BILL GRADY FAREWELL INTERVIEW - KVFD AM 1400
Community Chat Show
Original Broadcast: 2002
Host: Jay Alexander
Transcribed from audio via Otter.ai

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JAY ALEXANDER:
You're listening to the voice of Fort Dodge, AM 1400 KVFD. It's time for our community chat show. And normally we bring in someone from the community, but today, we wanted to celebrate one of our own, because he's going to be leaving us, and we brought him in here under false pretenses.

BILL GRADY:
That's right. I go, "I don't smell smoke."

JAY ALEXANDER:
That's right. Bill Grady, our general manager, is stepping down after what is it? 11 years?

BILL GRADY:
Yeah, 11 years here. And but you'd have to go back maybe 13 years total. Excuse me, 23 years total. Started in 1979.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, and of course, we were looking through those pictures of you back when you were bright eyed and mustache clad.

BILL GRADY:
That's right, back in the early 80s. And of course, for some reason, that was a fashion statement, and I don't know whether it was because of Magnum PI or what the deal was. It was kind of fun to share a few of those old pictures. Not many people knew me from the station back then, and just kind of fun for me too, to take a look at some of those old pictures.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Yeah, just a little bit of a flashback. Now describe your first day walking into the KVFD and KUEL Studios back in 1991.

BILL GRADY:
Okay, well, the first thing I did was fire the Operations Director.

JAY ALEXANDER:
That's got to make it hard for the start.

BILL GRADY:
At one point, it was just kind of a big sigh of relief from just moving on, and just saying, "Okay, well, we've got a new person in place." And so I made Ed Miska the operations director and Jim Shelbert was the sports director and Dean Naven was doing news at the time. And so part of this job was that I had a chance to work with some really great people. Some people that are no longer in the broadcasting business. I think that one of the treats was being able to work with Dean Naven. Dean's passed on now, but he was an old time radio news guy, and it was fun to be able to be with him. Because he started out in some very legendary stations. And, of course, he was a World War Two hero and it was great to work with him. Bill Higgins, who did sports for many, many years on KVFD was also a great person to work with. And then Max Landis, who was still here, Max and I have developed a good friendship over the years, and it was great for me to learn about all the old KVFD stories from the standpoint that he was involved with KVFD television and worked for Ed Breen for a number of years. So the stories that he was able to tell me about those days was a real treat for me.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, well, now we've heard your side of the early days. Let's get another perspective. This one coming from former owner, Dean Sorenson.

DEAN SORENSON:
Hey, Bill and friends in Fort Dodge. This is Dean Sorenson in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Bill and I were side by side as business associates from 1991 through the end of 1999 and I guess we've been kind of at a distant relationship since then. And I just want to add my congratulations and best wishes. I can remember one thing that I remember fondly, the first day that Bill and I met, and we met at the old KVFD KUEL studios out on the east side of town, old Highway 20 out there, which is now part of Decker trucking. I remember I arrived at the station earlier in the day, and Bill came down the hallway, and that was my first time to ever see the fella face to face. And so I can still remember saying, "Here's a bright young guy, and if he's as good as he looks coming down the hall, we're going to have a great relationship together." And it's been that way for the past decade plus a few months. And the one thing I've known all along as he applied his entrepreneurial spirit to his stations, as he operated for our company, and most recently, for the Rate Radio people and I know those same entrepreneurial spirits will work well for him in his new venture and his new customers and clients down the road. I think it's very nice you folks are taking a moment to salute Bill. He's been a great citizen of the community. He's proudly carried the colors of the radio stations, both on a state, national as well as a local scene. And I'm thrilled that you let me stop by and add my best wishes. Have a great day ahead, Bill, blue skies and soft winds always to your back. It's been fun, and we'll keep our relationship ahead. I hope.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right, that was Dean Sorenson, the former owner of KVFD and KUEL 92 and one of the things he alluded there to, Bill, was your involvement in the community, and that's prevalent because you're involved with the Chamber of Commerce. You are one of the vice presidents.

BILL GRADY:
I sit as an officer on the board, but just a member of the Chamber board.

JAY ALEXANDER:
We do have a couple of people from the chamber who also wanted to take time to thank you for all your hard work with the radio station. We'll start off with chamber president, Patty Donnelly.

