Home for the Holidays

So, I went home for a couple of days to visit the family. It's good to see the folks and great to have my daughters visiting their grandparents. I won't go into great detail about the visit other than to say we still wish we could be closer to home. I would, however, like to share a trip down memory lane as I was driving around town one day.

I grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky. A town of about 70-80 thousand where everybody knows your name and probably knows your father's name, too. Owensboro was recently named the best sports town in Kentucky by Sports Illustrated. It's also the home of Moonlite Bar-B-Q. Notice how I spelled it. Not the way it's spelled in North Carolina, barbeque. Oh, sure, Webster's will most likely spell it the latter, but I kinda like the hyphenated way.

Also on my drive I went past the house I grew up in. We moved into the old brick house when I was three and all I can say is it was a great house, a great neighborhood. My best friend Billy, lived around the corner. We played a lot of basketball in our respective driveways and it was always fun beating him and his little brother in some one-on-two.

Speaking of sports, I cruised past my old high school. Owensboro High School, better known as Owensboro Senior, is where I learned to knock the snot out of whomever lined up across from me on the gridiron. Unfortunately, I never really learned the basics of English. Maybe that's why my blog sometimes goes on forever, with neverending sentences and poor punctuation, you tell me. But, I can tell you I played football with NFL pros Mark Higgs, Kenny Willis, and Vince Buck. We also won a state championship.

While in high school and my first year of college, I worked at the Owensboro Marina. It was the boat dock on the Ohio River. Here I learned from owner Walt Meschko that the customer is always WRONG. That's right. Walt, a cross between Grizly Adams and the homeless man down on the corner, was the antithesis of a successful business owner. He basically ran off anyone who disagreed with him, said something remotely vulger, or just didn't kiss his butt. Don't get me wrong, as a football-playin', testosterone-filled, overzealous teen, I liked nothing more than struttin' my stuff on the dock and telling anyone where they could go. It just didn't set me up real well for what most would consider normal management. None-the-less, I enjoyed my summers wearing flip-flops, cut-off shorts, no shirt and watching the barges go by.

So that's my brief trip down memory lane. I'll not bore you with any more specifics, besides, the wife might be reading since it is the holidays and she's got a little more time than usual. I wouldn't want her reading anything about my high school exploits, right?

Merry Christmas

With the most wonderful holiday quickly upon us, I thought it a good time to write my version of our Christmas letter. We've all received these letters this time of year. You know the ones, some a little anoying (at least Darrell admits it) but most rather comical. I hope to be more of the latter.

Our year started much like many previous ones. A promise to get to the gym more often and eat right. I don't remember how long that lasted but I do know how it's ended, I just finished off some Oreos and a big glass of milk. And it's closing in on midnight!

In February I had my seventh trip to Daytona for Speedweeks. This trip is always something I look forward to, yet at the same time I'm dreading it. It's not so bad covering NASCAR in Florida in the middle of winter. On the other hand, the days are long, the Speedway officials act like Nazis and two weeks away from the family gets harder every year.

March brought one of my favorite times of year, the NCAA tournament. I went to Syracuse with sports director Rich Brenner and sat truck operator Danny Spilane to cover the Tar Heels. Now, as an avid Kentucky Wildcat fan this was not the easiest thing in the world, especially when I had to watch my beloved Cats fall to Michigan State from the comforts of a satellite truck in a cold and dreary Carrier Dome parking lot. Not to mention the fact I missed my youngest daughter's first birthday. Oh yea, I almost forgot about the trip to Syracuse. Somewhere just south of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania we got stuck in a snow storm, and when I say stuck, I mean stuck! From just after 6pm to somewhere around 2am, yep over 8 hours, we sat on I-81 in the Poconos. It seems a tractor trailer had jacknifed and it took that long to get the mess cleaned up. Let's just say thank God for XM radio.

My wife and I celebrated our 14th anniversary in May just like many of the previous ones. Working in television means I can't get a vacation in May. Lis is a very understanding woman, though, and we always manage to make the best of it by going to dinner and... enjoying each other's company. OK, enough sappiness for now.

The family vacation again was spent in Myrtle Beach, SC. We've come to appreciate this overcrowded, overpriced, ultracommercialized piece of paradise. Lauren loves the ocean and Kingston Plantation, where we stay, has a water park that she could live at.
Some days we did! It was also nice to see Lauren becoming more of a big sister to Caroline as she showed her the ropes around Ripley's Aquarium, many times shouting, "Caroline, look at the sharks, they won't eat you."

June brought the US Open to North Carolina. Yours truly was selected to go run the sat truck and shoot a little. Pinehurst was perfect and it can't come back here soon enough. I know if they could they'd bring it to Pinehurst every few years.

The rest of the summer was pretty uneventful until Lauren's first day of school. Believe it or not, she was very excited to go to Kindergarten. It's really brought her out of her shell, too. Caroline continues to ask when Lauren's bus is coming and looks forward to her coming home every day.

October was a very special month for my entire family. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding aniversary. My parents were surprised to see some of us. My wife and daughters drove home to Kentucky and my dad's brother and his wife flew in from California. It was a Golden moment seeing their faces as we met them at the church for a renewing of vows.

Now, Christmas is close at hand and the girls are more excited than ever. I'd like to get a little sappy and say how fortunate we are to be surrounded by good friends, neighbors and a wonderful family. Merry Christmas to you all and most joyous New Year. I look forward to many more with you all.

