Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 27

Lansing State Journal Thursday January 15, 2004 www.lsj.com Tim Makinen Features Editor 377-1053 E-mail: livinglsj.com mm 1 50 YEARS ON THE AIR 1 PZ I v-T" i ill Luda and Ching-a-ling are coming to Breslin Promoting his current Mil and Virginia Tomlinson, the voices behind "Mr.Murgle's Musse." i HJPW" inn in mi .1 album, "Chicken-n- Beer," Atlanta's most versatile MC, Ludacris, will perform moments Ludacris WKAR's first general manager, Armand Hunter, I climbs the broadcast 1 tower in 1954. with "Right Thurr" cutie Chingy on Feb. 29 at Michigan State University's Breslin Center. Tickets $39.50, $32 and $27.50 go on sale starting at 10 a.m. today.

Call 432-5000 or visit www. breslincenter.com. No word yet on whether they have reservations at the Holiday Inn. 1 kx Five decades later, MSUs public TV station goes digital and beyond By Mike Hughes Lansing State Journal half-century ago, Michigan State University launched an experi ment. 1 1 4 .1 1 i- 5 in rinm i 4r VT 2.

l. delivers his 'R i Sportlite" report. 1 MSU Archives and in, immt V--- I Historical Collections It started its own TV station. There 1 would be no commercials, no network feeds, no sure things. "We did a lot of shows recalled John Dunlevy, the station's retired art director.

"I just didn't know if there was an audience." Even if people wanted to watch, it wasn't easy. Smokey Robinson sings at Soaring Eagle Casino Mom, are you reading this? Smokey Robinson, one of the most beloved Motown singers of all time, will bring his sweet crooning to Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant at 8 p.m. today. Admission is $30, $38 and $47. Info: (800) 585-3737.

Pastors will celebrate MLK's birthday today I Lansing pastors will gather today to worship and celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. at 7 p.m. today at New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 3800 W.Miller Road. The Rev. James Meeksof Chicago's Salem Baptist Church will be the guest speaker.

The public is invited. "We were on Channel 60 then," recalled Bob Page, then a cameraman and now the retired general manager. "There weren a lot oi people wno naa UHt: Thpir An nnw WTCAR i r'nrrWv nn 50th anniversary today by introducing its new boss and switching on its new digital signal. These days, WKAR is seen mainly as a Richard Best Changing of the guard: DeAnne Hamilton replaces Steve Meuche today as general manager of WKAR. Picture this At 11:07 (and 25 seconds) a.m.

today in Studio A of the Communications Arts Building, Dee Cook, an MSU trustee, will "flip the switch" to launch a digital signal on a separate channel known as WKAR-DT. That's noteworthy for a couple of reasons: I The switch comes exactly 50 years after WKAR aired its first test pattern. The digital image will provide a clearer, crisper picture. conduit for PBS shows. Irs the home of "Sesame Street" and "Masterpiece Theatre," of "Frontline," "Great Performances" and Barney the singing dinosaur.

In the early days, things were dip ferent "There was no.PBS," recalled Steve Meuche, now retiring as the general manager. "And no videotape; that's important." MSU students take center stage in the variety show So WKAR did everything live. The first day included "Let's Visit School," "Symphony Note "Campus Matinee." Book," "Sports Whirl" and "How to Catch a Cold: Calling all poets New Citizens Press newspaper presents "What Is MLK's Message Today," an open-mike poetry reading at Gregory's, 2510 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Clarinet player Margaret Manolakoudis will be the special guest Admission is $5. Info: 372-8466. That was on Jan. 15, 1954. For the next few decades, MSU Archives and Historical Collections I As Dee Meyer, an MSU student.

Cook appeared as a vocalist on "Campus Matinee," a variety the shows would be makeshift and make-do. One nervous cow vomited in an elevator, en route to the studio. A nervous soprano simply left. "I had recommended her," Dunlevy said. "I said, 'She's very pretty and has a wonderful voice' Cook LX'v program that premiered on WKAR on its first day of broadcast, January 15, 1954.

