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 is going to be leaving us. And we brought him in here under false pretenses. That's right. I go, I don't smell smoke.

Yes, that's right. Bill Grady, our general manager, is stepping down after, what is it, 11 years? Yeah, 11 years here, but you'd have to go back maybe 13 years total. Excuse me, 23 years total. Wow. Started in 79, so. Okay. And, of course, we were looking through those pictures of you back when you were

bright-eyed and mustache-clad. That's right. Back in the, that was the early 80s, and of course, for some reason, that was a fashion statement. I don't know whether it was because of Magnum PI or what the deal was. You know, it was kind of fun to share a few of those pictures that not many people knew me, you know, from the station back then. It was kind of fun for me, too, to take a look at some of those old pictures.

Yeah, just a little bit of a flashback. Now, describe your first day walking into the KVFD and Kool Studios back in 1991. Okay, well, the first thing I did was fire the operations director. That's got to make it hard for the start. At one point, it was just kind of a big sigh of relief from just moving on, you know, and just saying, okay, well, we've got a new person in place. And so I made Ed Miska the operations director, and Jim Schobert was the...

sports director and Dean Navin 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 and some people that are no longer in the broadcasting business. I think that one of the treats was being able to work with Dean Navin

You know, 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, you know, he started out in some very legendary stations. And, of course, he was a World War II hero. And, you know, it was great to work with him. Bill Higgins.

who do sports for many, many years on KVFD, was also a great person to work with. And then Max Landis, who is 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. Okay. Well, now we've heard your side of the early days, let's get another perspective, this one coming from former owner Dean Sorensen. Hey, Bill and friends in Fort Dodge. This is Dean Sorensen in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Bill and I were a

side-by-side as business associates from about 1991 through the end of 1999, and I guess we've been kind of in a distant relationship since then, and I just want to add my congratulations and best wishes for the day. I can remember one thing that, I can remember fondly the first day that Bill and I met, and we met at the old KBFD KUEL studios out on the

east side of town, old Highway 20 out there, which is now part of Decker Trucking, I guess. I remember I arrived at the station earlier in the day and it's

bill came down the hallway and that was my first time ever see the fella face to face and so I am 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 gonna 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 is he applied his entrepreneurial spirit to his stations as he operated for our company and most recently for the rate rate weight 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. Bye-bye.

All right, that was Dean Sorensen, the former owner of KVFD and Cool 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. I sit as an officer on the board, but just a member of the chamber board. And 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.

Hi, Bill. Best of luck to you in your new business venture. While we'll miss you at KVFD and COOL, we certainly look forward to your continued involvement and commitment to the Fort Dodge Chamber of Commerce. All right, Patty Donnelly, Chamber President. We've got a few more here also from the Chamber. Sandy Spencer. Hi, Bill. 007, 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.

So how about it Bill, another five years with the Chamber? 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 with the board. It's been a couple of years since I've been back on and I always enjoyed that.

partnership between the board and the United Way, so who knows? Okay, and speaking of the United Way, we did happen to manage to run into Lori Hagee, who had some kind words for you as well.

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's going to pick on me like you do. I don't know who's 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.

Okay, so what was the moving about? Well, there's a story about that. I'll tell you in just a minute. The one thing that my new business venture that's unique about this 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. So you're not completely starting from scratch. My involvement with the radio station will be of I'll be around as much as they need me or as much as they want me to be around.

But, you know, 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? I haven't heard about Wisconsin. Okay.

The radio station, the AM radio station was on the outskirts of town. It was WCWC in Ripon. And Ripon, of course, in the 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 cows dazed and hurt, and he just keeps going through these maze of cows, and the cow rolled up onto his car. I mean, down to that, you know, smash out the windshield. Luckily, he was unhurt, but the cow wasn't in too good a shape. Right. Anyways, he gets into the radio station, and he smells like cow.

Because he's, I mean, 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 the story about WKRP where they drop the turkeys? Yeah, the frozen turkeys. Right, and then the turkeys surround the guys after they hit the ground and start picking on them. The cows came up to the radio station.

And they followed him back 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 cow. So for a long time, as kind of some good nature ribbing, we would moo.

down the hallway. So, so that's, that's how we got there with, with Lori and with, and with,

Lori was a good relationship from the standpoint that I always felt comfortable enough with Lori that she would be able to let me do that and 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. 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.

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. 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.

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

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 try 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. 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.

Bill, 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.

All right, so that's right. You do have back to the old vet. That's right. And when you get advice from the police chief, words of advice for you, don't be around my county. You know, what is it, Dukes of Hazzard type of deal? But, you know, I've enjoyed working with Ivan from the standpoint that...

I think as a police chief, I think that 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 better.

as well as the business side. Okay, well hopefully that side will prevail if he pulls you over any time. That's right. Just kidding. 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.

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. Ellen. Okay, Ellen Deal 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. 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 online.

and how much of a success we thought we had when we had some sponsors commit to that. But, you know, 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.

Okay. Now, how has Fort Dodge changed since you came here, what, 1991? Over the past 11 years, how has the city changed? Well, you know, 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

the community is made with cooperation of the civic groups. I think there are a lot more non-profits 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 some challenges ahead as far as workforce and and you know new jobs new businesses coming to Fort Dodge but I think that because of all the things that we have going for ourselves that will find those creative solutions to those problems and still have Fort Dodge be a town on the go. Okay and while you may not be here with KVFD Cool 92 you're still going to be in the community? Right.

trying to keep those jobs and keep the community as good as it has been? People have asked me where I was from when I lived in other places. I always probably 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 think

I've 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. 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 with...

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. Well, thanks, Jay. You know, I've enjoyed working with you. I think that you're probably one of the smartest people I've worked with. You know, you're... No, I'm serious. I mean, you've got a great intellect and you've got, you know, 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, you know, remember some of the, you know, the good times and some of the hard lessons and some of the other things that have gone out. But, you know, 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. You know, today is...

you know, celebration of the things, you know, we were able to do, the things that we were able to accomplish, and all the relationships that were built and all the, you know, all the great people that we've been able to work with. So, you know, 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, you know,

Still going to be around, so it's not farewell. It's just another chapter. All right. Today marks the first day of the rest of your life. That's right. 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. And the other 90% is going to be at home, running this other place now. 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. Ah.

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. 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's a great guy and you know I really don't even know what Bill's gonna do but I can tell you this he is gonna 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 been, 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 the Fort Dodges 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 deterrence. And I'm just kidding again, obviously, because I really do like this guy. 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.

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