PATTY DONNELLY:
Hi Bill. Best of luck to you and your new business venture. While we'll miss you at KVFD and KUEL, we certainly look forward to your continued involvement and commitment to the Fort Dodge Chamber of Commerce.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Patty Donnelly, chamber president. We've got a few more to hear also from the chamber. Sandy Spencer.

SANDY SPENCER:
Hi, Bill double-oh-seven. This is Sandy from the chamber. Boy, are we going to miss you around, but we'll be seeing you. You're probably going to want to do another five year stint on the board. Aren't you? Good luck to you. Bye, bye.

JAY ALEXANDER:
So how about it? Bill, another five years with the chamber?

BILL GRADY:
When you sit on a board for a number of years, I think new ideas and a new perspective is good. So I think it's designed that way, that people sit down after five years, but after a bit of time, I wouldn't mind coming back. And same with the United Way. United Way has asked me to jump back on board, and it's been a couple years since I've been back on and I always enjoyed that partnership between the board and the United Way. So who knows?

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, and speaking of the United Way, we did happen to manage to run into Laurie Hagie, who had some kind words for you as well.

LAURIE HAGIE:
Bill, Bill, Bill, what in the world are we ever going to do without you. You will be sorely missed by all of us. I don't know who is going to pick on me like you do. I don't know who is going to call me names and moo at me on the phone, and don't anybody ask what that was about. I'm not even sure, but just know, Bill, that you will be in our hearts forever. We think you are wonderful, and we wish you the very, very best in your new endeavor.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, so what was the mooing about?

BILL GRADY:
There's a story about that. I'll tell you in just a minute. But the one thing about my new business venture that's unique that I haven't had in some of my other positions, is that when I've ever changed positions, I've had to literally pick up and move out of the community. So this is the first time where I'm moving on to a new business venture, but I get to keep all my friends and contacts, and so you're not completely starting from scratch. So my involvement with the radio station will be, I'll be around as much as they need me, or as much as they want me to be around. But that's kind of unique about this particular situation. But the mooing comes from an incident when I was a partner up in Wisconsin, and we had a morning man. I don't know, have I ever told you this story?

JAY ALEXANDER:
I haven't heard about Wisconsin, okay.

BILL GRADY:
The radio station, the AM radio station, was on the outskirts of town. It was WCWC in Ripon. And Ripon, of course, in heart of dairy land and lots of dairy cows. Anyways, one evening, the gate got open, and so there were cows all over the place. The morning man was a little late, okay? Or he's running behind. Let's put it this way. He wasn't late. He was running behind. And to get into town, you have to go up over this hill, and you're at highway speeds before you get to the radio station. Well, he comes up over the hill at highway speeds into this clump of cows. There's cows all over the place. Unfortunately, he hits one, okay, and it just knocks the cow goofy and the cow's dazed and hurt. And he just keeps going through this maze of cows, and the cow rolled up onto his car. I mean, dented it, smashed out the windshield. Luckily, he was unhurt, but the cow wasn't in too good of shape, right? Anyways, he gets into the radio station, and he smells like cow, because he's literally had a brush with the cow and he's just really taken on the scent of the cow. And the other part about this is it was like, you ever hear about that story about WKRP, where they dropped the turkeys?

JAY ALEXANDER:
Yeah, the frozen turkeys, right?

BILL GRADY:
And then the turkeys surround the guys, after they hit the ground, starts picking on him. The cows came up to the radio station, and they were mooing, and they were knocking over the satellite dishes. Like they went on this cow riot to knock over all this stuff. And so we had to call the engineer to reset all the satellite dishes and the cow and all that stuff. I mean, the station smelled like cows. So for a long time, as kind of some good nature ribbing we would moo down the hallway. So that's how we got that with Laurie, and it was Laurie was a relationship from the standpoint that I always felt comfortable enough with Laurie that she'd be able to let me do that in good jest. So that's the story behind the cow. And I think I just kind of give her some good natured ribbing of saying this is a little bit part of my life. I know you don't understand it, but it's funny to me.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right. Well, that's a great story. I'll tell you what. We're going to take a commercial break, but getting us to break, we'll give a little tribute from Avis Gregerson.