See WKAR Page 5D Judy Garland tells her own story, "Judy," at 9 p.m. Feb. 25 on "American Masters." 1 WECAR in brief: PBS See a Ramone in Detroit American punk-rock pioneer Marky Ramone performs with Bang Bang and Motel Blonde at 8 p.m. today at Alvin's, 5756 Cass Ave. in Detroit.

Admission is $10. Info: (313) 831-4577. 5 1 It begins WKAR starts broadcasting on Channel 60. Back then, few TV sets went beyond Channel 13. Channel 10 WKAR combines with a commercial broadcaster to share Channel 10.

It was WMSB, alternating between NBC and public TV. Welcome PBS Sap mm UE.W2 mm WKAR gets a boost from the birth of PBS. Previously, public TV had only small cooperatives. Channel 23 WKAR gets its own channel. Now Channel 23 is WKAR; Channel 10 is WILX.

From The Best Kitchen Quick The nooks, crannies and crevices on the face of a blender are notoriously hard to clean. Use a nail brush to get in between the buttons or around the dials on your blender. "Citizen King" airs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Martin Luther WKAR gets new studios, in the Communications Arts Building.

Digital age Launches WKAR-DT, with a separate, digital signal. For now, that can be received only by antenna, via digital sets. King birth. 5 Friendship can withstand miles, upheaval, time In 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was bom in Atlanta.

In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl, 35-10. In 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations. Compiled by Sarah Schmid. To submit info, fax it to 377-1298 7 sn Kathleen Lavey klaveylsj.com 377-1251 A high school teacher once called my best friend and me "an unlikely pair." On the surface, I suppose that was true.

She was (and still is) tall, blond and truly beautiful (imagine Uma Thurman's slightly older sister). I am none of the above. She had been tossed across the country by her parents' divorce, while my all-together family had been rooted in the same town for five generations. She liked cars and knew boys. I liked books and more books.

But somehow, need to go. She sent us a Christmas package full of goodies for the kids. Nothing expensive, everything fun. I didn't quite manage to get -one to her. She is coming to see us in March.

I cannot wait for my children to meet the person with whom then-mother has jointly conquered time and distance. And I hope, in future years, they are as fortunate in friendship as I have been. JQxthleenLavey's column appears on Thursdays. For past columns, visit www.bj.comcolurnnists. "I've been missing you," I said when she called this summer.

"Me, too," she replied, and I made a mental note call her again before she called me. I didn't make it She called this fall for an update. "I don't know where the time has gone," I said. And she said, "Of course you don't. You have little kids." And.she did not say it exactly but this is what she meant You have been driving for a long time.

Get in the back seat and I will take us to the next place we her wedding in 1986, fly to Colorado to coddle her infant son in 1987, carry her 6-week-old daughter to a Virginia jazz festival in 1990. We lamented her divorce together, and I supported her decision to move her kids to New Mexico afterward. Through all of that our became ever freer and easier, our bond deeper. She really, truly knew me, and so, she knew what to do for me when I faced career struggles, grad school woes and lost loves. She was thrilled both times I decided to adopt a baby.

running ever smce. Some predicted it would end when I went to college and she did not, but it didn't Some thought it would be over when she pointed her Datsun at Colorado with $86 and big hopes. It didn't But in those years, I was in charge of friendship maintenance. I would call, at least quarterly, to see how things were going. I would send Christmas packages, correspond with her mother, who had moved to New Mexico, and fly in for brief weekends.

I was honored to be in Find just the event in third-year Spanish, something clicked, meshed, and began to hum merrily along. We once had a shortlived estrangement, sparked by an envious third party, which we cheerfully refer to as "our divorce." Otherwise, the engine of our friendship has been or attraction you're looking for at www.lsj.com. Search our interactive calendar by date, location, event type and more..