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Indiana RadioWatch
Serving Hoosier Broadcasters Since 1998
25 November 2018
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Good Evening,
Radio station owner and broadcaster Blair Trask died unexpectedly on Thanksgiving Day (11/22). He was 60. Through his broadcasting career, Mr. Trask worked at, had an LMA with, or co-owned these stations:
WMJL (1500am, Marion, Kentucky)
What was then WAVG (970am, Louisville, Kentucky)
What was then WQKC (93.7fm, Seymour.)
What was then WAVG (1450am, Jeffersonville)
WZZB (1390am, Seymour) and translator W257DO (99.3fm, Seymour)
WSEZ (1560am, Paoli) and translator W254CO (98.7fm, Paoli)
WUME-FM (95.3fm, Paoli)
WXKU-FM (92.7fm, Austin)
WKLO (96.9fm, Hardinsburg) (LMA)
Funeral services will be at Voss Funeral Service, 316 N. Chestnut St., Seymour, IN 47274 on Tuesday, November 27, at 11:00AM with Pastor Bob Franklin officiating. Visitation will be at Voss on Monday November 26, from 2:00PM until 8:00PM and on Tuesday from 9:00AM until the service.
A graveside service will be held at Cave Hill Cemetery, 2395 Grindstead Drive, Louisville, KY 40204 on Tuesday at 2:30PM. Here's the complete obituary.
Veteran engineer Bob Hawkins remembers Blair: "Anyone who worked closely with Blair Trask knows that a friendship was inevitable...he was just that kind of guy. We met in late 1989 when he was working with Charlie Jenkins' Sunnyside Communications (a reference to Indiana being the 'sunny' side of Louisville). They had just acquired WJCD AM/FM in Seymour,IN, about 30 minutes from me. He was afraid that what I was about to see would scare off his potential new contract engineer (it didn't, but oh my...). A mangy old office dog with mountains of dog hair everywhere (the dog and station's then current female owner are a whole 'nother story), a Collins 20V AM transmitter that was modulated 20% because of bad tubes, a CSI FM transmitter that spit fire if you tried to tune it, ancient studio equipment...challenge accepted. Blair and I worked side by side for a number of weeks, cleaning up the mess, ordering & installing new equipment including the first digital automation systems I had ever seen--Audisks. The place was a different animal when we finished it. We later upgraded the 10KW 200' FM to 25KW 700' under the new WQKC call letters. The AM became WZZB. That same studio building exists today, is in great shape and after almost 3 decades, I am still it's technical caretaker along with now sisters WUME, WSEZ and WKLO in the Paoli market. An almost equally impressive feat was when Sunnyside bought WAVG 970 in Louisvillle in the first half of the 90's. We arrived at the old studio in Louisville at 10PM and removed the studio equipment, put it in our cars, hauled it a few miles to Indiana and had it back on the air by the start of morning drive. On a personal level, I asked Blair to be my best man at our 2003 wedding and he accepted. My loss is far more than just professional. I am confident that those of us who stay ready to meet our Lord will have the pleasure of talking radio with him when the roll is called up yonder. Until we meet again dear friend, Rest In Peace."
Leonard Burton remembers Blair: "RIP to the man who began my professional career. Blair Trask was the general manager of the radio station (WQKC & WZZB) I worked at in high school (and later became the owner). When I was 13 and I wanted to work at the radio station, I began to bother them just as much as I could. I had no idea of the extent of the operation I was asking them to trust me with at the time, but once I was 16 and I was stopping in 2-3 times per week, and getting on his (and everyone else at the station's last nerve), Blair slammed his hand down on the desk one day and said, "Darn it. I guess if I hire you, I can tell you to stop coming in and bothering us. We have a business to run, and we can't just entertain you. Be here Saturday, and be prepared to start". Much to his chagrin, I came in twice as much. I called him and Greg Fish at all hours of the night when the station was off the air - they eventually gave me a key and I would just show up and get things running again. (and, I remember the time I called because I left the satellite tuned to the wrong feed - embarrassed). I showed up when bad weather came just to grab the latest updates and run them into the studio. And of course, I played ankle biter when Bob Hawkins showed up, and I marveled at everything technical I ever assisted with (fixing the STL link after a storm knocked the tower down, swapping the FM and AM studios without interrupting the broadcasts, a couple things out at the tower, fixing the AM transmitter after a lightning strike, and even once climbing a few feet up the AM tower when it was off the air). Of course, as a person filled with interrogatories, I asked Blair the dumbest questions an employee could have ever asked - and he took each question and answered with the sincerest knowledge he could share. I was welcomed as part of a family that only wanted to bring friendly voices into the homes of thousands of Jackson Countians and in return ask them to support local merchants. Blair taught me so much I could never begin to list on one page all that I learned from him. My condolences, Kelly - There will never be another Blair Trask."
That's all for this special issue. Thank you for your continued support.
=============== Indiana RadioWatch ===============
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