Good Times...Or Just Fair?

Here it is again -- Illinois State Fair time! And we here at LBS are all about the Fair! The food, the rides, the food, the music, and of course, the food. So let's stroll the intersection of Grandstand Avenue and Memory Lane together and recall:

• Favorite foodstuffs (preferably deep-fried and on a stick)
• Best rides (personally, I'm still a sucker for the Giant Slide)
• Top concerts (believe it or not, Night Ranger and Weird Al Yankovic was a hell of a show)
• And the worst of all of the above (Beach Boys at the Grandstand -- very very bad)

And any other miscellaneous memories you may have (like racing around the 'grounds after hours on a Channel 20 golf cart)...

Spinning The Dials On Your Philco Or Transistor Radio

With the news this week about the Sept. 5th network swap for Channel 20 and Channel 17, ending their decades-old relationships with their networks, I thought it was a good time to get your thoughts about Springfield media from the past. I'd like to hear about:

• your favorite local TV newscasters and weathermen
• favorite local DJs
• worst of same
• any memorable on-air bloopers

For my money, there will never be another Mr. Roberts on Channel 3, who by the end was laboring simply to raise his baton to point to the warm front symbols on his magnetic weather map, and who actually inspired a death pool on Central Illinois college campuses, with people placing money down to see if he would croak on-air.

I have fond memories of Skip Joeckel and the late Pat Gordon on WDBR, and before that "Crazy" Bob Murray on WCVS.

And I, of course, was responsible for the best on-air blooper in Springfield TV history, a live shot with a somewhat-indisposed First Lady of Illinois on Channel 20, circa 1988.

Have fun in comments.