Last weekend my wife and I took a quick trip to Newport, Oregon. It’s a small city on the central coast. It’s also where I landed my first full-time job after college. I rolled into town Thanksgiving weekend in 1994 with hopes and ambitions and left in the spring of 2000 battered, disgruntled, and ready for a change of scenery.

Now every time I visit, I experience an emotional tug. This past weekend, it was a little stronger than usual. To understand why, it’s necessary to start from the very beginning…

Growing up, I loved the coast and wondered what it would be like to live there. It was always hard for me to leave and return home after a visit during summer vacation. Decades later, getting my first full-time radio gig in Newport meant I wouldn’t have to leave. I’d be a local rather than a tourist. A dream come true.

I was the first employee for a company called Elite Broadcasting. It was comprised of three owners: one silent partner who bankrolled most of the operation and a couple of guys, Jack and Keith, who had worked together years before and dreamed of having their own radio station. Both put up a good deal of their own money and were actively involved in the day-to-day management of the new station.

I came to know Keith over the previous year and traveled to Newport on occasion to see how progress was going on construction. As with any new operation there were quite a few false starts before things were up and running. I had eight or nine different start dates over that year before anything was finalized. I arrived in town about a week after the office furniture was delivered.

We were scheduled to go on the air in March of 1995. Over the course of the next three months we would have to build out the studio, install the transmitter and microwave units, erect the tower, hang the antenna, hire a few more people, load all the music, and complete myriad other tasks.

It was during this time that I got to be good friends with Keith. He became like an older brother and was eager to take me under his wing. There was only about a 10-year age difference between us, we were both alumni of the University of Portland, and our parents knew each other. That was a decent foundation to build on, both personally and professionally. It meant I was included in a lot of the ground floor activities that were going on.

More to come in Part II…