Control the Show

Fox8's own Chad Tucker and photojournalist Eddie Hughes recently did a story in Winston-Salem about a Wake Forest student who lets internet surfers control the Christmas lights on his house. So, I went to controltheshow.com and checked it out.

I must say, if you don't have to wait very long it's pretty entertaining. Once on the website you can enter a queue to get in line. I was on earlier tonight and only had to wait a couple of minutes. Once you get control of the show you click on a series of toggle switches to turn lights on/off and change the color of some. You can even turn them all off, something I'm sure the neighbors can appreciate for a few seconds.

Anyway, check it out. And, log on early, the show stops at midnight.

You Know You're a Photog When...

Lenslinger found this over on b-roll.net, the website of news photogs everywhere. Here are some from the site:

You know a shortcut around the eternal red light, avoiding the drawbridge, through the projects and behind the courthouse. -- Blues Daddy

You see the days light progress through the kelvin scale. -- Aussie

You're on vacation in Disney World, watching the local news in you're in your hotel room, and you start yelling at the photographer for his poor shot composition. -- TheBluesisStill#1

After watering the lawn, you figure-eight the garden hose. -- Newshutr

Your kids think it's normal for you to come home for lunch one day and after bedtime the next. -- Blues Daddy

You've never seen a hockey game with both eyes. -- Tyna

You can talk on the phone, listen to the scanner, search for the smoke plume on the horizon and eat a seven-layer burrito while steering with your knee going 75 on the freeway. -- Blues Daddy

You own more than five articles of clothing(including ball caps) with either your station logo on it or a logo from ANY station. -- SmlMktChief

everyone at family parties asks you to take the pics at xmas. -- Salty Photog

So, this got me to thinking about silly things I do... besides all the ones mentioned before. I can think of a few.

Like the fact I can not watch movies and especially television without noticing a bad edit. You know, like when an actor is holding a cup in one hand and then in the next frame he's got it in the other. These things happen more than you think.

Or how about the other day at my daughter's Christmas program. There I am in the front row (gotta get the best view, you know) and while I'm videotaping, I turn the camera around toward my wife's clapping hands. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I just need a cutaway." Now that's messed up.

K'vegas Gets a Visit

The Piedmont Triad. It's the region in North Carolina made up of Winston-Salem to the Northwest, Greensboro to the Northeast and High Point to the south. Kernersville sits right in the middle. We affectionately call it K'vegas. When our country was in its infancy, Kernersville had a little visit from a very important person. George Washington made a stop for breakfast in this small town. Last week another George W made a little stop. Yep, George W. Bush came to the Deere-Hitachi plant to talk about the economy.

The call came late Friday night. It went something like this, "Kenny we need you to get the live truck in place by 6:30am Monday for the President's visit." My Assignment Manager went on, "Secret Service will do their sweep at 7:30 and you can get back inside at 10:30 when Brent will meet up with you."

So my day starts at 5:30 to get Live 4 loaded and make my short drive to Kernersville. Problem one of the day, not enough gas in Live 4. OK, stop and get some on the way, no big deal. Unfortunately, the battery that was just replaced only days before had run down again. (I told those mechanics the alternator was bad!) So in the pouring rain at 6am there aren't a lot of people pulling in to get gas. After a few phone calls to the station to see if anyone can make it to me in less than 30 minutes and finally a kind gentleman pulls in and says he can indeed jump start my live van. Problem 2 of the day solved.

I arrive at the Deere-Hitachi plant with plenty of time to spare and start a line of satellite trucks and live vans at a gate around back, not the place where we all thought we'd be and worries pop into my head about whether or not we can get a live shot out of this location. Oh well, go where Secret Service tells us. Now, I see that most of my competition not only has about 4 crew members to help pull cables, set up tripod, lights, camera, check mics, check cables, etc... but they also have support vehicles to take them away once they're set up. That's OK, I've pulled cable on longer runs than this and I don't mind sitting in the truck for a few hours, I could get some reading done. Less than an hour later, I've got a great spot and have video coming from the camera to the truck. No time to check the audio as Secret Service is running us out.

Three hours pass and it's time to get inside and meet up with Brent who's come in another vehicle and checked in through the media entrance around the front of the building. As I try to enter through the same door I'd come in and out of 20 times earlier that morning I'm stopped and told we can no longer come in this door, I have to go to the front of the building. How do I get there? You must walk around the building, in the cold, in the pouring rain. After explaining myself to every Kernersville cop, and Forsyth County deputy along the way, I finally make it to the media entrance at the front.

So, now that I've met up Brent I need to make sure all connections and cables are right with the live truck. Hmmmmm, that means I have to go out the door I was just told we couldn't go in and out of. I ask and am told that we can now go through the door with proper credentials. I have those. To the truck, dial in IFB, check the signal from the camera and the mic and take an extra audio cable for backup. As I head to the door I'm stopped by a Kernersville police officer who informs me that once I went outside a certain perimeter to get to my truck I now have to go around the building to the front! Well, this is pretty much unacceptable as I've got to be able to make trips back and forth to the live truck for systems checks. I get the attention of a Secret Service agent who says, yes, the patrol officer is correct but he'd make an exception this one time. OK, now that I'm back inside I can not go back out. A phone call to the our Assistant News Director and soon Chris Weaver is on his way to take over live truck duties. I think he was a little pleased he didn't have to stand in the rain with all the folks along the streets watching the president drive by.

