KN-'n::1-~~

~PA=G=E=TW=O======~====~~ ======;:===O=C=TO=B~E=R,=1=9=:46 lr lti'i= II) I 4 IL f...... ~ ~-~-- ;·;-~ -~-~-~-~-~-~'-~-~--~- .... ····1

The D ial i s published every month by Radio Station KWTO. ,.,------...--..--- .,.._..,._-....,. • .,., ___""' .,.,.,.,_,..,,_,._.., ... ,_, ..,, .,.,_, ... ,_, ""' .., • .,. .... ,... ,_, ..,, .,.,_,,.., • .,.,.., ... _, _, ... ,.. ,_, ..,, _,...... ,,_ • .,.,.,.,_,.,.,_, ..,, .,.,_, ... ,_, .... ""~"" By BETTY HINDMAN Editori al room i s Office of the P r ogram D i r ector, 508 St. Louis Street, Springfield, Missouri. A little fiddler who h as cut a K. C. for the following six L a t e in 1944, Zed joined a The subscription price is 75c per year, payable in advance. fancy fig ure in the field of en- months, and then Zed decided t o U . S. 0 . group a nd w en t on tour, t ertainment, steps in The Spot- locate a little nearer home, so h e visiting many army ca mps. The r eturned to the Queen City of it iner a r y included Florida , Geor­ RALPH NELMS, Editor. light to take a bow this month. the Ozarks and a position as staff gia , Alabama, and most of the He's Lowell "Zed" Tennis, a musician at KWTO. Deep South. When the tour Permission to Reprint Material from The Dial is hereby given, native of nearby Nixa, Missouri, ended, he found himself anxious provided a credit line is used. In the months that followed, and although he reputedly re­ our fancy fiddler learned how to for the Ozarks, so he pointed his ceived his musical education at play guitar, mandolin and bass, soles back toward KWTO, where YOUNCl•&TDNE~ SPAINCIP'tKLD he joined the staff as featured the Conservatory of Music located and not too much later he re- fiddler, in 1943.

politician than an entertainer," Milton reports. "I haven't seen so much armpumping since Lincoln was running for President!" Lennie himself estimates that he shook hands with almost a thousand people during the evening - but he's willing to suffer the consequences of a slightly stiff arm, if he gets it that way, any time. When people don't want to shake his hand - then is when Lennie will really start to worry.

