For a few years there I was winning Nebraska Broadcasters Association awards like they were going out of style. Then I wasn’t anymore. And after 3 or so years of loserdom my fragile ego led me to stop trying to win. 20 years of wondering if I’d have won is less painful than one year of losing. I know this makes me weak and a bad sport. (No “but”. It is what it is.)
My last year as a winner was 2014, and that’s the year I took Gold in the Service to Community category. I had written and produced a series of public service announcements for the Knight Museum. I got the museum to sponsor a 2-hour news special on KCOW. Then I came up with commercials for the museum. This was a fun project from start to finish!
As I do sometimes, I decided I didn’t want any of the Three Amigos (me, Kalin, Gles) on these commercials. Since the museum is a pillar of the community I drew on the community for our cast. In these commercials you will hear Don Jones (the rich, deep voice narrating most of the spots); Kendra Schott as a USO volunteer; Matt Martin as a resident telling the story of a notorious moment in Box Butte County history; Anthony Schmid as the narrator of the railroad spot; and Greg Friesen as an interviewer, and railroad conductor.
I’m pretty proud of these spots. I would be even if they didn’t beat out the big boys in Omaha and Lincoln for Gold.
