New ‘face’ on the air at KLCK keeps focus on area
Lou Marzeles
Editor
Rodger Nichols says he can still do his Gary Owens imitation.
Owens, the radio announcer guy with his hand cupped over his ear on the ’60s TV show Laugh-In, wasn’t even famous yet when Nichols, now news director and on-air personality at Haystack Broadcasting—better known to Klickitat County listeners as radio station KLCK—started in radio.
Today Nichols talks his news instead of writing it. Hired by the station to take over from now-retired Julian Notestine, he’s been at the job all of six weeks now, recruited away from his position as a writer for The Dalles Chronicle. Perhaps reflecting that news background, Nichols says he’s focused on providing lots of local news.
“Well, my intent is to focus mostly on local news,” Nichols says, “because that’s the thing we have that nobody else does. Web sites are full of national news; others are full of statewide news. Only the people who live and work here can generate the local news. That’s what we have to sell, what’s unique. As it happens, we’ve done a lot of breaking local news because I’ve got four counties to cover.”
Nichols has a lot of local news to cover, given where the radio station is situated. He tries to provide news from Klickitat County in Washington and Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties in Oregon. Notice that Klickitat County is the first mentioned here. County listeners, still smarting from the abrupt departure of the radio station’s studio from Goldendale last year, remain tentatively loyal as they wait to see if the station that still calls itself a Goldendale station—but is now located only in The Dalles, in a whole other state—continues to show loyalty to its former location. Notestine’s recent retirement reawakened that area angst, since the Goldendale resident had been such a well-known on-air presence for so long.
Haystack General Manager—and Goldendale native—Sean Stiff is keenly aware of the uncertainty and is quick to reassure Klickitat Countians that the station remains firmly committed to listeners north of the Columbia. “We want to make it more professional,” Stiff says, speaking of the station. “That’s really what we’re trying to do. When I was brought along, it was to kind of change what we’re doing. Going after Rodger was one of the big steps we’re taking. We’ve implemented rules about on-air sound quality, who’s in there, who’s not, who’s in control. That translates to your on-air quality, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re also trying to be more local, meaning here in The Dalles, meaning Goldendale. I grew up there,” Stiff emphasizes, “so I have a commitment to Goldendale I want to keep, even as it got lost there for a little bit.”
Nichols’ decision to join Haystack came at a propitious time for both. Haystack management came to him and, as Nichols tells it, told him he was wanted and they would give him more money, fewer hours, and less stress. “‘What do you say to that?’” Nichols recalls being asked. His answer is evidenced by the message heard on his Haystack voice mail, which lets callers know that he is in the office at Haystack from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nichols got his start in radio at the age of 17. The principal of his Hood River high school was asked to recommend someone to be a replacement disc jockey at KIHR, and Nichols was his choice. “I went down, and they trained me,” he says. “I filled in, under supervision, starting in October 1966, when The Beatles were still releasing new music – that’s how long it’s been. One night they had a fellow who got drunk on the air one night and had to be replaced.” Nichols stepped in and took to the air.
He was back at the station during summers throughout college. In 1974, after getting married and dabbling in a business or three here and there, he started work KODL in The Dalles, “where I stayed for 12 and a half years, or as I like to think of it, an eighth of a century,” he says. “I was a disc jockey, a news person, a salesman, a sales manager, a station manager. At some point I made the decision to leave and sold insurance for a couple of years, went completely broke, was complaining one day.” Someone at the weekly newspaper in The Dalles heard him and hired him as an ad sales person there. “When Eagle Newspapers bought The Chronicle in 1996,” Nichols says, “I moved into other positions because they already had an ad director who was familiar with a daily paper, and I used to work at a weekly.”
From ad sales, Nichols went into production after his wife died and “I wasn’t in the frame of mind to be in sales,” he recalls. Production suited him. “So I did that for a while. Several years later I remarried. Just by happenstance, there was an opening in the editorial department. So they gave me a shot.” Nichols had already acquired a following as a business writer, and that following grew at The Chronicle.
Nichols and Stiff have frequented business luncheons by the Greater Goldendale Chamber of Commerce in recent weeks, covering appearances by political figures and others. Their appearances have heartened many county listeners. “We’re definitely going to have a big focus on Goldendale,” Stiff reasserts. “That’s why we’re really trying to get back in the community.”
“In fact, right now we’re doing prep on the Timberwolves sports,” Nichols adds. “We try to put as much live, local, on as we can because that’s what differentiates us from 500 other stations out there. I think the philosophy here is ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Give them quality product, and they will find you. We’re getting more and more all the time.”