The rest of the day was a series of live cut-ins before the president arrived at the plant and then live coverage of the entire 45 minute speech. A quick dash into the crowd to get some interviews after Mr. Bush left and we had our package shot. Now we just had to wait for Secret Service to open the doors to let us out so we could edit and go live again at the front of the plant. After jump starting the live truck again Brent and I were on our way to making TV for the five and six o'clock newscasts.


The packages and live shots went off without a hitch albeit in the freezing rain, and it was time to get loaded up and leave. Oh yea, one more jumpstart of live four and take it back to the bureau. I made it home about 7:30. Ah, the exciting life of television news all to see the leader of our country tell me he's brilliant for giving some tax cuts. Sorry W, tell it to someone who didn't have a 14 hour day.

SNOW!!!

Only one thing trumps the coverage of a severe thunderstorm in the television news business. SNOW. Yep, if there's a chance a snowflake will fall in the piedmont, no, the state, we've got to have a crew covering it, team coverage if it's in our area. Last week the first significant snowfall was expected in the mountains of North Carolina. So, yours truly and ace reporter Brent Campbell were off to the mountains to capture its full glory.

After loading up the live truck, something I hate to do when driving into a snowstorm because it's basically a top heavy van that most people wouldn't be caught dead in driving in hazardous conditions. But we have to be live so we start our treck west in the van.

Our first stop comes when we get to the Blue Ridge Parkway and see some snow covered trees and a nice overlook if we need to go live from here later in the day. We continue on to the college town of Boone. We unload camera and tripod on the beautiful campus of Appalachian State as the snow is falling. Unfortunately, it's only flurries, and not much on the ground. Some beauty shots of campus and a couple of interviews with students who say this is no big deal (it really isn't) and we need to find some lunch.

Over lunch we discuss driving another half hour to Beech Mountain, the highest ski resort east of the Mississippi. Surely they've got some snow coming down up there. A quick call to our favorite PR rep Gil and he says "come on up, the skiing's great!"

Now, those who know Brent and I are aware that we never miss a meal, so after the best French Onion soup (you get scissors to cut the cheese on top) and sandwich, we head up the mountain to Ski Beech.

Along the way, we pass Grandfather Mountain and notice it's covered in snow and ice, not an unusual site this time of year. Little did we know it was a precurser of things to come. We blew through Banner Elk and passed by Sugar Mountain while barely noticing because we couldn't SEE the slopes. Normally when driving up Hwy. 184 you go right past the slopes of Sugar, so to not see them because of the snow should've clued us in on the conditions to come. It didn't.

We continued on our quest to get the best snow video and best possilbe live shot location and show the competition who's number one, oops, the News Leader. As I mentioned earlier, we're not in our trusty unit 3, an Explorer with four-wheel drive and about 130,000 hard miles. No, we're in a top-heavy Ford van with rear-wheel drive. After negotiating one-to-many switchbacks I came to the conclusion that we weren't gonna make it to the top of Beech Mountain, which meant no live shot. As I called our Assistant News Director to give him the news I tried to think of a way to keep him happy. I started by telling him I have good news and bad news. He wanted the bad news first. "Kevin, bad news is we aren't gonna make it to Beech Mountain." Silence on the other end. Mr. Daniels replies with, "you said you had good news?" So I told him, "we aren't gonna make it to Beech Mountain," pause for effect, "because we're in a blizzard!" The constant birrage of "no way" told me the boss didn't believe us. We sent pictures via our cell phones and suddenly we were the lead for both shows with live picutres and video throughout the newscasts.

Obviously, we still had a story to shoot but it was like shooting fish in a barrell. We pulled off the road at a local ski shop and found a couple of guys willing to stand out in the snowstorm long enough for us to interview them. One was skiing to work, too cool. After taking a beating for a half an hour and shooting about as much as I could (after being nearly blown over with camera and tripod) it was time to make the hour trip back to that spot we found earlier on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Safely back to the parkway overlooking the foothills, Brent began the task of listening to soundbites, and writing to the video I had bagged. While he came up with the words of our story, I needed to get the live shot set up. Now, even though we were a good 70 miles or more from our Winston-Salem tower there was nothing blocking our line of sight because we were some 3700 feet up on the east facing side of a mountain. With lights set up and a nice spot for our live shot I gave a little prayer for some snow to fall during our live shot.

Once Brent was finished with the writing, I began the editing process, made all the easier now that we have our non-linear editing in our trucks and our still-new-to-us XD Cams. One package, two vo's and a couple of teases edited and our first live shot went off without a hitch. We even got a little snow to come into the picture during the live shot.

After editing and feeding the six package back to the studio in High Point, we were ready for our six o'clock live shot. And, as if coming from the Heavens, it began to snow like you wouldn't believe. Needless to say, the producers and everyone back at the studio loved it. So, our day came to an end; after driving back an hour and half to the bureau and unloading the live truck, I was able to get home in time to see the kids to bed.

Two Months

It's been just over two months since my last post, so I guess this one should be a doosey, huh? Well, sorry to disappoint the only reader I still have, but this post is just to let you know I'm back. Upcoming in the next couple of hours... A recent visit to snow covered Beech Mountain, another Presidential visit to the Piedmont, and why daddy has been in bed for two days.

