bob Goodwin, Florence Norman, and Wilma “Billie” Peterson, Chamber workplace secretary.

Just because the committee does immediately, again then the night was spent hashing over plans for Kewanee’s upcoming Labor Day weekend occasion. The schedule included a number of the occasions nonetheless on the record immediately such because the carnival, pork barbecue, Model T race (now it’s known as a rally), a parade and barrow present. But there have been just a few which have dropped off the lineup through the years akin to a bottle, stamp and coin present, three nights of sq. dancing, and a house expertise present.

One of the highlights of the weekend again then, preliminary expertise present competitors was held on Sunday afternoon, with finals that night, each within the Peoples National Bank car parking zone. Both drew massive crowds, even on scorching afternoons when smiling faces dripped streams of sweat as they proudly endured tumblers, baton twirlers, pompom squads and vocalists competing.

The contest had all the time been sponsored by the radio station with “personalities” Eldon Q. Johnson and David VanDrew as emcees. But, as they moved on, the mantle was handed on with some resistance to 2 younger guys who labored on the station, Larry Flannery and myself. I used to be attending WIU and Larry BHE and we didn’t suppose that the expertise present was, let’s simply say, our cup of tea.

We have been additionally already liable for all of the pageant protection which then ran from Friday night to Monday evening. We did dwell studies each hour all weekend using the station’s new cellular unit which allowed us to broadcast anyplace anytime from the station’s additionally new inexperienced Chevy Vega station wagon which was plastered with WKEI in massive, white letters.

But station proprietor/supervisor George Walker informed us that though he signed our paychecks, we labored for these individuals on the market tuning in WKEI to be told and entertained. The expertise present obtained us out of the station and nose to nose with the general public we served.

The prelims of the expertise present have been held on Sunday afternoon and the finals that evening which afforded an prolonged alternative to fulfill the general public up shut and private, each good and dangerous, an essential lesson if you’re in radio.

We did have a rebellious second, nonetheless, doing one thing that has by no means earlier than been informed. One yr Lar and I talked a brilliant, younger gentleman named Roger Kent, supervisor of Kewanee’s new cable TV firm, into emceeing the prelims of the expertise present (preserving us out from below the recent afternoon solar) as a result of, nicely, we have been going to be tremendous busy masking the pageant, or so we mentioned. Instead, we slipped out to Lar’s dad’s tavern, Bill’s Tap,” on Eighth Street, which was closed on Sunday afternoons…and air-conditioned. There we spent the afternoon within the empty bar watching the expertise present being broadcast over the cable channel on the bar’s TV whereas consuming inordinate quantities of Mr. Flannery’s pizza and beer.

Kent did a wonderful job of “filling in” for us, however issues went sideways when the wind got here up.

Back then the stage was arrange alongside the south aspect of the PNB lot up in opposition to the Anderson Appliance constructing. Evert Johnson, the committee’s sound man, was liable for establishing any music an act wanted on both a cassette tape or vinyl file. A workable system, for the time, till a giant breeze got here alongside and flipped the file off of the turntable and into the air simply because the performer was starting their routine.

Mr. Johnson shortly retrieved the file, set it again in place and cued up the lower. After the wind ended two or three acts earlier than they hardly had an opportunity to start, Evert lastly solved the issue through the use of massive items of cardboard to dam the wind so they may lastly get “on with the show” with out the data getting blown off the stage.

No one ever knew that we have been watching the entire episode on TV and, although we couldn’t preserve from laughing, we felt sorry for Evert and Mr. Kent. If we had emceed the present, the wind nonetheless would have blown the data out from below the needle at inappropriate instances, wherein case, we most likely wouldn’t have been laughing fairly as a lot.

A reminiscence from the expertise present I’ve all the time remembered was when just a little Mexican boy, about 5 or 6 years previous, performed a piano solo, Al Hirt’s “Alleycat,” within the afternoon preliminary. It wasn’t a very onerous piece to play however the teen carried out it nicely and obtained an enormous response from the viewers.

When the acts making the finals that night have been introduced, the mom of one of many entries created a scene saying her daughter ought to have been within the finals and proceeded to go after the judges criticizing their decisions and {qualifications}. Meanwhile, over by the piano, a younger dad, most likely in his mid-20s, was telling his son how nicely he did and although he didn’t make the finals, he was very, very pleased with him. Neither act made the finals, however one in every of them walked away a winner.

Larry and I have been very proud to have “invented” the longest pigtail contest and hog calling contest. We thought each of them up as methods to fill the time between the tip of competitors and announcement of finalists and winners. Both have been prompt hits with the viewers and the pigtail contest quickly grew to become a separate occasion held at a distinct time and attracting over 70 entries one yr.

Every yr Hog Days is a ready-made reminiscence maker for each younger and previous. Let’s hope the pageant, itself, doesn’t at some point develop into a reminiscence.