March Winners & Chocolate Mess

The move has been taking a lot of my time during the day, so I apologize for not posting last week. Working between two buildings is not an easy endeavor, even though our new location is just down the street. Congratulations to Jack Henry and Associates in Monett, the winners of the March lunch from Richard's Hawgwild. We had a fairly good crowd on hand, and this time, Richard brought mashed potatoes. Not to make too big a deal, but mashed potatoes are one of the ultimate comfort foods. I like mine without gravy, which apparently is a big deal.




Terry Hicklin from the Candy House stopped by the show on Friday with some Easter treat ideas. He also thought it would be fun to have Shannon dip marshmallow eggs into chocolate. Seemed like a good idea at the time. However, chocolate would wind up on Shannon's arm, the machine... well, you get the idea. I got crazy with sprinkles later in the segment, which just added to the weight of the eggs.

The Big Move

For the last month or so, we've been fairly immersed into the upcoming move. It has been such a large portion of our job, that we often forget others may not be aware of the situation. So in case you haven't heard, KODE will soon be moving.
Hopefully by the end of April, we will be settled into our new surroundings. The business aspect of the station is already in the building and news has started in that direction. In fact, I'm typing this at my new desk. We're basically putting the news product together in the new building, but broadcasting the actual programs in our old studio.
And while I toss around the word "new", we're moving into the old KSN building. When the tower crashed onto that building, it was decided that the structure would be gutted, then rebuilt with an addition to accommodate the combining of the two newsrooms. The dream is fairly close to being complete, although there are plenty of hours spent training on new equipment. It has been an exhausting month, but also an exciting time as draw closer to having the entire operation under one roof.
We'll try to keep our readers up-to-date and I'll supply photos later.

A Bowl of Chili

Okay, I would have posted all of this on Sunday, but that turned into a lazy day. So I'll use Monday to play catch-up.


Over the weekend, Shannon and I got to judge a chili competition at Sacred Heart Church. This year, we had 13 different samples, each with its own flavor, texture and spice. One chili was so spicy, that I could still taste it 2 samples later, while one used hot dogs as it meat component.

Since Shannon doesn't like beans, they were nice enough to create a couple pots of beanless chili. However, one of the cooks tried to be sneaky, sneaking bean juice into the chili (above photo). Shannon was not fooled, and actually could smell the bean juice, thus not eating the food.

In case you're wondering, Shannon judged most of the food on look and smell, letting a young assistant do the tasting. And the chili that was my favorite didn't win the competition. Maybe next year.

February Winner

Congratulations to Tina Kimbrough at Children's Foundation of Mid-America for being the February winner of lunch from Richard's Hawgwild BBQ. Unfortunately several of her co-workers had the day off, so they missed a delicious spread of barbecue and all the fixings. He was supposed to bring mashed potatoes, but we forgot to remind him. Hopefully we'll remember next month. If you haven't registered yet, we're giving away another one in March.

Where Were We Thursday?

In case you missed the first thirty minutes of Good Morning Four States on Thursday, you weren't the only one. We were having some technical difficulties, so instead of our show airing, it was actually ABC's World News Now. Apparently we were having trouble in our Master Control area and our main board locked up. So while we were able to air programming, we couldn't switch it to our studio. To make the situation worse, we also couldn't air a crawl to inform everyone that we were having technical difficulties. However, we still had a ninety minute program even though the first thirty minutes didn't air. We were halfway through the Zesty Minestrone recipe when the show popped back on the air, but the whole segment is on the website.
It is funny the amount of phone calls the station receives when regular programming is not airing. We appreciate the fact that you are letting us know that you are missing the program, but I've never been in a situation where the operators were unaware of a problem that was keeping a program off the air. And sometimes, those phone calls are... well, less than pleasant. During the Thursday situation, one woman accused everyone on the show of "sleeping in", and was rather rude about it. Sorry. We tried to run a crawl. It just wouldn't air. Technology... it's a great thing, unless it's not working.

Bowling Round Up

Magic Moments held their annual Bowling Round Up this past weekend. Shannon and I were again honored to co-host the event. The lanes were filled with bowlers and they were able to raise over $12,000. That number doesn't include the silent auction that was also hold. A big thanks to everyone that participated.