SORT Rocks

In my seven plus years here in the Piedmont I've come to know a few fine men and women who volunteer for an organization known as SORT-Special Operations Response Team. This team of doctors, nurses, EMT's and other specialists go into the danger zones after terrorist attacks, hurricanes, ice storms, tornadoes and any other disaster you can think of. They have been staged at events like the Olympics and World Summit gatherings. In a word, they're awesome.

The most recent story I did with the team was last week when they returned from Mississippi where Hurricane Katrina did it's damage, only to go on standby for Hurricane Ophelia, and now they're in Texas waiting for Rita. I want to share some of the pictures they brought back from the disaster zone in Mississippi.

This is a casino that is no longer sitting on water, it has been washed inland and is now sitting on land. I don't how they'll get that thing moved.

This is another view of that casino and what it did to another building as it crashed ashore.


This, unfortunately is what most neighborhoods along the coast look like now.

Here's another shot of what used to be a house and Ford Explorer.

Look at how this old house was totally gutted.

Here's one of the doctors taking care of an infant after Katrina hit Mississippi.

This little boy turned one while in a mobile hospital set up by SORT. They celebrated with a banana creme pie with a candle stuck in it.

Doctors doing minor surgery on a chainsaw accident victim.

Thanks to Dr. Roy Alson who shared these pictures with us after returning from Mississippi. And our thoughts and prayers are with the team as they wait for Hurricane Rita to strike Texas. SORT is waiting in San Antonio to be dispatched where needed. I'm glad there are people like them to help in times of need. Thank you SORT.

The Missing

We've all been inundated with images from the disaster along the gulf coast, but the ones that continue to stay with me are those of the missing. I'd like to share a story with you about some folks I met the last over the last few days who are absolutely at the end of their rope looking for relatives.

After going to the local resource center in Winston-Salem for those coming from the coast to seek refuge, Brent Campbell and I still didn't have our "real story." You know, the face of the tragedy. We had official sound talking about what the locals were prepared to do, but no families at this time. So after we had finished our package for the 5 O'clock newscast I started setting up the live shot. That's when it happened.

A fairly desperate-looking middle-aged man approached me from across the parking lot. I had no idea what he wanted but decided to hear him out. He told me his name was Anthony Odin. He started by asking if I worked for the television station. I no more had it out of my mouth than he became emotional and started spilling his story out to me. He asked me to please put him on TV so he could find his daughter.

She had just given birth to a baby girl, Aalliyah, the day before the evacuations started in New Orleans. As Anthony, his fiance' and her mother started to leave, they went to the hospital to get his daughter. Only she had checked out already. Anthony's future mother-in-law is diabetic and an amputee so they had to get out as soon as possible. Knowing his daughter was with her mother he decided to get out of the big easy right then.

Flash forward eight days and a thousand miles later and the trio found themselves at a relative's house in Pfafftown, North Carolina; a small suburb outside of Winston-Salem. Anthony has been to the Red Cross, searched the internet and asked everyone he can think of how to find his daughter and new grandchild. He has nowhere else to turn.

I'm putting out a plea of my own to see if anyone out there has knowledge of Destiny Odin and her newborn daughter. She may be easy to spot as the baby is only 11 days old. Maybe someone somewhere will see these two and get in touch with Anthony; he's registered on the Red Cross Family News Network. God Bless all who are going through the same thing at this time, I know there must be thousands.

----------------------------------UPDATE-------------------------------
Anthony called me and said he has talked to his daughter. Her mother checked her and the baby out of the hospital in N.O. and they rode out the storm. They were rescued and evacuated to Houston, Texas where they are now staying in a shelter. Anthony says thanks to everyone for keeping him and his family in your prayers. I say thanks to everyone for looking out for them.
----------------------------------UPDATE-------------------------------

Katrina

No other natural phenomenon is named like a hurricane. We don't name earthquakes. We don't name tornadoes. Why? Perhaps because no other form of mother nature captures our attention like a hurricane. Maybe because they last so long. Whatever the reason, everyone has now heard of Katrina. I've done my fair share of chasing these behomoths, and believe me, I don't want any part of this one. Sure, we in the media immediately run to the coast when a hurricane threatens. But, Katrina is nothing to go running to.



Stewart Pittman, aka Lenslinger, posted last night about Hurricane Katrina and was nice enough to post some pics of yours truly shooting Hurricane Isabel a couple of years ago. I hope he doesn't mind my showing off those shots on my blog, as well.


What's funny about us media folk is the fact that we're gettin' our asses kicked by these storms and telling people not to go out in it, yet there we are, smiling like some idiots. I guess we're not the smartest breed in the world, huh?


Anyway, just wanted to say thank God for all those in the path who were able to get out of the way, and I'm still praying for those who couldn't. I have friends and family in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio who are still in the path of this horrific storm. So I say, hunker down and be safe. Leave the foolishness to us idiots in the media.

Hangin' with The Prez

During election years Congressmen, Senators, even the President seem to make themselves very available to the press. I don't have a problem with this, I just find it amusing how you can always tell when it's an election year because suddenly the President is visiting every small town in the U.S. President Bush was making a visit to Winston-Salem a few years ago that didn't have anything to do with an election. As a matter-of-fact, Mr. Bush had just given his first ever State of the Union Address the night before.

The reason I bring this day up is because I often take for granted the cool things we do in this job. This was one of those "cool" days. Not so cool just because the President of the free world was coming for a visit. No, we've had a few visits in the area. North Carolina seems to be one of those states politicians like to focus on because it's a swing state with more than a few electoral votes. But I'm not here to spout political rhetoric. The reason this was such a cool day for me was because my station was chosen to be the "pool" camera for the local stations. And my station chose me to do the honors.

