Community Supported Radio
100.1 FM
America's 50 Year Awakening, Big Bend National Park
(Now designated the Largest 'International Dark Sky Park' in the World)
About 46 years ago Lady Bird Johnson visited Big Bend National Park in Texas. Her visit was well received and subsequently documented in the January 1968 edition of the National Geographic Magazine.
I vividly recall our initial visit to 'America's Last Frontier', Big Bend National Park, in November of 1968. During the entire drive south on highway 385 from Marathon to
Persimmon Gap we never encountered one vehicle. When we entered the NPC Chisos
Basin Lodge reservations area, it was all but deserted. I remember ringing the bell at
the reception desk and hoping someone would respond. Finally, I heard a voice ... 'Is someone here'? I replied yes! We had our pick of almost any motel room or cottage. During the evening Park Ranger presentations, the tales of Lady Bird's recent visit to BBNP were chronicled in some detail. In the late 60s some of these Basin lectures were given by the very Park Rangers who had guided Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson on her river raft tour down the Rio Grande. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Mrs. Steward Udall, also accompanied Lady Bird on her historic river trip.
We traveled the Park and purchased some high priced gasoline at the Castolon General
Store for almost 30 cents per gallon and who could ever forget that young entrepreneur
stationed at the Castolon-Santa Elena river crossing point. For just 50 cents this young
gentlemen would shuttle anyone across the Rio Grande River to Santa Elena Mexico on
his special custom built wooden raft. The Rio Grande ran swift and deep in those days and life jackets would have been comforting. We would surely treasure meeting this brave river raft Captain one more time so we could thank him for that unforgettable 'Ride on the Rio'.
Many south Brewster County 'Locals' harbored mixed emotions about publicizing
Park activities since the area was touted as 'America's Last Frontier'. Those mixed emotions still surface today among numerous local residents. In the 70s I was informed that if we chose to live in Big Bend Country we too would be subject to this incurable Big Bend affliction, sometimes known as the 'Last Settler Syndrome', for which there is no known cure!
Here is the rest of the story - We were so impressed with the magic of Big Bend that
I felt we should share our experience in a more public way. I contacted National Park
Concessions (NPC) at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. These were the folks responsible for
virtually all BBNP visitor accommodations. I spoke with Mr. G.B. Hanson, President and
General Manager of NPC. I suggested that he consider running some radio commercials
for NPC on one of my radio stations in Central Texas. I owned country music station
KAWA-AM which covered some 50 Texas counties and had access to a large audience.
Mr. Hanson asked to hear a sample radio commercial, which I sent him on tape. I guess
he liked the commercial since he approved the very first one that we mailed to him.
While I personally wrote and produced these NPC commercials, most were recorded on
tape by my best announcer, Mr. Jack Hudson. Jack later became an anchor announcer
with the Texas State Network at KRLD in Dallas. I often wondered if Jack Hudson ever
had the occasion to visit Big Bend National Park?
We aired a number of commercials for National Park Concessions but many were
subsequently lost because of magnetic recording tape deterioration. These NPC radio
commercials began airing across central Texas, from Dallas to San Antonio, in early
March of 1974. The good news is that in 1990 I was able to save the very first original
Big Bend NPC commercial. The tape was literally falling apart in my hands but I managed to splice and piece together the recording and immediately transfer it to a master CD disc. On May 31, 2003... I had the high honor of presenting a CD copy of this first NPC/BBNP radio commercial to retiring Park Superintendent Mr. Frank Deckert. This CD disc should still be safely located in the BBNP archives at the Panther Junction Park Headquarters.
No need to worry ever again about losing this historic first Big Bend Park radio commercial .... since it will now be safely in your hands.
YES, this original 1973 Big Bend Park radio commercial. Just click and turn up the volume.
From Dave and Virginia Fricker, April 11, 2012
