Offenburger.com

Along Our Way

KMA radio in Chuck Offenburger’s hometown of Shenandoah celebrated its 85th birthday on August 12. The station, owned by the May family for three generations now, honored its history of having big “jubilees” by putting up a big tent, broadcasting outdoors throughout the day, giving visitors free pancakes and sausages, inviting listeners to “face dive” in an 85-foot-long cake, airing lots of vintage audio clips, and doing special interviews.
[TO SEE THESE PHOTOS IN LARGER FORMAT, AND TO READ A BRIEF STORY, CLICK HERE.]

A conversation

LIVING WITH CANCER

with the Offenburgers

Chuck Offenburger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma cancer on July 10, 2009, had six months of chemotherapy & is now doing well in a “maintenance” program. Carla Offenburger underwent surgery on April 26, 2010, for removal of a jaw tumor which was found to contain adenoid cystic carcinoma cancer. She underwent six weeks of follow-up radiation in June and July, and continues under close medical observation. We post updates frequently here, including brief insights from Chuck, Carla and at least one of you readers.

“If the sedative makes normal people balmy, I wonder what it’s going to do to you since you have been balmy ever since I’ve known you, except for the last days of your first two marriages.”

FOR THE LATEST UPDATE, CLICK HERE.

What’s the deal with the
black & white saddle shoes?

Click here for the story of our farm in Greene County, Iowa.

Here's looking at life
at Simple Serenity Farm

Carla’s sister & brother-in-law Chris and Tony Woods, of Des Moines, were at the farm on Sunday, August 22, helping Carla do the lawn mowing and other yard work that we’ve struggled to keep up with lately, with all our medical appointments. The Woodses brought along their 18-month-old granddaughter Ari, who was a delight watching all the action from the porch with Chuck, catching up on her reading and then getting a moment on the lawn tractor seat!
Click here for larger format

Earlier photos in this series

Chuck Offenburger's
new book on sports
legend Gary Thompson
gets excellent reviews

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

''GARY THOMPSON: All-American'' is the new, 352-page biography of one of the state’s genuine sports icons. From 1950-’53 Gary Thompson led the Roland Rockets to high school sports glory in basketball and baseball, giant-killers from one of Iowa’s small schools. Then he led the Cyclones at Iowa State from 1953-’57, becoming the college’s first two-sport All-American. He’s had major success in broadcasting and business, from his home base in Ames. And he and his wife Janet have a family as solid as they come. “I’m the luckiest guy around,” Thompson says.

TO READ CHUCK OFFENBURGER'S COLUMN ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE ''BOOK LAUNCHING'' HELD EARLY IN DECEMBER, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DES MOINES REGISTER SPORTSWRITER RICK BROWN'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE SPORTS COLUMNIST JIM ECKER'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ AMES DAILY TRIBUNE SPORTSWRITER DICK KELLY'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DOUG BURNS' STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE CARROLL DAILY TIMES HERALD, CLICK HERE.

TO READ ANDY GOODELL'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE OSKALOOSA HERALD, CLICK HERE.

WANT TO SEE AND HEAR THE OLD ROLAND HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG PERFORMED? CLICK HERE!

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

FOR PHOTOS FROM OUR BOOK LAUNCHING EVENTS, CLICK HERE!

SEE BOB MODERSOHN'S PHOTOS OF OUR BOOK CHAT AND SIGNING AT BEAVERDALE BOOKS IN DES MOINES!

Our Partners & Patrons
Iowa Hall of Pride
netINS, Inc.
Butler House on Grand B&B
Sam's Barber Shop
Douglas T. Bates III, Attorney
KMA Radio's ''Chuck & Don Show''
Barack Obama story & coloring book
The Monks of New Melleray Abbey

Along Our Way

Joining in the fun as KMA radio, a very unusual and ambitious small town radio station in this modern era, celebrated its 85th birthday in Shenandoah

They did it up big time, reminiscent of the “Harvest Jubilees” that radio pioneers Earl May and Henry Field would host for a full week. Outdoor broadcasts in a big tent, special programs from the KMA archives and interviews with former staff members, free pancakes & sausage and a “cake dive” with selected listeners and staffers using their faces (and no hands) to pull prizes out of an 85-foot-long cake!