The day started pretty early as we had to be at Piedmont Triad International Airport for check-in more than a few hours before The President's scheduled arrival. This visit was January 30, 2002. Yes, just a few months after 9-11. It was that very tragic event that brought Mr. Bush to our area in the first place. It seems the community of Winston-Salem was being held up as a model for the rest of the country in preparing for disasters.

So, after having the Secret Service check every pocket, fanny pack and orafice on me I was cleared to make my way to the tarmac. I was able to get up close and personal when the president arrived in Air Force One. I didn't realized how much more exciting this trip would become. After rolling on the prez coming down the steps and greeting the Guilford County sheriff, BJ Barnes, then-Congressman, now Senator Richard Burr, and of course, Congressman Howard Coble, I was instructed to climb into the media van provided to us in the pool. I was joined by still photographer Chris English from the Winston-Salem Journal, a radio personality from WSJS, and my partner for the day, Cameron Kent, from my competing station. It's not every day that we work with someone from another station but the experience was a pleasure because Cameron is the consumate professional.

As we left the airport in the motorcade I couldn't help but notice all the guns pointed at us from atop the many buildings along the route. The military presence was just amazing. But, what impressed me most was the sheer number of people lining the roadways from Greensboro to Winston-Salem. The flags waving, the people cheering, it was very emotional to see so many come out and show support. When we pulled into downtown Winston-Salem and saw the crowd at Fourth and Spruce, we were overwelmed. I can't imagine what the president feels when he sees this everywhere he goes.

I finally got a chance to get up close to Mr. Bush while he was speaking to some local dignitaries at the Center for Community Safety. This was the main reason the president came to find out what they were doing and how to tell other cities to do the same thing. I found Mr. Bush to be very engaging and sincere. I still feel like he does his best speaking when he doesn't have something prepared.

After a short break in the action we headed to the Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum for his "big" speach. We had it covered from all angles with our lead anchor Neill McNeill leading the charge from his perch in a box seat above the action. Brent Campbell was wrapping up coverage downtown as the president made his way to the coliseum and reporters who've most likely left our fine establishment were outside the arena for more on the visit. Although, I'm sure our Bob Buckley was there. If it breathes politics, Bob is there.

Time to go to bed, but I'll post more later.

Creepy Crawlies

Japanese beetles. Popillia japonica. Pest. Call them what you will, they've descended upon the Piedmont with a vengeance, and grape growers (vineyards) are taking the wrath of this ravenous beast. OK, maybe beast was a little much but one vineyard owner we talked to today said, "they eat, and eat, and eat, and never get full." According to the University of Kentucky Entomology website a single beetle may not eat that much but a group feeding can cause major damage.

My partner in grime, Brent Campbell and I, set out to find this menace and here in the western part of the Piedmont we have no shortage of vineyards to hunt for the flying nuisance. A couple of phone calls to local wineries and we struck gold at Laurel Gray Vineyards. A beautiful little spot in Yadkin County right in the middle of the Yadkin Valley, now famous for it's vineyards.

Brent and I were greeted by Kim Myers, co-owner of Laurel Gray. She and her husband, Benny have been in the business of growin' grapes for the last four years but after talking to Kim, you'd think they'd been at it all their lives. She was what we call in the business a "sound bite machine." After little more than 45 minutes of looking over the vineyard and showing us how the beetles have begun to decimate the tops of vines she had given us enough sound for a mini-series. (yep, we'll be coming back to her in the future)

As we left, and my stomach was telling me we were cutting into lunch time, Kim and her mom told us to head down the road to the Amish Community in Hamptonville and get the best deli sandwich this side of Pennsylvania. They weren't wrong, I polished off the turkey and farmer's cheese sandwich in nothing flat. If you're ever in the area you should definitely stop in the little country store run by the Amish. Traveling west on Hwy. 421 just take exit 267, that's the one just past I-77. Take a left at the top of the ramp and go about 4 miles to Shiloh Baptist Church. The store is behind the church and it's only about 30 minutes from Winston-Salem. They have plenty of other things to tempt your palate, like fried apple and peach pies, assorted jellies and homemade breads. So, next time you're in Yadkin County, visit a local winery and don't forget to go to the Amish Country Store.

Cancer's Many Victims

Over the past few weeks I've seen more about cancer than usual. I'm not sure why. I found out my cousin in California has early stages of breast cancer and she's starting radiation treatment. Last week I met a lady whose daughter is washing cars to help raise money for cancer patients because mom was diagnosed with cancer. And, today we worked on a story about what Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is doing to help with early detection of lung cancer.

Back to last week, our newest weekend anchor, Nico Belha, and I went to Walkertown to meet little Taylor Strassburg. Taylor and her friend Julia Barnes came up with the idea when Taylor's mom, Tracy, was having chemo treatments. It seems Taylor and Julia were getting bored this summer and wanted something to do. They washed their mom's cars, and then a few more. Suddenly it dawned on them that they could get money for the washings and donate it to the families Taylor had met at the Cancer Center where mom was getting treatments.

