The program, presented in cooperation with the Bay Area Radio Museum, got underway with the induction of Phil Lerza by Dave Sholin (BARHOF ’08). Lerza was the first engineer from the modern era to be enshrined. Celeste Perry and Joanie Greggains led the spirited and humorous presentation of KGO’s production superstar Michael Amatori, who was followed by Stan Burford’s induction of his KGO traffic predecessor, Lu Hurley. Hurley’s daughters, Trish and Eve, accepted on behalf of her late father. David Jackson, curator of the Bay Area Radio Museum, presented both Bill Shaw and Cliff Johnsen posthumously into BARHOF. Shaw managed KSFO during its heyday as “The World’s Greatest Radio Station” in the 1950s and 1960s, while Johnsen — who was noted as the first voice of the San Francisco 49ers on local radio — was a station executive, ad salesman and popular radio personality best known as “Cactus Jack.” “Radio Waves” columnist Ben Fong-Torres took the microphone to induct the late Bobby Dale, who was once described by Don Sherwood (BARHOF ’06) as “The Disc Jockey’s Disc Jockey.” Bobby’s widow, Norma Dale, was on hand to accept his BARHOF plaque. Local sportscasting legends Joe Starkey and Hank Greenwald, each of whom delighted the throng with their amusing recollections, were presented by Ken Dito, current morning sports anchor at KTRB (860 AM). The afternoon concluded with the induction of a trio of longtime KGO stars — Ed Baxter, Ted Wygant and Lee Rodgers — into the Class of 2009. Baxter was presented by two members of BARHOF’s Class of 2008, Mickey Luckoff and Rosie Allen, while Wygant was brought to the podium by his longtime KGO morning news co-anchor, Jim Dunbar (BARHOF ’06). Rodgers, who was unable to attend, was ably represented by Tom Benner, whose “Officer Vic” alter ego currently serves as Rodgers’ traffic-reporting sidekick on KSFO’s morning program. Rodgers received the most votes in the public balloting for the Hall of Fame. Finally, Jackson announced the initial Legendary Station Award, which fittingly went to the century-old KCBS (740 AM, 106.9 FM), celebrating its status as the world’s first broadcasting station. Current KCBS morning news co-anchor Stan Bunger and the man who preceded him at the KCBS anchor desk, Al Hart (BARHOF ’06), were on hand to represent the station at the festivities. Prior to the BARHOF ceremony, the Legends honored a remarkable and talented group of recently-departed Silent Mikes, which included Kelly Quinn, Elma Greer, Vic Reed, Stoddard Johnson, Dick Fogel and Wanda Ramey. The Legends’ retro newscast, which was written and produced by Jim Schock and presented by Don Mozley and Bob Safford, took us back to the events of 1951.
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