August 20, 2010
SHENANDOAH, IOWA

KMA radio in Chuck Offenburger’s hometown here in southwest Iowa celebrated its 85th birthday on August 12.

The station, owned by the May family for three generations now, honored its history of having big “jubilees” by putting up a big tent, broadcasting outdoors throughout the day, giving visitors free pancakes and sausages, inviting listeners to “face dive” in an 85-foot-long cake, airing lots of vintage audio clips, and doing special interviews.

In the August 6 edition of the KMA Advantage Club Newsletter, Chuck Offnburger wrote a column about why he thinks KMA is such an unusual station today. You can read that column by clicking here.

Chuck did some follow-up coverage on the celebration, as well as about the transformation that has happened in downtown Shenandoah, in the August 20 edition of the KMA Advantage Club Newsletter. You can read that coverage by clicking here.

There’s also more of the KMA story in the captions to the photos below here.

Ed May, second from right, is the chief executive of May Broadcasting, which owns KMA radio. Ed bases from Omaha. On the right his sister Karen May Sislo, who now lives in Wausau, Wisconsin. They are the grandchildren of Earl May. Their father Ed May Sr. is deceased but their mother E.J. May lives in Wisconsin in the summers and Arizona in the winters.There is a third May sibling, Annette, who lives in North Carolina. Ed and Karen are shown here preparing to go on the air with KMA's morning team of Chuck Morris and Don Hansen in the big tent set up outside the KMA studios for the 85th birthday celebration.

Debbie Burroughs, who works in the bakery at the Hy-Vee Food Store in Shenandoah, is shown here hustling to put the finishing decorating touches on the 85-foot-long sheet cake that saluted KMA's radio birthday. There were 85 listeners or KMA staffers selected do ''face diving'' into the cake for poker chips that had prize numbers written on them. Prizes ranged up to $100 in cash. Burroughs said the cake was ''by far the biggest I've helped make in my 26 years in the bakery.''

Nick Wetzel, a KMA advertising account executive, is also frequently on the broadcast team, and he is shown here talking to two listeners during the ''Elephant Shop,'' which is one of those call-in buy, sell and trade shows. Wetzel was one of the coordinators of the whole 85th birthday celebration.

Carla Offenburger is shown here with the Offenburgers' great pals Robert and Evelyn Birkby, of Sidney. Evelyn was one of KMA's legendary ''radio homemakers.''

Bob and Karen Foster, of Shenandoah, were the first through the line for free pancakes and sausage at the KMA celebration.

Chuck Offenburger is shown here pouring Tang orange drink for people getting pancakes and sausage at KMA's celebration. It was so sunny and hot on the serving line that Chuck had to borrow the pink, sparkly visor from KMA receptionist Hilda Long.

Shenandoah has an exceptionally good streetscape in its business district. It includes art, flowers, shrubs and plaques like this one that explain the area's heritage. This plaque tells the story of Shenandoah's pioneering radio stations KMA and KFNF, owned and operated by Earl May and Henry Field.

Here is one of the attractive streetlights in Shenandoah's business district, showing off gorgeous flowers and artistic mosaics. This one is a salute to the duo who are probably Shenandoah's most famous native sons, Don and Phil Everly, who as the Everly Brothers were charter inductees into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, along with Elvis Pressley and the Beatles. Don and Phil grew up singing on Shenandoah's radio stations with their parents, Ike and Margaret Everly.

KMA came up with a nifty memento for everybody attending the 85th birthday celebration - these key chains with a miniature microphone. Several thousand people were there for the big event on Thursday, August 12.

Send your comments to carla@Offenburger.com or chuck@Offenburger.com

Along Our Way Archives