The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 32

greenvilleonline.com Wednesday, December 31, 2003 The Greenville News TV FROM PAGE1D "They wanted a clown, but I said no way, Jose I'll not put that makeup on five, six days a week no, I can't handle that," Hoyle said. "So they said, 'Stowe, you create a And he did, using bits and pieces of a Santa beard and wig he found at the station, pieces his wife Laura doctored into a costume. "She had a very artistic talent, so she took the hairpiece and glued it into a cap," he said. After' a few more modifications, "I went back to the station and I said, think I have my Hoyle said Mr. Doohickey was so popular because of how he related to his young fans.

"Mr. Doohickey made his reputation on his love for children, and it came through. It wasn't something I did. It was just some innate talent or love, whatever you want to call it. I don't know it's hard to explain Mr.

Doohickey, but he loved children, and 'Monty's Rascals' was a minor thing that I did. I had many ties they over-exposed me at the station. The children's program was kind of an add-on." DuPuy had been involved in other children's shows at the station, but when it came to "Rascals," he wanted the audience to be more involved. "I had planned to have maybe 10 or 12 children on the program every day, so I could talk to them thinking back to the old Art Linkletter days, when he talked to kids, because kids are fun. But we'd get booked up, 50 and 60 kids a day, and we couldn't seem to get the numbers down, so we weren't able to really talk to the children as much as we wanted to." Even though DuPuy's name was on the show, it was Stowe Hoyle who created one its most memorable characters, Mr.

Doohickey. He was born to some degree out of desperation. "As a child here in the Greenville area, I always wanted to be on 'Monty's recalled Scott Freeman of Fountain Inn. along with other kids, tuned into Channel 4 every Saturday morning to watch Mr. DuPuy and Mr.

Doohickey. I finally got to watch the show in the studio with my mom's Girl Scout troop. Imagine a little boy having to put up with all those girls. It was a highlight of my childhood seeing them in person." Monty DuPuy a radio man pressed into service at the fledgling TV station and Stowe Hoyle as the comic Mr. Doohickey are the stuff of many memories for Greenvillians who grew up watching WFBC in the 1960s and early 70s.

Although DuPuy wore many hats during his years at WYFF, he said he is probably most remembered for "Monty's Rascals." "It's very perplexing to me, really," DuPuy said recently. reers. J.D. Hayworth was a popular sports anchor who now serves as a U.S. congressman from Arizona.

Among those who worked with Hayworth was Mike Seidel, who for the past 12 years has been with The Weather Channel in Atlanta. WYFF was Seidel's first full-time TV job after he finished his graduate studies in meteorology at Pennsylvania State University. He would stay at the station from 1983 to'89. Early during his WYFF days, "I was basically on camera seven days a week," Seidel said. "I think at one stretch I did 212 days in a row.

I wasn't working eight hours every day, but it was great experience. But I don't think I would work seven days a week again." In addition to the experience he gained, Seidel said it was fun working with the WYFF crew. "Working with (weatherman) Charlie Gertz he was an interesting individual to say-the least. He was certainly a very colorful character. And working with J.D.

he was always fascinating. Both of those when they worked together on the 6 and 11, just to hang around, it was entertaining, on and off camera." that came through. He loved them with humor and devotion and caring." While many people have fond memories of growing up watching Monty DuPuy and Mr. Doo-hicky, the station's most visible role, of course, was news. "Those years from '65 to 76 were pretty momentous years," said Dave Partridge, who started with the station as news anchor in 1965.

"We had that terrible year of '68 when you had the Vietnam War and some of its main battles, and the assassination of (Martin Luther King Jr.) and Bobby Kennedy, and a lot of racial issues." And, as Partridge pointed out, there were far fewer ways for people to get TV news, in an era when the only commercial television networks were ABC, CBS and NBC "In those days, we had four channels, and that was it," he said. "People had only three choices for commercial news presentations. As the major station in our market, we could get 50 percent of the market." While' some of WYFF's most notable personalities would retire from the station, others used it as a springboard in their ca- 4 1 how we can respond quickly to things, and in a big way." He pointed to telethons held by the station in the wake of Hurricane Hugo and, more recently, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, telethons that raised a combined total of almost $750,000, The station has been the bearer of good news and tragedy. For some, it's been a daily wake-up call; for others, part of a nightly ritual.

For many others, it's wrapped up in childhood memories. Local programming from the 1950s and '60s, such as "Kids Korral," "Romper Room" and especially "Monty's Rascals," not only entertained a young audience, but also gave many fans a chance however briefly to be a part of the young medium; to be on TV. COLOR SCREEN i NOKIA CamornNG People NOKIA 3595 1 I cingular 'I tfiiSlEKia i rri III Iff-' I I COLOR SCREEN MOTOROLA intelligence everywhere' MOTOROLA T720 one FOR AND ONE FREE ill r- II a I I i II I i Vf BUY ONE $0099 FOR 7 AND GET ONE FREE 1 Wfajsmsfewai buy GET GREER Dill Creek Commons 1361 Wade Hampton Blvd. (Near Fatz Cafe) SPARTANBURG Westgate Mall Kiosk 205 Blackstock Rd. SENECA Seneca Wireless of Easley 1000 A Pendleton St.

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Other monthly charges apply. See below. was a great weather guy, serious but personable. I liked Monty at 6, but I saw him every night. Seeing Stowe once a week was a special event.