Business Expo

Part of the fun with the Joplin Business Expo is that you never know what surprises will be in store for you. And thankfully, some live animals always add to the fun. Granted, this turtle was something that Shannon could deal with. I tried to get a shot of her with a snake, but the picture would have just been a blur as Shannon quickly moved to the next booth.



We spent a good amount of time at the event looking for pens. If you thought I was kidding, a bag was one of Shannon's first finds, the easier to carry pens. For some reason, her pens always disappear. I don't have the same problem. I think that I do a better job of hiding mine.



I believe Shannon scored something more than a pen in that photo. Of course, we want to thank everyone who stopped by the booth to say hello. Apparently, there are a lot of you getting up early in the morning and watching. And we're sorry if we scared you at the booth. We were a little loud as we were handing out... pens!

Random Thoughts

In case you missed the show on Friday, we talked with Tanya Smith from Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Neither Shannon or myself were familiar with the facility, which is located just outside of Eureka Springs. We're hoping to head down there this spring to get a closer look and hopefully tour the grounds (in safety, of course). The refuge takes big cats from people who thought they would make good pets. The stories on their website are heartbreaking, with the wild animals confined to small places and terrible diets. Some owners were even harmed as they believed the animals could be tamed. You can read more at www.turpentinecreek.org.




Spongebob Squarepants made a visit to Good Morning Four States to promote the upcoming Joplin Business Expo. The Expo is open to local businesses on Tuesday, then the general public on Wednesday. It's an excellent opportunity to meet local business owners and find out what's available in the Four State area. Shannon and I will be at the KODE booth on Wednesday, from 10:00 a.m.- Noon. Shannon will be the one with a bag full of pens. Hey, you can never have enough pens.


Here is the blog version of our "Daily Dose of Cuteness." I really don't remember where the idea for that occasional segment originated, but Shannon loves baby animals... most of them. These are puppies at the Joplin Humane Society.

Food-tastic Friday

As I mentioned in the previous post, we love to talk about food. And Friday was a great day for that discussion as it was a day of feasting. We kind of got the food in the wrong order, as Martha from Michael's baked some homemade cookies. For the complete recipe, go to the GMFS website.



Then to complete the day, Shannon and I headed over to the Ozark Center for BBQ from Richard's Hawgwild. If you haven't entered our contest yet, you should before we draw our winner in February. This was for about 65 people, and there were plenty of leftovers. Love BBQ on a Friday.

Delicious Food

Shannon and I do talk about food a lot. Not only during the show, but also in the commercial breaks. And while many of items we discuss may not sound like the ideal morning food, people tend to forget that we get up awfully early. So you may thinking about eggs or pancakes or cereal, but by 7:30 or so, we've moved onto lunch. We did find a sandwich place that opens at 8:00. However, lunch food is tough to find in the morning.
It was a nice coincident that Heather was making food with an Asian flavor. We had been talking about Chinese take-out on Tuesday, and then I received Heather's email on Wednesday with the recipes.



The egg rolls were delicious, although if you're used to them being fried, the texture is different. However, the chicken dish is the one that I preferred, and when the crew was finished feasting, I enjoyed a large plate of it (no, the picture was not my serving).




If you want the recipes, check them out on the Good Morning Four States website. They're supposed to be simple recipes, but it's so much easier when you can have someone else cook them.

Inside Joke

We've had a few people ask about the joke we make when we mention "Epons" during the show (Shannon: "Let's talk about epons, man". Alan: "Epons, man.") I have to admit it's actually a stolen joke from another program. We are both fans of the E! Network show called "The Soup." And within the show, they occasionally feature a segment called "Chicks, Man!" The opening for the segment was something that would be repeated in the newsroom and it was only a matter of time before it would appear on the air. Hey, not all inside jokes have a great story.

The Slackers Are Back

Okay, so we started this blog like gangbusters, only to stumble and fall well short of the finish line. It's a brand new year, and with it, we hope to maintain this blog. We'll continue to post daily updates on Facebook (you can find our fan page or group page), with longer entries and pictures here. And if we're not doing our job, feel free to ridicule us. Just be nice about it; we have feelings too.