Rick Minerd - Life Is A Jukebox

One of my favorite stories from  WTVN, circa 1973 involved a prized coffee pot that belonged to our morning man, John Fraim. John was the stations star, no doubt about it. The number one morning man in Columbus for years

The guy was absolutely spoiled.

When I was the host of the overnight program it was my, or for that matter any jock hosting, responsibility to make sure the studio was prepared for John's arrival at 5:30 AM. This meant having at least an hour of his songs pulled and stacked so he wouldn't have to hunt them. It meant pulling and stacking the commercials he would need for that first hour, having an updated weather report placed on the console, complete with current weather conditions, ie; the temperature, barometric pressure reading, humidity reading and wind speeds.

And finally it was the over night guys job to have a fresh pot of coffee brewing.

The coffee maker was in the men's bathroom. It was the wierdest thing. The water line to the coffee maker was attached to the toilets tank. Tick someone off and there might be a possibility that someone would go in the tank instead of the bowl. There were rumors of this nonsense.

But John wouldn't have any part of drinking from the stations complimentary pot. He had his own. And like everything else John owned it was an exquisite pot. Probably Sterling Silver, clearly expensive. None of us were allowed to touch it. 

And John checked for finger-prints to be sure.

One day the pot disappeared and something like an international incident was about to unfold. Memos started flying, some of them outlining the Ohio Revised  Code on theft and prosecution. The finger pointing and and denials resembled a republican convention.

For most of us it was sort of funny. 

On our message board that held important information such as the EEO guidelines, station licenses and such, someone posted a large note in Bill Smith's hand-writing that said  "Bob Connors" stole Fraim's pot."

Bill,  our most talented announcer eventually went to work for Boston's power-house radio station, WBZ.  He was also our prankster.

I don't remember Bob denying it. But then he wouldn't have to. He was the stations other  "Big Gun."  Number one in his afternoon drive time slot and revered by almost everyone in the business. Bob was who we all aspired to be.

A few days past by and the pot was finally located. It was found in the alley behind the Buckeye Federal Building severely damaged from falling sixteen stories. 

The sixteenth floor of that building was where our studios were and there was a sort of patio out there where some jocks would go to smoke or just take in the night air. But no one remembered seeing anyone fling anything over the side,  and no one knew how that coffee pot wound up in the alley. 

But it did fly.      

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