AVIS GREGERSON:
Hi Bill. This is Avis at the Chamber of Commerce. Good luck in your new venture, and we'll miss you however. We'll see you around here. Okay, bye, Bill.

JOYCE DEHAAN:
This is Joyce DeHaan at the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center. I want to say a big thank you to Bill Grady, who has been an enormous help to me and my organization in the years that I have worked here. He's the person always eager to welcome us, willing to do public service announcements, willing to put our needs and concerns on the air. You have made a difference for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in our area, and I want to thank you for that and to wish you well in your new venture. Thanks for everything you've done.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Joyce DeHaan of the Domestic Sexual Assault Outreach Center, as we pay tribute to Bill Grady, who is leaving us here at KVFD, KUEL 92, striking out on his own, starting his own business. Now, what is this business going to be?

BILL GRADY:
Well, the business is going to be similar to the programs we put on for advertisers back in December. I'll be contracting with radio and television stations to help develop new business for them and help their advertisers' advertising, especially on the radio, more effective for them. I think that as I was researching my new venture, I found a real need for the basics in advertising that I think that as we've gone through our days, we've taken for granted that everybody understands the ins and outs of advertising. And so what I've tried to do is I'll try to help bridge that gap between advertisers who are spending money with radio stations or newspapers or television that aren't seeing the results that they should be from their investment and helping radio stations do a better job for them as well.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right. And of course, as this is going to be a new venture, I'm sure you'd appreciate some advice. And here to give you some advice on that is Fort Dodge Police Chief Ivan Metzger.

POLICE CHIEF IVAN METZGER:
This is Chief Metzger, and I just want you to know that I've enjoyed working with you in your broadcasting career and even working on the chamber board, but you do need to know that since you won't have a company car anymore, and you like to drive your Corvette, that I'll make sure the officers are watching for you when you're driving around and speeding around, and wish you the best in your new career.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right, so that's right, you do have back to the old Vette.

BILL GRADY:
That's right. And when you get advice from the police chief, words of advice for you don't be around Mike County, you know, what is it? Dukes of Hazzard, type of deal. But I've enjoyed working with Ivan, from a standpoint that I think as a police chief, he's done a wonderful job. I think the thing with Ivan is that he's got a really good sense of humor, and not a lot of people know that about Ivan, the person. And so I appreciated being able to get to know that side of Ivan, as well as the business side.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, well, hopefully that side will prevail if he pulls you over. That's right. Just kidding, yeah, sorry about the boot on the car. That's right. Yeah, it's just an April Fool's thing. Well, someone who you work very closely with and who herself has gone through a career change recently, Ellen Diehl also wanted to take time to pay tribute to you.

ELLEN DIEHL:
Hi, Bill. I just want to wish you all the best on your new endeavor. I know that if anybody can make a success of a new venture, it will be you, and I appreciate all the support you've shown me over the years and the support you've shown the community, and we consider you a real part of the Fort Dodge family, and we're just thrilled that you're stepping out on your own and entering into a new chapter in your life. And wish you all the best. Look forward to seeing you soon.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Ellen Diehl there, who, like we said, she's gone through this, so she might be able to give you some words of advice on your transition.

BILL GRADY:
And Ellen was great to work with. I was the chairman of Fall Fest back in '94 and so from that time, I was able to work very closely with Ellen. I remember her and I going out among businesses and trying to raise money for Fall Fest by selling the Fall Fest buttons, and how much of a success we thought we had when we had some sponsors commit to that. But Ellen's been a great asset to the community, but more than that, to me, she's been a good friend. She's helped me out an awful lot throughout these 10 years. So I guess I should be saying thanks to Ellen as well.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, now, how has Fort Dodge changed since you came here in 1991 over the past 11 years? How has the city changed?

BILL GRADY:
Well, I'll kind of give some good and some bad. I think the good things about Fort Dodge and how it's changed, obviously, I think that it's grown commerce-wise. I think that the public image has grown tremendously. I think the strides that the community has made with cooperation of the civic groups. I think there are a lot more nonprofits that are healthier than maybe they were 10 years ago. And I think there's that spirit of cooperation as well. And so I think those are the good things. There are some challenges ahead, as far as workforce and new jobs and new businesses coming to Fort Dodge. But I think that because of all the things that we have going for ourselves, that we'll find those creative solutions to those problems, and still have Fort Dodge be a town on the go.