I was so impressed with a little girl who would think of others at a time when she must be worried about her mother. Taylor said she knew people at the Cancer Center liked it when kids came in to talk to them. So she wanted the money to go to the Forsyth Regional Cancer Center, about $200 when Taylor and Julia were done. I can't help but think about how brave Taylor is to stand up to this disease and say, "my mom has cancer." And, "I like her new haircut." Yep, she's a brave one. She's making a difference.

The doctors at Wake Forest's Comprehensive Cancer Center are making a difference, too. I learned today they have a study going on with over 1000 people in the Piedmont who get regular chest CAT-Scans. The hope is to prove that early detection of lung cancer can help save lives. With the recent death of long-time anchorman Peter Jennings fresh on the minds of many we set out to find out what technological break-throughs are on the horizon.

Suffice to say the doctors are on the forefront of new medicine, treatments and technology that will someday help those with cancer.

Bang the Drum LOUDLY

I recently had the privilege of meeting some very dedicated musicians. No, they weren't famous, far from it in fact. These were some folks from California who spend their summers competing against other marching bands. What struck me was the fact these competitors are not paid. They don't even have their expenses paid for. Every single one pays out of pocket to do this.


The Drum Corps Association was holding a "Preview of Champions" in Winston-Salem last weekend and Brent Campbell and I were "previewing" the "Preview." We went to where the Renegades were banging their drums and tooting their horns, behind an elementary school near downtown. The Renegades, from San Francisco, are touted as one of the best "marching" bands in the country. I didn't have a chance to see them perform but just watching them practice was a treat indeed.


If you ever get a chance to check out these dedicated musicians, you should. If it weren't raining cats and dogs the night of this competition it might have been something our family would enjoy. For now, I'll have to wait and see if they ever come back to our area again. There is a chance that the national championship could come to Winston-Salem so we'll keep our ears open for news of that.

Feeling My Age

It's no secret, I'm not getting any younger. I know, I know, none of us are. But I've just recently come to the reality that it's not as easy to just get out and exercise these old muscles. Of course, it doesn't help that when you go outside to take a short run you might as well go to the gym and put the treadmill in the sauna! A high of 93 here in the Piedmont of North Carolina with heat indices approaching 110 is enough to make you want to go back in the house and soak up some more of that ice cold air conditioning we've all come so fond of.

But I've made a promise to myself and, more importantly, my family. I'm getting back into shape and I'm going to do a Triathlon. Yes, you read that correctly, I'm going to do a triathlon. For some reason I've always wanted to do it. I've never really talked about it that much, but I needed a goal to get my butt off the sofa and make me get out there and train. As a very competitive individual I felt a race would give me something to shoot for. Now, don't get too excited and ready to call me crazy, I'm only doing a short triathlon. I've found a couple in Florida in April that don't sound too bad. One that touts itself as the beginning of the triathlon season in Saint Pete is less than a mile swim, a 24 mile bike ride and a 6 mile run.

So it's out there. Now all two of you reading my blog know I'm entering a triathlon. I guess that's a little added incentive to make it. I'll keep you posted on my training.

That First Fatal

(WARNING: Some reading the following may become ill. Graphic accident description to follow)
We all go through it. Photojournalists usually remember their first fatality. For me, it was definitely something I'll not forget. I'd been on the job for less than two weeks. A rookie by anyone's definition, but soon to be dubbed grizzled veteran just because of one person's stupidity. Even ten years later, I've never seen a worse accident scene.

I'd been in TV for over a year, working on the production side at WBKO in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Going from teleprompter, studio camera all the way up to director in less than a year, I thought I was prepared for anything. I BS'd my way in to the news department when they needed a photog. "Oh, yea, I've had experience using an ENG camera in school." In reality, I had just started taking my broadcasting courses, never even picked up an ENG camera.

The phone call came as I was getting ready for work. The voice on the other end saying, "there's a bad wreck on I-65 at Cumberland Parkway. We need you to go out and help Julie Pursley (our Barren County one-person-band) so she can get back to the newsroom for the noon show. Just how bad the wreck was, I had no idea.

Upon arrival I noticed more than a few State Police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. The accident had occurred on the ramp from Cumberland Parkway to I-65 southbound. A long curve of a ramp that shouldn't be taken more than about 45 mph. This fool tried to take it at about a hundred! Troopers told me later that the Pontiac Sunbird convertible had struck the guardrail where it begins the upslope and flew in the air some 100 feet before striking a light pole. The pole sent the car, now upside down, back on to the guardrail, decapitating the two passengers and sending the driver out the roof and almost splitting him in half. EMT's said they didn't even know if he was male or female when they arrived on the scene; somehow, he survived.

After I shot what I thought was enough video of the mangled mess of a car and cutaways of the bystanders and emergency workers, I waited at the bottom of the ramp for one of the troopers to give me some sound. After a short while in the summer sun my wish was granted as one of the troopers strolled down the ramp in my direction. I tried my best at some small talk but all he said was, "you're new ain't ya son?" "Uh, been here 'bout two weeks, sir" was all I could muster. "Well, I need ya to do me a favor if you think you can handle it." Eager to please on my first encounter with Trooper Big Gun, I quickly said, "sure, whatever you need."

What he asked me next I wasn't prepared for. "I need you to put a new tape in that machine and shoot some video for us." No problem, they probably just want some scene footage for their files. "You're gonna see some pretty nasty stuff, can you handle that?" Now, I grew up with a father who was a cop for 25 years; Moose used to tell us stories of the things he would see. People shot, car wrecks, bodies that had been in a house for weeks. You name it, he told us about it. So, "sure, I can handle whatever you got," now feeling quite macho in the setting.

