 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2005-08-01 09:54:00
The State Fair
: Do you remember early days at the State Fair?
ANSWER: September is here! The kids are back in school and it's already time for the Kansas State Fair. In my early broadcast days, I had the privilege of working at the Kansas State Fair throughout the entire Fair schedule. I was employed at KTVI, which is now KWCH. When we began broadcasting at the Fair, we took our whole News, Weather and Sports departments, including our kid shows, Hi-Fi Hop and Ladies program. This meant most of the staff spent the entire State Fair in Hutchinson. This was a HOOT! We had to negotiate with the local restaurants for meals for everyone on the staff, hotel rooms, and transportation of sets and all of the needs: AP wire, photography area, everything! We were located then, at the same corner that Channel 12 still occupies, right across from the taffy stand that has been there all these years. Our guests that appeared on the news programs were many of the politicians of that time; the Governor, Senators, State Representatives and many others. Plus, many celebrities that appeared on the night show. I had the rare opportunity to meet Roy Rogers and deliver Dale Evans to the fair grounds in my car. I got to spend an afternoon with Evil Knievel because Hugo's Harley Davidson brought him in one year for one of his daredevil jumps. Hugo's booth was located right next to ours. We had the current beauty queens along with many of the winning entries of livestock and the 4H exhibits. The Royal American Shows were at the Fair with their always new and exciting rides and the many side shows that made the Fairgoers come out 'wild eyed'. It was a lot of fun to watch them transport their carnival across town from the train tracks, where their train (which they owned) was parked. The free shows, the music, the bands, the mixed noise and smells and car races and all were so exciting. And, back then before shopping centers, the variety of items you could see demonstrated were very intriguing. By the way, there was always a rainstorm that came just about the end of the Fair that blew the tents down and dropped the temperature by about 20 degrees. This was the beginning of fall weather. It will all happen again this year between September 9th and 18th and it certainly is an event you don't want to miss.Don't miss the Kansas State Fair!
