“Greeting gentlemen and gentle ladies and to all the sugar and spices and puppy-dogs’ tails in the tricounty area. This is Winchester “Straight Shooter” Bunz and before we begin this evening’s regularly scheduled family favorite program of Fibber McGee and Molly, we here at WTRH want to make a special announcement concerning Wendell Southby, our fair station’s owner and general manager. There have been headlines folks, outlandish headlines, about Southby. I hate to delay programming to air our dirty laundry. Really I don’t want well that’s neither here nor there. At WTRH we are family and I’m sure you know somedays you just have to stand up for family no matter what.

“Folks from the rolling hills of Hill Road to the emerald meadows of Green Glen, you have seen owner and station manager Wendell Southby, cutting ribbons and kissing babies. He is the emcee of the Buttermilk Falls Junior High Prom each and every year. Why? Because Wendell loves love. Wendell has a lovely wife Hazel. You housefraus remember butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth Hazel. She is the former host of Baking Cakes with Hazy Drake. We go way back Haz and I. She was my girl Friday. Anyways Wendell loves his wife and he can deny her nothing. Now back at the 1946 Middle West Broadcasters Convention in Cleveland, Hazy saw and fell for one of those new fangled television everyone is talking about. It is just natural folks that he bought her a TV set.

“Unfortuntely Mrs. Southby also wanted to watch television shows on her new television. Being the lovey dovey husband he was he hired the Gunther Brothers to build a telelvision antenna. He started right people his heart was in the right place. Wendell couldn’t get a signal on his rooftoop. So he had the brothers build a second antenna on the Smooth King Hotel on Main St. Being an engineer and a lover Wendell ran a cable to his home for his lady love. Mind you I didn’t say Wendell was an attorney specializing in licensing or an agent of the FCC or even the brightest bulb in the chandelier. I said he was a lover.

“Wendell loves everyone. That’s where he had a little wobble. He threw open his doors to the neighborhood for folks to watch television and eat slices of Mrs. Southby’s pimento cream cake, world—uh—famous cake, ladies and gents. And when his living room overfloweth. Wendell ran cables to the hotel lobby, to the barber shop, to the beauty salon, to Nicky Fist’s Bar and Pool Hall and to a few personal friends. Many few personal friends. What are we going to cructify a man over having a lot of friends.

“Was money exchanged? I say outrageous. You know Wendell is a giver. Outside of normal maintenance and incidentals, no profit was made. Our salaries certainly didn’t show any windfall. Now gentle ladies and gentlemn your friend and mine Wendell has mounting legal debt but he needs support in his time of need. Time and again, Wendell has sponsored Little League teams and church picnics. Grab those checkbooks, men, Ladies, empty those coin purses. Wendell isn’t a lawbreaker not really he’s a love maker.

Hear that music forks the antics of McGeee and Molly are fast upon us. This is Straight Shooter Bunz signing off. Remember at WTRH we are family. You listeners are family. And thick or thin family sometimes has to look the other way.”