Taiwan - New Taipei Garden Area, Pretty Flowers #9 / Brush with Greatness at KFDM

[continued from post of two days ago]

I was at Channel 6 for just three months, but in that short time had experiences and met people unique to the industry that most don't encounter.  One of the more interesting of those times was the day that CBS came calling.

Being a CBS affiliate, whenever a news story of national interest happened in the area the network would use the facilities at our station to produce the story.  On one such day (this was the summer of 1977) the Secretary of Energy in Jimmy Carter's cabinet, James Schlesinger, was in Port Arthur on the nation's business.  Since he was our first Secretary of Energy, the press followed him closely as he carved out this new role.  And for CBS Eric Engberg was tapped to do the story.

Naturally there was a heightened buzz at the station as preparations were made for Mr. Engberg.  Upon returning from Port Arthur he and his sparse crew showed up and sequestered a desk.  I didn't really know what to do with these people around - and my role as newsfilm processor certainly wasn't needed, as the networks by then already were using the newfangled videotape - so after a bit I took my place on the stool in front my darkroom and just watched.

The desk that Mr. Engberg was using happened to be directly across from my perch.  He was on the phone when I heard him say, "Let me talk to Walter", and he started talking in earnest with none other than Walter Cronkite as they arranged how his story would fit into the 5:30 evening newscast.  Here I was, an ungainly teenager with no real experience in the business, looking at a man who at the moment was speaking the the most trusted man in America!  Honestly I was a little star-struck.

A bit later, as we were all scurrying around doing our jobs for the day, I passed the film archive room, the door to which was opened a crack, and heard Mr. Engberg doing his voiceover for the story.  Pretty neat, I thought, knowing that those words would later be heard by millions of viewers across the country.  Remember that this was before the internet, or even cable TV to speak of, so everybody turned to one of the three networks (CBS, NBC or ABC) for the news of the day, and it was very highly competitive.

Then, when the time came at 5:30, Mr. Engberg went into the station lobby and watched on a TV that was in the corner always tuned, of course, to Channel 6.  He and his little crew were sitting on a couch with a few of us local guys standing directly behind them as the story aired.  My impression was that they were relaxed enough, but there was also an undercurrent of tension as they silently critiqued their own work.

So those are some of the highlights of my time as newsfilm processor at Channel 6 in Beaumont.  Just like CBS was top of the network heap in terms of ratings and integrity, KBMT was at the top of the heap locally thanks to the leadership of Larry Beaulieu, and I was mighty proud to be a part of that team.  When it was time in the fall to go off to college at SFA in Nacogdoches, I left feeling like a winner.

But that was not near the extent of my duties at the station.  In fact my job with news was only part-time.  After the newsfilm was all processed and my work was done there, I trotted off to my other part-time job in the studio to man the cameras for the live newscasts at 6 and 10, with production work in between...