High on the list of quality product for the station is bringing back a live call-in show. “We’re actually looking at doing something,” Stiff says. “Even now, there are a lot of people who call in, and we’re going to try to figure out a way to get back to that. That’s one of the things we’re looking at. We just have to get the equipment, so we do have the ability to do the required time delays. Part of our plan, even though we can’t be physically in Goldendale, is to still be the Goldendale station.”
“And let me make a plea to people,” Nichols adds, “because, while I’ve covered news in the Gorge for a long time, I’ve not covered news in Klickitat County for very long. So if they see something worth covering, please give me a call. I’d love to make some new connections, help publicize things that need to be publicized, get involved with what’s really a neat place.”
So what do Nichols and Stiff want to say directly to their listeners in Goldendale and Klickitat County?
“I enjoy the place and would love to hear more about it, get more involved,” Nichols says. “You can call me early. The number is [541] 296-9102, extension 312, which will get you right to me.”
“And as far as my viewpoint,” Stiff says, “I consider myself a local Goldendale person. I was raised there. We’re going to do everything we can to make it so we’re back there, maybe not physically, but definitely on the air. We want to be the Goldendale station and do lots of Klickitat County events and be part of that community. We are not going anywhere.”
It’s Festival fare at Maryhill Museum
Maryhill Museum of Art’s park-like grounds high above the Columbia Gorge is the setting for the museum’s annual outdoor Arts Festival this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The event will feature 60 artists displaying and selling art in a variety of media, including painting, jewelry, woodworking, ceramics, glass, and more. There will also be live music performances, food vendors, hands-on art activities for families, and a free evening performance of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.
Admission to the festival is free. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
“The Maryhill Arts Festival is a summertime tradition in the Gorge,” says Colleen Schafroth, Maryhill’s executive director. “It's a great way to meet and talk with artists, and enjoy music and food, all under a canopy of shade trees in the museum’s picnic grounds—it is a wonderful event that the whole family can enjoy.”
This year the Arts Festival will also include a free evening performance of Shakespeare’s beloved The Comedy of Errors, performed in the museum’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden by Portland Actors Ensemble, at 7 p.m. Saturday. This production is part of the Ensemble’s Shakespeare-in-the-Parks program, which makes classical theater accessible to audiences in non-traditional environments. The performance at Maryhill is made possible through donations from Judith Lackstrom and Robert Morrow.
In addition to the 60 artists selling work, there will be live music, food vendors Casa El Mirador, The Glass Onion, and Café Maryhill, as well as the following scheduled activities:
Explore creativity at the Maryhill Art Tent with free drop-in art activities open to all ages, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily. On Family Fun days, children under 17 are admitted to the museum free all day with one paid adult admission.
This year’s featured exhibitor for the special outdoor exhibit is the Oregon Glass Guild, whose membership includes many Columbia River Gorge glass artists. Inside the museum, the featured exhibit will be William Morris: Native Species.
The Goldendale Astronomy Club will give visitors an opportunity to view the sun through specially filtered telescopes every day.
Sit back and enjoy Portland Actors Ensemble Shakespeare-in-the-Parks production of The Comedy of Errors in Maryhill's Outdoor Sculpture Garden Saturday at 7 p.m.
Bring a picnic dinner or purchase a Mexican dinner on the Grand Lawn prepared by the popular restaurant Casa El Mirador of The Dalles, for the Mexican Fiesta Dinner Saturday at 5 p.m., featuring a range of delicious Mexican favorites from tacos to enchiladas.
The museum proper will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during the Arts Festival. Permanent exhibits include a large collection of works by Rodin, European and American paintings, objects d'art from the palaces of the Queen of Romania, Orthodox icons, unique chess sets, the renowned Théâtre de la Mode as well as an extensive Native American collection.
Special exhibits on view this season include William Morris: Native Species, featuring 38 glass vessels from the Collection of George Stroemple. The museum’s Outdoor Sculpture garden features large-scale works by noted sculptors from throughout the Pacific Northwest.
New principal at Adventist School
Robin Molina is a new principal/head teacher at the Goldendale Adventist School. She comes to Goldendale from Caldwell, Idaho, where she taught grades one through four. Molina has a strong background in teaching with 30 years’ experience teaching all grades from preschool to grade 10. She will be teaching elementary grades here. Her international experience of traveling abroad will bring interest to learning for her students.
|