As I go under the yellow police tape past the onlookers I'm really feeling my oats now. Until Trooper Gun tells me to watch where I'm about to step, "that's brains." OK, a little perspective here. We're still a good 200 feet from where the car made contact with the light pole and guard rail yet the car is at rest with a LOOOOONNNNGGG trail of blood coming from it. Little did I know that a little brain matter and skull fragments were nothing compared to what I was to see later.

I was asked to tape everything. The amount of blood, the brain matter, skull, the car, now upside down with no roof. And then, they did it. They lifted the sheet off the guy in the bushes. He'd been ripped from the car upon impact and thrown into the brush about 50 feet away. He had no face, just an open, empty skull. Parts of his body had been ripped off or open and I just kept telling myself to "look through the viewfinder, look through the viewfinder." Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, one of them yelled out, "ya gotta come look at this." There, laying in the grass was what looked like a rubber mask. Just a face. Completely peeled off. Now, I'm not real sure what went through my mind at that particular time, but looking back it now I can't believe I didn't ralph. I think it was just so surreal that it really didn't sink in. I do remember looking at it because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. And to top it off, we thought it belonged to the guy under the bushes but it actually belonged to the girl still in the car some 200 feet away!

I also remember getting the call from the State Police office telling us the driver had been charged about a week later and telling us we could come over to the post and get video of them walking him to a patrol car to be taken to jail. It was the saddest walk I've ever shot. He was using a walker because of his injuries sustained in the crash so it took about 5 minutes for him to walk the short distance to the trooper's car. He was prosecuted for his foolish, drunken act. Although somehow I think killing his two friends is probably more punishment than the time behind bars.

When severe weather breaks, we fix it

OK, so everyone in the business knows the term "weather woodie." But, for those of you not in this wild world we call broadcast journalism, (you know, TV) I'll tell you what a weather woodie is. OK, for the adults, you know what a woodie is. Well, meteorologists get one when the weather heats up.

We had a severe case of weather woodies popping up today as the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy came through our area. I was dispatched with my running mate, Brent Campbell to "DRIVE TO YADKIN COUNTY! THERE'S A TORNADO WARNING!" as soon as I walked in the door shortly after nine in the A-M. After a quick glance at my own favorite weather website, www.wunderground.com, I predicted we'd be WAY behind the storm if we went to Yadkinville in the middle of the county. So up highway 67 to get more "into" the storm around the northern county town of Boonville. No luck, storm gone and nothing to show for it.

So, on up highway 601 towards Dobson and Mount Airy, Andy Griffith's hometown and the model for Mayberry. I digress. Once in Mount Airy we hook up with John Shelton, the nicest, most media friendly EMS Director in the Piedmont. The Surry County Director showed us around their Emergency Dispatch Vehicles and the command post where they track storms and flood potentials. While we're there we spot a storm headed our way from the south. Brent and I both look at each other and say, "see ya later guys, we've got a storm to catch."

On the way down I-77 we see the rain pick up in intensity and recall what we'd just heard from Shelton's assisant Tony, who watches the storms on his computer. He described how you'll face light rain, heavy rain, then small hail. Finally, if you see large hail you'd better get out of that oversized billboard known as a live truck and get in a ditch because a tornado is probably not far behind. We figured we better save the truck and find a good spot to watch and listen to the scanner for info. So while shooting some video of the rain coming in sheets and the winds going from fierce to quite calm we start hearing scanner chatter talking about a possible tornado coming through Dobson. We just happened to be sitting about 3 miles west of Dobson. Then a voice comes through the scanner saying there was rotation over the Citgo. Ummmmm, one thing. WHICH CITGO?!?! We're sitting at a CITGO! And while the sky did do some funky things, we never saw any rotation over our heads.

So, now that the storm looks to have moved of to our north and east, and we confirm this with some in the newsroom watching the radar and listening to the non-stop coverage from our team of meteorologists (well, today it was pretty much Emily Byrd as the rest of the "team" was on vacation) we decide to drive in behind it again to see if there's any damage. We hear some chatter about something on Redbrush Road in Mount Airy and decided to head that way. On the way there we hear Shelton's voice come through stating that he can see roation looking to touchdown. He then states something that I'll never forget, "the rotation is coming down on South Franklin at Bleumont." One problem, we're driving on South Franklin. Where? No lie, we look at the next cross street and you guessed it, Bleumont! I yelled at Brent, "we're in it!" After driving a few more blocks and turning around to see this horrific event take place in front of our eyes, we see nothing. It seems the rotation never made it to the ground.

Something did make it to the ground in our home county of Forsyth. While we don't know if it was straightline winds or a tornado ther was significant damage in northwestern Winston-Salem. Many trees came down on houses and power lines. Unfortunately, there are still close to 10,000 homes without electricity. Fortunately however, no reports of injuries.

So, that's what it was like in the day of a weather woodie. Now we'll just sit back and wait until Dennis comes through this weekend.

Destination... Myrtle Beach

OK, so this post is coming "post-vacation," but I'll go with it as if it's coming day of. Myrtle Beach, as many of you know, is a different kind of vacation destination. While it's perfect for some families, it's not for everyone. Redneck heaven as some call it has a spot in our family's hearts because there's something for everyone. We stay in a villa in Kingston Plantation just a stones throw away from the ocean and, more importantly, Splash Park, an overgrown jungle gym for all ages. I'll post pictures when developed.