JAY ALEXANDER:
And while you may not be here with KVFD KUEL 92 you're still going to be in the community, right? Keep trying to keep those jobs and keep the community as good as it has been.

BILL GRADY:
People have asked me, you know, where I was from when I lived in other places? I always say Fort Dodge, Iowa. And I think there was a time when a lot of people weren't really proud of being from Fort Dodge, but I think today, that's certainly changed, and I have always been very proud to say that I'm from Fort Dodge and this is my hometown, and this is where I plan to run my business.

JAY ALEXANDER:
Okay, well, as we wrap things up, I did want to just take some time and thank you for helping me out for the two years that I've been here. You've been very instrumental in, I'm sure, helping me as well. I think everybody here owes a big debt to you, just to be where we are right now. And I'm sure everyone appreciates the work, and we all wish you good luck with your new venture.

BILL GRADY:
Well, thanks, Jay. I've enjoyed working with you. I think that you're probably one of the smartest people I've worked with. No, I'm serious. I mean, you've got a great intellect, and you've got a good sense of logic, and I think that you've grown here over the past years. Hopefully you'll kind of remember these days, and remember some of the good times and some of the hard lessons and some of the other things that have gone on. But I got a call from somebody today, and they just said, "Well, I guess today is bittersweet." And my response to that has been, it's anything but. Today is a celebration of the things we were able to do, the things that we're able to accomplish, and all the relationships that were built, and all the great people that we've been able to work with. So I don't go out of this position sad at all from the standpoint that it's been a great run, it's been a great ride, and I'm still going to be around. So it's not farewell, it's just another chapter.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right, just today marks the first day of the rest of your life.

BILL GRADY:
That's right. And the other thing is that if you've ever seen me at work, then that's about 10% of me. My job, my career, is only 10% of who I am.

JAY ALEXANDER:
And the other 90% is going to be at home, running this other place now.

BILL GRADY:
Well, the other thing is that I'm a son, I'm a brother, I'm a friend. I'm all these other things to a lot of other people. And so while it's a very important part of my life, it's not the important part of my life.

JAY ALEXANDER:
All right? Well, we want to get in now. We've got one more tribute, and we didn't want you to have the last word today. We wanted to see who we were fighting over who would get this. And today's last word comes from John Hale.

JOHN HALE:
Well, I'll tell you what, Jay, I never liked Bill Grady. I never did. I never liked Bill Grady. I met this guy probably 10, 15 years ago, when he was just a kid up at, I think it was KRIT radio station in Clarion. I was the Social Security Manager here in Fort Dodge. Remember, we'd go up there about once a month and do a little radio show, a call-in show. And that's where I first met Bill. And I didn't like him then, and I don't like him now. So quite frankly, I'm happy to see him leave. I'm just kidding. Bill is a great guy. And, you know, I really don't even know what Bill's going to do, but I can tell you this, he is going to be sorely missed, not just at the station, but in the community. He has been a great guy in this community, been involved in stuff, supportive of stuff. I mean, he's just been genuinely interested in this community. A lot of people are interested in the community because they think they have to be, but Bill's been interested in the community because he wants to be. He sincerely is interested in and supportive of Fort Dodge and other communities that his signal goes into. So I just wish him nothing but the best. I know he's been kind of a pain in the butt to work for at times, he's been a pain in the butt to deal with. But you know, that's okay. It comes with the territory. And I'm just kidding again, obviously, because I really do like this guy. I really do. You like this guy, don't you? Yeah, Jay, he's nodding his head yes, he does. So anyway, Bill, wish you the very best. I don't know what it is you're going to do, but I can guarantee you you'll have my support when you run for the presidency of the United States. I'll tell you that. So thank you very much for your role in the community. Thank you very much for everything you've done for me and the projects I've been involved in. We're going to miss you, buddy.

JAY ALEXANDER:
That's going to wrap up the community chat show for today.

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