The Huck Boyd Community Media Leaders of the Year for Radio were recognized Thursday at Kansas State University.
The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at KSU honors The Community Learders of the Year from those who are featured on the weekly radio feature, “Kansas Profile”, produced by the Huck Boyd National Institue for Rural Development.
This years Leaders of the Year for Radio are Bob Schmidt, Co-Founder of Eagle Communications and current Chairman, as well as, Gary Shorman, Eagle Communications President and CEO.
Shorman said that being involved with the community is somthing Eagle talks about every day and that is what the Huck Boyd Instutue deals with, the importance of being involved with your community every day. “We try to do that with our radio stations every day whether it be with our slogan, our community connected or whether it be with the groups that we’re involved in everyday.”
On being slected for the award Shorman refered back to previous winners.” You have Bob Schmidt who’s our chairman and one of the founders of not only radio stations, cable companies and broadcast in the state but Dolph Simons who worked in the Lawrence area. Just to be a part of that, its a real honor.”
Schmidt started out as a play-by-play announcer in 1949 on KAYS in Hays, Ks. He eventually would partner with Ross Beach to expand the business and later become the CEO and President of Eagle. The 100% employee owned company now consists of 28 radio stations across Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, as well as, 30 cable systems in Kansas and Colorado.
Schmidt said that when he first got the call from the Huck Boyd Institute saying that they selected him for the award, that he didn’t really know what they wanted,”He said well it will be very simple. We’ll just ask you a few questions and I’ll write up somthing and I’ll send it by to see if you disagree or agree with the things I’ve said.” The whole process took only about a half hour. ” Schmidt added.”I was amazed. As Gary has said, it made us look a lot better than we probably are.”
The Institute also recognized the Huck Boyd Community Media Leader of the Year in Newspaper, Dolph Simons Jr., Chairman and Editor of the World Company, which publishes the Lawrence Journal-World and other newspapers.