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90 years young! As of October 6, KOAL will have been serving the Price/Helper, Utah community for 9 decades. I think this deserves devoting this newsletter to their accomplishments. What's even more unusual, is that those 90 years have been under the continuous ownership of one family! Each successive generation has carried on the family tradition.
When KOAL originally went on the air as KEUB at 1450 on the dial, the three original owners were Jack Richards, Frank Carman and Sam Weis. A couple of years later, Jack Richards bought out his two partners.
Jack Richards had an interesting life. He was born in 1895 and raised in New York City. His father and grandfather both had seats on the New York Stock Exchange. Jack graduated from Yale University with a major in French language and was sent to France as an interpreter during WWI. After the war, he returned to New York and enjoyed the roaring twenties. He survived the stock market crash of 1929 and continued to work in the brokerage business. In 1935, he fell in love with his father's 24 year old secretary, Rita Reynolds. They married without family approval and Jack was virtually disowned from the family. Rita had some lung problems so they loaded their belongings into their car and headed for the great American Southwest.
Jack went to work at a radio station in Gallup, New Mexico. After he learned about the business, he decided to buy his own radio station and met up with his two future partners. They wanted to find a license between two cities so they could draw business from both towns. Their choice came down to Nyssa/Ontario Oregon and Price/Helper, Utah. They decided on Price/Helper. They constructed the station in the building where the station still is located. After Jack bought out his partners, Jack and Rita constructed an apartment adjacent to the studios and became a mom and pop business. Jack sold the advertising and ran the business. Rita took care of the bookkeeping and much of the copy writing. They continued to operate this way until 1965.
Tom Anderson started working for Jack Richards as a teenager. Tom was raised in Price along with a brother and a sister after their father left them. Tom's mother died when he was 17 years old, leaving him with no place to live and a year of high school left to complete. He moved in with his newly wed sister and brother-in-law to complete high school. Shortly after the beginning of the school year his speech class teacher told him about a part time job opening at the radio station. Tom got the job and during the course of the year he and the childless Richards became acquainted and they were impressed with his desire to leave to attend the University of Utah. Jack arranged for him to have a job while in the University. Following graduation from the university with a BS in Marketing, Tom returned to Price to serve as salesman/manager for the Richards. At that time, Jack was 70 years old.
Jack and Rita eventually adopted Tom and left the radio stations to him.
Tom continued to run the stations with the beliefs that Jack Richards instilled in him that the stations were to be an extension of the community. Over the years, Tom used the airwaves to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for different civic and charitable organizations in Carbon and Emery Counties. The first Kiwanis radio auction was held in 1967 and raised a few hundred dollars. Today that auction raises over $30,000 in one day to benefit children in Carbon and Emery Counties.
Tom was also a long time member of the Utah Broadcast Association and was on their board for many years. He was inducted into the Utah Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011. Tom passed away in 2012 after a 3 1/2 year battle with cancer.
In May of 2004, Tom's son Paul left his career in Salt Lake city and moved his family back to Price to work with his dad at the radio station. He and his wife, Ann, along with Paul's two sisters, now continue the family tradition of giving back to Price/Helper and the communities of Eastern Utah.
The programming of KOAL has changed a bit over the decades. It has also switched frequencies and increased power to better serve the area. What started primarily as variety programs, news programs and soap operas also included a variety of music from classical, country, popular music and a request hour. Until the 1980's KOAL maintained a grand piano in its studio. Progamming included a mine report that notified miners if they would work the next day.
The advent of TV predicted the demise of radio, but somehow Tom neglected to understand that. The station changed its programming to become a delivery vehicle for music and continued on without missing a step.
At night KOAL's signal can be received in Idaho, Nevada and much of California and Arizona. Today, KOAL operates a state-of-the art News/Talk/Sports operation.
Eastern Utah Broadcasting added KARB FM, signing on the air July 4, 1977. KARB is known as Kickin' Country.
In June 2006 KRPX 95.3 "The Peak" joined their radio family broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format.
In the age of consolidation and large, stock companies gobbling up the individually owned stations, it is a delight and honor to work with Paul, Ann and the entire Eastern Utah Broadcasting Crew. They continue to live in and reflect their local communities. I was taught about broadcasting that licensees are "guardians of the airwaves". This fits Eastern Utah Broadcasting to a tee.
This year, Eastern Utah Broadcasting will break ground on their new facility. Exciting things are in the works. Although I look forward to seeing their new building, I for one will miss the old one. When I am there, I feel the presence of Jack, Rita, Tom and all the people who have come before and worked to make these stations great.
Congratulations to Paul, Ann and the entire crew. Here's to 90 more years!
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