Oh yea, we were just on our way out. It brings back memories of childhood vacations. Of packing up the car and heading south during spring break. My parents always made sure we went somewhere, from the days when I was 5 and spending time in a cabin on a lake in Sanford, FL to the time our car broke down my senior year in high school and my dad told my brother and I to take the other car and go by ourselves! I'll never figure that one out... sorry dad. What I'll never figure out is how we did all that with five children. We've got two and it seems our full size Yukon XL is bursting at the seams with suitcases, stroller, beach toys, chairs, umbrellas and food. We even carry some on top! How my parents ever did it is beyond me. You're to be praised highly for your puzzle-like packing skills.

Back in the Saddle

Wednesday found me back in my "home" office of Winston-Salem. Brent and I have a knack for finding a story when there's nothing there. Today we tossed out a few ideas to the voices on the other end of the little white box on our desk in the bureau, the speaker phone. After a little debate around the conference room they decide they want us to do a preview of a lawsuit being filed in Raleigh tomorrow. Exiting stuff!

Changing Gears
So after doing a thrilling phone interview with the attorney filing the lawsuit against Dell on behalf of the "taxpayers," (yea, right) we then find out that the local police department has vests that are now compromised because a material inside is not holding up like it was supposed to. WSPD is not the most media-friendly in our area but after Brent talks to the chief for a while she agrees to let the equipment buyer for the department tell us about their bullet-resistant vests.

What I found amazing while working on this story was the testing that WSPD does on ALL vests they are thinking of buying. They fire some 20 rounds into the vest using a variety of bullets and guns all at point blank range. None of the "legal" bullets even compromised more than the first three layers of the more than 20 the vest has. Only one bullet made it to the last layers, a "special" illegal bullet the manufacturer told the testers with WSPD would make it through the vest. I'm told the manufacturer on scene just dropped his jaw when it didn't make it through.

During the interview I get a call from my boss, Keith Hale. He's in Greensboro talking with Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes about the vests they use. Keith tells me he can get a couple of vests from B.J. for us to use in our live shot. Great news considering the powers-that-be always want us to show something in our live shots. Score one for The Chief!

Home
Coming home is one of the hi-lights of the day. All my girls are just as happy to see me as I am them. On this evening I pull in to the driveway with the smell of a fresh rainfall, the driveway is wet and it's more than a little steamy. This probably keeps Lauren from performing one of her recent rituals upon my arrival at home. I often can hear the smack, smack, smack of her bare feet on the garage floor running to meet me at my logo'd four-wheel drive. As I gather my camera and spent battery(s) she likes to see what else is in the truck.

Caroline is waiting at the top of the basement steps looking through the gate saying, "Hiiieeee." That smile can not be resisted. After some hugs and kisses she wants to show me something, anything... just come with me she begs.

As Lis comes home from work she tells me some good news. It seems the private school we had hoped to send Lauren to for Kindergarten but found it to be too expensive is now reconsidering our request for financial aid. Maybe they didn't fill all the slots this year, maybe they just really want Lauren to come, I don't know. What I do know is that we've got some decisions to make over the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Working with the new guy

So I headed off to High Point to train on the satellite truck. You see, we now have a new digital uplink for our much outdated analog sat truck. It was necessary for me to get some training on this new $40,000 piece of equipment so the next time our regular sat truck op is on vacation I'll be ready to pull the trigger. While I'm on the subject, I've got to tell you a little about our big black behemoth of a sat truck. It came to us seven long years ago from WAGA, the Fox affiliate in Atlanta. Let's just say it was on it's last leg at that time with 10 good years of service and several hundred thousand miles logged on the odometer. Three, yes three, engines later here at Fox the "big black box" is still running.

After my training session with a very New England sounding Wolf Coach engineer I was ready to "pull the trigger" on my first digital uplink. It worked and all was good in the uplink world.

I was ready to take my engineering hat off and place the photojournalist lid upon my head when Robert informed me I had a really "great" story to work on with Jeff Varner, our newest Anchor/Reporter. It seems Jeff had been making phone calls all morning to get the family of a recently killed little 5 year-old girl in a drunk-driving accident. The little girl's organs were donated to five different people and their lives saved. Ain't the news business grand!? Well, after a little trip over to the family's house, Jeff finds out the mother is upset because some other family members set up the interview without her knowledge. No story right? Wrong. The desk decides we should go to the scene of where the accident happened nearly FIVE days ago. Sounds reasonable.

So we make it to the accident scene and find three ladies on their porch just watching the day go by. Of course our finely quaffed friend Mr. Anchorman feels he can charm his way to an interview with the toothless wonders on the porch. Much to his dismay, the ladies declined, instead sending us to the corner where we encountered an old gentleman who told us very colorfully what he saw that night. During the interview my hip began to ring, you know the intrusive device we all can't do without nowadays. The CELL PHONE. On the other end, our Assistant News Director informing me of "Breaking News." It seems the Winn-Dixie company was closing all of it's stores in North Carolina. Jeff and I rush to the nearest grocery to get reaction from frightened customers. Oh, the humanity, our Winn-Dixie is closing, what will we do?

Through it all, Jeff kept a smile on his face and did live shots for the Five and Six o'clock newscasts. Tomorrow, back to my comfort zone in Winston-Salem and my buddy Brent Campbell.

Gotcha! 

Dodge that water