Speaking of personal appearances, Slim Wilson was driving a car­ full of staff members back from Flippin, Arkansas, the other night. Buster Fellows was dozing in the back seat, when Slim unexpectedly hit a big bump in the road. Buster opened one eye, and called out this Lowell "Zed" Tennis advice: "Next time you see a gap in the fence, Slim, try lo get the Zed was the fif th and youngest car back on the highway, will you?" child in the Tennis Family, born at the family farm just outside Several of -fhe KWTO s taff have been "flying high" lately, It of Nixa, in 1912. At the proper seems a good number of ex-G. l's, who are now employed at the Keep age, he enrolled in t he Harmony Watching the Ozarks station, have decided to take advantage of the School there, where he r eceived which they traveled. Just out of free flying time offered by the government to veterans. Among those his forma l education. He inherited Kansas City, they heard the fa­ who have been spending all their spare time at the local air park are his father 's inter est in the fiddle In April, 1938, the couple b e­ miliar chuck-chuck-clang of the Junior Haworth and Bob White . .. Both boys are working toward a private a t the · t ender age of seven year s, . came t he p a r ents of a son, Larry motor, which could only m ean one license, and at the rate they're going, they'll soon have the required a nd h e's been drawing the bow D a le . July of the following year thing - they w er e out of gas. thirty hours of solo flying to obtain such a license. a cross the strings ever since . w as the month in which lit tle A quick examination of their poc­ B eing an enterprising youngster, Jimmy T ennis enter ed t he world. k ets showed t h at they did not Experience is the best teacher, and it has taught Vince Harding the Zed decided one summer to sell By some quick m ental arithmetic, h ave en ough m oney to buy more dangers of greeting his wife via the telephone with a novel and original blueing t o all his n eighbors, a nd you can discover t hat young g asoline, so t hey pooled their salutation. The other night he called his home from the radio station, when h e ha d managed to dispose Jimmy and L a r r y D a le a r e now pennies and purchased some coal and when a feminine voice answered, he said enthusiastically, "You of t h e prescribed number of bot - eight and nine years old, respec­ oil from a station a ttendant. That lucky, lucky girl!" There was a strangely ominous silence. "You tles of t he indigo liquid, he w as tively, and like most children, coal oil took t h em in t o t he big lucky, lucky girl!" repeated Vince. "I beg your pardon", came the chill eligible for a prize from t h e man- this pa ir are the pride a nd joy city - a nd a beginning on t he answer from ihe other end of the wire, "No you have the wrong number." u facturer. The prize h e chose, of their mom' a nd dad. r a dio ca r eer that h as proved so Vince's bravado faded fast. " Is . .. isn't this Mrs. Vince Harding?" he of course, was a shiny, new violin. But w e'r e getting ahead of our successful for · Zed. queried. " No, it isn't!" replied the voice. Vince hastily begged the The only catch was t he fact t h at story. In 1938 Zed started trav­ young lady's p~rdon, replaced the phone and stammered to fellow an­ no bow w as furnish ed wit h the eling ag a in. H e w ent first to nouncer Dick Witt_y·. who·was standing nearby, "Well .. . I'll be darned. instrument. However , that did Omaha , from t her e to Shreveport, EXPERT HELP That wasn't my wife!" He added, " She had a nice voice, though." After not d a unt Zed a nd his father . To- Louisia n a, a nd 1940 found him regaining his confidence, · Vince tried his home number again, and this geth er t hey constructed a bow working at Lit tle Rock , Arka n sas. time when he heard a " Hello", he started out much more ca utiously. from a peach tree limb ·and some However, in Zed's ow n w ords, "I " Is this Betty Jean?" he inquired . "Yes." Only then did Vince try his horse hair. This served the pur- k ept t urning up a t KWTO like line of " You lucky, lucky girl". There was a stilled giggle from Bets, pose very well unt il a few months a b a d p enny", a nd h e did r eturn which gave the whole thing away. "Was that you I was just talking later w hen Zed discover ed t hat here, t his time to r em ain untll to?" Vince asked. His wile laughingly admitted that she had been his boyhood chum, one Slim Wil- 1943 . .on the phone a few minutes before - teaching a husband a lesson. son, who lived on a n eighboring With W ee Willie W ells., a for­ .And it worked, too. Now Vince takes great care to make certain who farm, owned a bow. It took some m er staff m ember , whom many fa on the other end of the wire before he tries anything clever in his high-pressure salesm a nship, but Dia l r eader s wiII r ecall, Zed ,conversation. Zed managed to w ork out a tra de h eaded for Oklahoma Cit y a nd w ith Slim - 15 marbles for one R a dio Sta tion WKY when h e left Bill Ring and family have solved the housing shortage by moving fiddle bow. KWTO. Particula rly outst a nding into a shinny, new trailer. Looks are deceiving as far as the appearance During the years when Zed w as in his memory of WKY are some of a trailer-house goes, for Bill says there is plenty of room for himself, growing up, h e w alked awa y wit h shows h e pla yed ther e with T ex wife Thelma and sons, Carl and Billy, inside their new home. We don't sever a l prizes at local fiddler 's Ben ek e, who took over t h e Glenn ·know whether it was for publication or not but Bill added, "The best contests and provided plenty of MiIIer Orch estra, a fter t h e un­ ·thing about it is that when Thelma throws a skillet at me, she has to entertainment for m ember s of t he t imely death of the famous b a nd ·throw it a round a corner- and her aim on a slow curve isn't too good .. community by playing at square leader . H e also had t h e oppor ­ So, I don't care if we never find a house!" da nces, p a rties a nd church gath- t unity of m eeting a wh ole group (Note: Of course, Thelma, we're only kidding!) erings. of Hollywood celebrit ies, includ- Then at t h e age of 17, h e ing John Wayn e, M a r t ha Scott Typical of the celebrities who MRS. HAWORTH : Dear , will JUN IOR HAYWQRTH : My team ed up wit h Slim Wilson, who a nd Gabby H ayes, w ho were in appear on KWTO-ABC's "Break­ you rem ember t o br ing h om e w ife bak ed a sponge cake for din­ was developing int o quite a musi- Okla homa City for a premier. fast In Hollywood", sponsored by cian in h is ow n r igh t , a nd Uncle After a few m on ths t here, Zed something for t h e rats t his even­ ner last night, bu t it didn't t urn Ivory Flakes and heard Monday ou t so well. Wash, a r a dio m a n from S pring- r eceived a n offer of a job at through Friday at 10:00 a. m., is ing? field, Missour i, t o h ead for K a n- WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, wh ere attractive screen star Bonita BUSTE R F E LLOWS: What JUNIOR : Som e th ing for t h e w as wr ong with it? sas City a nd t r y his luck a t he worked with "H a n k P enny a n d Granville, who is about lo make a entertaining via t h e airwaves. His R a dio Cowboys". H e also clean sweep with the lipstick rats? Cer tainly n ot! If t he r ats J UNI OR : I think t he grocer T he act was a udition ed a nd hired did a good deal of r ecording brush on the phiz of Tom Brene­ can't eat w h at we h ave in t h e sold her the w rong kind of by WHB, as "Uncle W ash a nd His w it h t h at gr oup for t he King man, the program's genial emcee. house, let t hem leave ! spon ges. W ashboards". They r emained in R ecord Company in Cincinnati. Worried, Tom?