I stumbled across a movie called ‘Zero Hour!‘ over the weekend and laughed for more than an hour. Because the movie ‘Airplane!‘ was taken directly from it, ‘Zero Hour!‘ is the most unintentionally funny movie I’ve ever seen.

We are just weeks away from having News Channel 7’s new tower on Hogback Mountain beaming our signal.

Edgar Woodfin, the station’s Engineering/Transmitter Supervisor, tells me the new tower hopefully should be transmitting by September 15th.  General Manager Phil Lane told station employees at a staff meeting today that the target date remains September 1st.

The construction consists of a primary tower that will hold News Channel 7’s new main and new back-up antennas.

The tower will be 459 feet high, same as the old one, but designed stronger.

You’ve heard the saying that bad news comes in three’s.

It couldn’t be more true at my house.

Maybe “bad” is too strong a word for what’s going on.  Actually, it’s more like “aggravating.“

As I write this, the air conditioning to the upstairs portion of my house is out for the third time this summer.

Thanks a million to all of you who gave your support to the “Jail Cells for Blood Cells” blood drive at WestGate Mall this past Saturday 8/15.  You’ll find pictures in my Facebook photo album.

Piedmont Blood Center spokesperson Andrea Wall tells me 65 usable units of blood were collected, including one from me.

I consider myself blessed greatly to be able to share this gift of life.

Wall called Saturday “a great day.“  She attributes it to community support from donors, the mall, the media and other sponsors.

Each of us has an opportunity this Saturday to save three lives.
That’s the impact each time a person donates blood.
This Saturday 8/15 at the WestGate Mall food court in Spartanburg, the Piedmont Blood Center is hosting “Jail Cells for Blood Cells” from 9 am - 5 pm.

Imagine a “jail and bail” where the emphasis is on collecting blood donations rather than money.  You catch the drift!

Sundays at 11 am, News Channel 7 presents a live broadcast of the worship service at First Baptist Spartanburg.

The First Baptist broadcast has been presented, without interruption, every Sunday since November 21, 1956.

It is by far the longest-running program in WSPA-TV’s history.

And from now on, when I watch the service, I will remember Frank Owen Ezell of Spartanburg.

The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Unfortunately weather conditions won’t be prime for good viewing. 

For the first time since 2000, Gayle and I are not buying back-to-college items for our daughters.

With Kayla’s graduation this past May and Lauren’s graduation earlier, both our girls have their degrees from Clemson University, and we are super proud of them.  Watching each of them cross the stage inside Littlejohn Coliseum and receive their diplomas ranks among the great moments in my life.

But it also means no more mountains of school supplies to buy!

Right?

Wrong!

I’ll be off the air for the next several days for vacation and I think the state could use a little time away as well. At the very least, South Carolina deserves a break. It’s been a pretty rough summer for the Palmetto State.

President Obama, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley plan to sit down for a beer Thursday. I say they need to save a seat at the picnic table for Norm (“Cheers”) Peterson.

A little town in Spartanburg County is going big time this Saturday (7/25).

And you’re invited.

After a three-year absence, the Chesnee Summer Festival is returning.

Festival committee member Al Corey believes the timing is just right.

Like those in so many other communities, residents of Chesnee have endured difficult economic times and the fear brought on by the Cherokee County serial killer.

Back-to-School Concerns

I was 15 years old when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

I remember watching the live broadcast late at night on my family’s black and white Motorola television set.

I also remember my grandfather, on my mother’s side, who was in his eighties at the time, never believed a man actually went to the moon.  He thought it was fake.

I heard today six percent of Americans (roughly 10 million) side with my late grandfather and believe we never put a man on the moon.

I don’t know that I’ll live to see a Mars mission, but I hope it happens.

Let’s mark the 40 year anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon with the man who described their every move back on Earth. We have many video clips of the late CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.

  Walter Cronkite played a huge role in one of the proudest moments in the history of WSPA-TV.

    He came to Spartanburg on March 19, 1977 to participate in the gold shovel ground-breaking ceremony of the station’s new facility at Interstates 85 and 26 which opened in April 1979 and where we broadcast to this day.

    During that trip, Cronkite also visited the station’s old facility in downtown Spartanburg and gave a speech to the Spartanburg County Foundation at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.

    Former News Channel 7 photojournalist Mike Allen documented Cronkite’s visit to Spartanburg.