Cable 99 Presents 99 Now

Tuesday, February 24, Cable 99 presented its February edition of 99 Now, a live television show featuring interviews with school and community members. Guests included South High Physical Education teacher and author Kirk Mango, South High's Caribbean Soul Latin Dance group, Mr. Klamm's Weird Science, an intergalactic musical guest, a cooking segment, and a visit from Master Randy Stigall of the American Academy of Martial Arts in Downers Grove. Thanks to all who made the show a success! Look for reruns on Channel 16.

Another Alum: John Ogren

John Ogren writes:

"I was part of 'DGC all four years (and Cable 99 for three) that I was at DGN. Dave Zarembka and I were heavily involved in the football and basketball radio and TV simulcasts. We would run that cable from the studio to either the football field, or the gym right after school, then spend a couple hours figuring out why it didn't all work right.

Once, we decided to do the DGN/DGS football game, when it was at South (up 'til that time, we had only broadcast football games from North HS). The forecast was for rain, so Mr. Moore decided to get garbage bags to cover the cameras so they could stay dry. We got over there as early as possible, since there were so many extra steps.

Anyway, sure enough, we get everything set up, and it starts to pour. The cameras seemed fine, but we huddled in the press box to stay dry. Finally, the wind picked up enough to knock over one of the cameras. Mr. Moore was mortified! The lens housing was broken, and had to be fixed.

Turns out, the game ended up postponed, and all our time was wasted. We still had a good time, sitting in the press box at South, getting everything set-up and ready to go (and then taking it down in the rain). I remember Dave Zarembka, Cynthia Janetka and Mr. Moore from North being there, as well as a couple people from South I didn't know.

I moved on to Northern Michigan Univ., and eventually Brown College in Minneapolis, where I majored in Radio and TV. I've had jobs around Minnesota, but have been in Bemidji (about four hours north of the Twin Cities) for almost ten years now, doing high school sports."

Thanks to John for writing in! John will be receiving a WDGC 40th Anniversary T-shirt. We have more stories coming, and we still have shirts to give away. If you would like to share your story, email John Waite @ jwaite@csd99.org.

A Voice from the Past

We've had our first alum write in to share their memories of being at the station. John Spotts, of Downers Grove, writes:

"In the fall of 1977 I was tapped to broadcast most of the DGN home football games even though I wasn't really good at play by play. In fact, I was terrible. As the season commenced the weather got worse and worse for every home game (it rained for almost every one of them).

My color man Roger Paulsen always remarked how fortunate we were to be in the nice enclosed fairly warm press box....and we never would let Mr. Moore into the press box!

And to all my comrades during those times in the portable classroom/studio.....Don D'Agostino, Brian Reid, Dave Price, Mel Loving, Timmo Cauley, et al. we had a blast! Who jams galore.

I went on to get a degree from SIU with an RT major and graduated from WDGC to WIDB at SIU, joining Timmo and Don there. I've been in the insurance biz since then.

Happy 40th WDGC!"


For writing in, John will receive a WDGC 40th Anniversary t-shirt. We've still got 9 shirts to give away, so email your memories to jwaite@csd99.org. See the previous blog post for more details.