WDAY Celebrates 70 years: Remembering the faces and names of WDAY – InForum

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FARGO — These past few days have been a time of celebration here at WDAY TV. We are marking 70 years on the air.

It was back in June of 1953 that the test pattern came off the screen, and we said “Good evening. Welcome to WDAY.”

When WDAY TV went live on the air 70 years ago this month, we had quite the talent pool already in place. WDAY Radio started in 1922, and so we already had a stable of singers, announcers, musicians and more. Many of them came over to the TV side.

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(From left to right) Dewey Bergquist, Claudia Danovic, Marv Bossart, and Terry Dean were part of the WDAY TV news team in the early 1980s.

Contributed / WDAY Television

Picture that first night on the air June 1, 1953. Imagine the excitement as celebrities like Ken Kennedy and news editor Jack Dunn read the news and starred in live shows.

“This is a television newscast. A lot of work went into it” an announcer said.

From there it was an explosion in technology and talent. And let’s just say, they had fun. On the newscast, Marv Bossart was trying to read the news, but was interrupted by Boyd Christensen singing

Some of the greats were on back then. The founder of WDAY TV Earl Reineke, the talented Kennedy, who discovered Hollywood star Peggy Lee, and a TV station full of celebrities.

Celebrities like Frank Scott, who went on to the Lawrence Welk show, would stay with WDAY for decades.

Dewey Bergquist was our first full-time weatherman and our TV audience thought he walked on water.

Christenson covered coaches and sports for years. He and Bossart had an act of their own.

As Bossart was reading a promo, Christensen came up and kissed him on the cheek.

Party Line on WDAY TV was an afternoon smash hit. The show had several hosts, but most remember Verna Newel and Bill Weaver, and later Christenson hosting music acts and movie stars from Doc Severinsen, to the Osmonds, to Lawrence Welk.

WDAY hosts on Party Line were so popular they printed their own cook books and song booklets and the station had its own newspaper called WDAY Mic Notes. The paper kept viewers updated on the comings and goings of our celebrities, with articles on WDAY’s weddings and new babies.

“WDAY was the station. TV and radio and as a result, TV became part of the family, even today I think that is true,” said longtime WDAY viewer Ken Tangen.

Over the years, few stations in the country can claim longevity of staff like WDAY TV.

“It is the top one, not another channel compares,” said longtime WDAY viewer Marcella Gulsvig.

First on WDAY’s news desk was Glen Hanson followed by Bossart’s 42-year career at the anchor desk. Dana Mogck then came over from sports in 1999 as only our third male anchor in 70 years. A 40-year career at WDAY.

Claudia Danovic, Maureen Zimmerman, Najla Amundson, Stacie Schaible have co-anchored over the years, and for the last 26 years, Kerstin Kealy has produced and anchored our news. John Wheeler has spent 38 years here as WDAY’s first TV meteorologist.

WDAY TV went from NBC to ABC in the early 1980s.

Some of the best memories for WDAY TV viewers included Bergquist’s goofy garden vegetables and Jack Sand’s use of waterfowl to predict the weather.

Sand and our viewers were pretty fond of Gwendolyn the weather duck. Through the magic of television, the duck would help predict the next weather day.

Kevin Wallevand

Kevin Wallevand has been a Reporter at WDAY-TV since 1983. He is a native of Vining, Minnesota in Otter Tail County. His series and documentary work have brought him to Africa, Vietnam, Haiti, Kosovo, South America, Mongolia, Juarez,Mexico and the Middle East. He is an multiple Emmy and national Edward R. Murrow award recipient.

Contact Email: kwallevand@wday.com
Phone Number: (701) 241-5317





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