Let's reminisce again about radio programs out of the past, programs like "Uncle Ken's Kiddies Club" on WDAY.
Odee (McGill) Maier, Fargo, writes of that program, which aired Saturday mornings with Ken Kennedy as host and with kids getting to be on the air singing, playing an instrument or reciting a poem.
Odee was one of them from the time she was 4½ until she was 7.
She recalls the sponsors included Maytag washing machines, Dickerson shoes and the Store Without a Name.
"There are several other 'alums' of that show still living in the area," she writes, adding, "I enjoyed every minute of those shows."
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The Hetlands
The Kiddies Club originated in the WDAY studios in the Black Building in downtown Fargo. The studios were moved to the American Life Insurance building on Fifth Street North, Fargo, where Prairie Public TV is now located, in 1955.
That was the summer Jim Hetland broke into broadcasting. He filled in as studio board engineer at WDAY when chief engineer Juline Savold took his summer vacation.
Jim, now of Pelican Rapids, Minn., ran the board for many of Ken Kennedy's programs as well as many other WDAY shows.
Jim is the son of Julius Hetland, who was technical director for WDAY radio and TV for 42 years.
Julius was hired by the station's founder, Earl Reineke, in 1928. He previously worked for a station in Marshalltown, Iowa.
He took a leave of absence from WDAY during World War II to work on submarine detection research for Columbia University; he and his family lived in West Hempstead, N.Y., during that time.
Julius retired from WDAY in 1974 and moved with his wife, Alice, to Cape Coral, Fla., where he died in 1983.
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"The '50s and '60s of radio and television were really some great times," Jim writes.
He ought to know; the Hetlands were in the middle of it.
If you have an item of interest for this column, mail it to Neighbors, The Forum, Box 2020, Fargo, N.D. 58107; fax it to 241-5487; or e-mail blind@forumcomm.com