Ann McGarity-Williams Back in 1962, when I was 1 1 years old, I wanted nothing more than to be a star. I loved to sing and dance, enjoyed being onstage, and wasn't afraid to try new things. My vast experience consisted of one school play, one church play, and the 4-H talent show which I won by singing "Side by Side" while dancing with a broom. I was ready to be a star. The problem was, I didn't know how to let Hollywood know I was ready.

I wasn't star material at all. I had never had dancing or acting lessons, and my voice training was limited to choir practice at Lee Road Baptist Church and Mauldin First Baptist Church. But that wasn't a problem because we had Channel 4 right here in Greenville, and I knew THOSE PEOPLE knew Hollywood. So, without my parents' knowledge, I wrote a letter to Channel 4, asking someone to help me be a star. I said I would be glad to do anything and they wouldn't even have to pay me! I addressed the envelope to "The President of Channel 4" and placed it in the mailbox.

My future was looking good. Within weeks I received a letter from Mr. Norvln Duncan, stating how much he enjoyed hearing from me. But the best part was he wanted to know when I could bring one of my parents and come to Channel 4 to meet with him. I was on my way! My daddy agreed to go with me and I wrote back, opening the letter with "My Dearest Mr.

Norvin Duncan." I thought the day would never come. I got up early, dressed in my finest (a hand-me-down from one of my cousins) and tried to -tame my curly brown hair. When Daddy and I arrived, we were treated with respect and kindness. The receptionist smiled, said she had been expecting us, and offered us something to drthk. I could tell I was going to enjoy being a star.

From the moment Mr. Duncan greeted us, I knew.things were going to work out great. He told me I was very talented, and that he knew I would be successful. Then I took notes as he listed the steps to stardom. "Start dancing lessons." "Take advantage of every opportunity to perform." "Be willing to start at the bottom and work up." I went home and put his plan to work.

I took dance lessons from a high-school girl, my mother bartered guitar lessons, and I joined a country band, even though I hated country music. Within a year, I was a regular on Channel 4's "Ben Leonard Show" at 7 a.m. Saturdays, singing country music and plucking my guitar. Eventually, I had the opportunity to sing onstage at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium with Red Foley and Roy Acuff (although I didn't even know who they were at the time). Well, I'm 52 years old now, and I never became a star.

But that's OK. Life has been one joy after another, and the goals I set at 1 1 don't seem all that important anymore. I know I'm still nobody to most people, but that day, sitting in that office, I was somebody. I'll be forever grateful to Mr. Norvin Duncan of WYFF for taking the time to encourage a poor little girl who didn't know any better than to believe she could be a star.

Vonda Skinner Skelton MEMORIES FROM PAGE 1 We lived over on David Street with my grandmother and we played up on the wooded lot when they were building Channel 4. When they got it built, sometimes when we were playing on the back lot if kids on the "Kids Korral" canceled out, they would come out and ask us if we wanted to be on TV, and we'd always say yes, and they'd say go home and get cleaned up and be back at a certain time. We were on there about three times like that. We thought it was fun. Sarah McBryde When (Stowe Hoyle, on the late weather) used to say, 'It's 11 o'clock, do you know where your children I got the worst spanking of my life.

It was 1 1 o'clock and we had an 1 1 o'clock curfew and we weren't home. My daddy had a habit of talking to the TV, and he started talking to Stowe, and it was like 'No, I don't know where my children are, but I'm going to find out, and when I do, it's going to be too We got home shortly after that, and from then on, believe me, we were home when Stowe said, It's 1 1 o'clock, do you know where your children Brenda Grisgby My children were born in '59 and '60 Ann and Rusty Hayes and "Monty's Rascals" was a part of their life that is a treasure, both watching it each day and being on the show several times. It was as important then as "Sesame Street" and "Barney" of today probably more so, because of the limited programs. Monty DuPuy and Stowe Hoyle were exceptional hosts and brought out the best in the children. Kids would go on the show getting reservations far ahead for their birthdays.

Ann did so and was sitting next to her best friend, Elizabeth Gifford. We still laugh about this at least once a year 'til this day: Elizabeth had a "shy moment" when asked what her name was, and Ann said, "It is Elizabeth and she doesn't talk much." Mary Alice Shand My friend Peggy Miller called and said she was giving a birthday party for her son Bob. He was a friend of my son John's. She was going to take them down to be on the "Monty's Rascals" show. I can't remember what the name of the sponsor was, but Monty, was giving a commercial about some kind of wieners, evidently one of his sponsors, and my little boy John, who must have been maybe about 4 at the time, yelled out from that little area where they would sit, "Mr.

Monty, we don't like those at our house." Jane Painter My favorite memory of TV4 back when it was WFBC was being allowed to stay up 'til 1 1 on Friday nights and watch The Atlantic Richfield Weather with Stowe Hoyle. As I recall, the weather came on at 1 1 and lasted five minutes; the newscast followed at 1 1 :05. There was something mystical about watching the weather so late at night. The overnight forecast, the times of sunrise and sunset, and the weather map itself, with its cold fronts and asterisk-shaped snowflake symbols, were all thrilling to a 9-year-old. Stowe 3209 Pleasantburg Ste.E-4 Cherrydale Shopping Center (Next to Fazoli's) GREENVILLE EASTSIDE Shoppes at Woodruff 1451 Woodruff Rd.

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