Growing up, watching the news was a regular occurrence at home. Many many times.... either during, before, or after supper.... we would watch the local news.
Judy was always such a pleasant spirit on TV. Not only did she present the weather, but she made it feel like it was being presented by a loving grandmother.
I remember WTHI (Terre Haute), WCIA (Champaign), and WAND (Decatur) were the 3 that we'd watch most often.
Each station had a weatherman.... correction, weatherperson.... that I really enjoyed watching:
Judy Fraser WCIA
Bob Murray WAND
Kevin Orpurt WTHI
I've always thought that weather is a really cool topic. These 3 made it interesting. (Plus, we had some real doozy-storms roll thru my hometown in the years I was growing up.)
Simply put, weather is fascinating. So much so that I took a weather class (as an elective) while at Eastern Illinois and enjoyed it immensely. Les Stoner was my professor's name, and he really knew his stuff. We talked clouds. We talked fronts. We talked jet streams.
No standing in front of green screens pointing at maps though.
Which brings me back to the 3 weatherpeople.... correction, meteorologists.... mentioned above......
Remember her wooly-worm forecasts?
And, remember her excitement each year on Hoodie Hoo Day?
If I remember correctly, she visited the Kansas Homecoming one year. Maybe served as parade marshall? or "MC" of something? can't quite remember. and I can't remember if I met her or not.
I do remember the night she retired. They had a very touching "goodbye Judy" segment that was a tear-jerker.
Judy was the best.
Bob Murray of Decatur's WAND. I don't remember much about him except that he jiggled.
Yes, jiggled.
When he got really excited about his forecast, or about some scary weather headed towards Central Illinois, he jiggled.
I believe he now works for a radio station over in Springfield. May even still be jiggling.
Kevin Orpurt was the long-time weatherguy over for WTHI in Terre Haute Indiana.
Kevin was a character. Witty. Quick on his feet. And those bowties. Kevin could sure sport a good bowtie. Wonder how many of them he has?
I'm pretty sure I do remember Kevin being in Kansas on a Sunday afternoon in a July long ago to serve as parade marshall. I may be wrong, but I'm thinking not. Like Judy, I do not remember if I met him or not.
I do recall taking a class field trip with Mr. Oliver Yates during high school over to the WTHI station. I think I remember Kevin greeting us all. That was a cool tour. Got me really interested in media/broadcasting. Which might have been my college major, if I hadn't enjoyed Mrs. Peggy Decker's accounting class (and working at the Kansas State Bank) so much.
This is Kevin's mug shot from last weekend. Sad. Sounds like he was in an accident and tested positive for something that should not have been in his system. I really hate to see this.
No bowtie.
Out for now......
Matt