Remembering Dr. Bop

Local blogger/writer had an interesting piece on Dr. Bop a few weeks ago. For some reason, Minerd chose to archive his blog and it's no longer available for public consumption. His blog inspired me to search out Bop's final resting place and rehonor a great radio talent from radios past.

In the mid 50's through the early 60's Columbus was abuzz with the music and dj talents of Hoyt R. Locke, known to his WCOL (and for a short period of time WMNI) listeners as Dr. Bop.

The good Dr. set up shop in Milwaukee after leaving Columbus and remained there until his death. He is buried in Columbus at Greenlawn Cemetary.

The Friendly Giant Was Anchored By A Fraim

For over a decade, John Fraim was the morning host for WTVN radio in Columbus.

Since Columbus radio was my broadcast reference point, and WTVN was the strongest of signals in my neck of the woods, I cut my teeth on Fraim's morning show. I first became aware of Fraim probably about 1968. My understanding was Fraim came to Columbus in the early 60's, maybe around 1961 from Indiana via WSAI in Cincinnati. His first job was in the news department and prior to becoming a music host he was news director and Taft Broadcasting's Washington Correspondent. He took over morning duties at WTVN in December, 1965.  For years, I believed that Fraim replaced Maurice Jackson, but further research found that a handful of hosts handled the morning position between Jackson and Fraim.  (Edited update: Jackson left the morning show in August of 1960 and a number of people filled the slot between Jackson's departure and Fraim's taking over in the morning. Among morning hosts after Jackson were Bob Ancel, Dave Hull, Tom George, Johnny Dollar and Dave Logan)  Someone with more information or a better memory may have additional hosts I've over looked.  

I would often brag on Fraim's popularity in Columbus, but was often told that JP McCarthy of WJR and Wally Phillips on WGN were far better personalities. You can have your favorites; Fraim at the time was mine.

I always enjoyed the Special Reports (short piece usually written by Fraim discussing a news item or other information pieces) and his The Way They Were segements featuring a song by a Big Band artist complete with background information about the piece or the artist. Fraim also bantered with news director Bill Patterson after the 6:30 news segment, usually ending the segment with a joke or pun that segued into a jingle and back to music.

In 1976 I had the honor to be hired by WTVN hosting the overnight weekend shifts. I handled Friday night from midnight until 6 am Saturday morning, Saturday night from midnight to 9 am Sunday morning and Sunday night from midnight until 5:30 Monday morning. I would be the first person to welcome Fraim to the studio on Saturday and Monday mornings. (I've often wondered if he felt welcomed by this young radio rube!)

Fraim had the reputation among the air staff of being difficult. Many of those before and after me in the overnight slots would often find negative ways to portray him. Personally, either I was a fool and never noticed it or because I went out of my way to be decent to him, he returned the favor.

I also worked with him at the time his wife was dying from cancer. On more than one occasion, he would phone from his White Oak farm stating he would be late because his wife had been ill or needed his attention. What a thrill it was to do a half hour or so of his show with his numerous listeners. Yet I knew his heart was aching as he watched his wife lose her life.

In 1978, I was let go by WTVN and migrated to WRFD to host a big band show. A year or so later Fraim too left WTVN over a reported tiff with management over working Saturday mornings. At that time, many major market hosts were beginning to only work 5 day work weeks instead of the previous normal six day load. Fraim too landed at WRFD as morning host and general manager. While I was only a weekend staffer, Fraim would pop into the station to catch up on paperwork. He would stop by the studio, express some pleasantries and then be off to his work.

Fraim's tenure at WRFD wasn't long as he left to join WCOL as morning host, broadcasting from the former observation deck of the Lincoln Leveque tower that had been converted into an apartment for him. After a few years, he joined WBBY as news director and even later owned a radio station between Logan and Athens, Ohio.

The last I heard of Fraim was that he was living in the rural Laurelville area and doing some free lance writing.

During his many years at WTVN, he was our morning friend.  Below is John Fraim today. 

More Than a Name on a Wall

This past Memorial Day weekend, we visited Virginia. One of the side trips was an afternoon spent in Washington DC. We went to Arlington Cemetery and journeyed across the Potomac to see the White House and the eastern third of the Mall.

Washington DC is a history buffs dream come true. It contains in one setting probably the largest collections of tributes and memorials to our country's heritage and history.

From the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, from the Jefferson to the White House to Capital Hill, it's all there and more.

One of the more touching places on the mall is the Vietnam Memorial. The memorial is essentially a wall containing the names of United States men and women who gave their lives during the time the United States was engaged in Vietnam. The wall contains the names of 58,261 men and women.

The US engagement in Vietnam became at the time one of the more divisive events in our history and certainly in my lifetime. When the Memorial was first proposed and building began, there was a lot of chin music as to why it was necessary, cost and such.

Since it's completion, the memorial has been one of the healing places where people come to remember or for closure.

Bake Sales

It was 16 years ago today that probably the world's largest bake sale took place. Possibly 50 or more thousand people descended to Fort Collins,
Colorado for Dan's Bake sale to see Rush Limbaugh and help Dan get enough money to buy a subscription to Rush's Limbaugh letter.

I wonder if listeners would respond to Rush's call in the same numbers today?

And what ever happened to Dan Kay of Dan's Bake Sale Fame?

Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope Can Now be Viewed Here

Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope. Check it out.

Dave Ramsey - Town Hall for Hope 2009 from Central FPU on Vimeo.

Old Man's Cave Winter

Just below this article, I wrote about a recent trip to Old Man's Cave in the Hocking Hills. I commented on the beauty that we experienced and the enjoyment of the trip.

A year ago last winter (January to be specific), we took a similar trip right after a spell of very cold temperatures.

The area was again beautiful, but just in a different way. It's too bad I couldn't replicate the exact places the pictures were taken to allow for comparison.

Anyhow, enjoy the views.

Old Man's Cave

Sunday, Diana and I took some time and went to the Hocking Hills. For those who have never heard of the area, it is one of the prettiest areas in Ohio for natural wonders.

Although often overlooked as a destination place for scenic areas, Ohio has many areas of great beauty. Sure, in general we don't compete with the Grand Canyon area, the canyons of Utah, the mountains of New England or the coastal cliffs along the Pacific shoreline, but we do have some areas that are still breathtaking.

We've been to old mans cave a number of times, yet we both agreeded we've never found it to be so peaceful and beautiful as we did this trip.

The rest of this post is a collection of snap shots that show portions of our tour from the upper to the lower falls. I only wish I could capture in the camera what I actually see in person. If you only get a fraction of the beauty and peace we enjoyed this past Sunday, you'll understand how we felt standing in the valley of the canyon. Enjoy.