Good morning and welcome to party line your program for helpful hints ideas lost and found and recipes
Now here's Debbie thorgerson good morning everyone and happy new year to you on this last day of
1990 let's relax and enjoy an hour a good friendly helpful conversation right here until 11 o'clock
We're geared up and ready to give you a helping hand should you need it?
But we also of course rely on those of you who are listening to come up with some answers our telephone number is 634
9756 hello welcome to party line you know that's still our phone number and that was what 1989 1990
Mm-hmm that's still the number it is
Wow things never changed right and we found out in the last half hour that
Debbie thorgerson never cut class in her life that you'll admit to that we know of
Well I have to say accept I knew it except if I was if I was sick obviously
But I'll tell you something cutting class well no it's not well what's interesting is when I was homesick from school
What did we listen to we listened to party line and I never would have dreamed that years later I
Would be in that chair and you're so and you're so associated with it there are how many hosts to party line there were six of us
But you're the one everybody thinks about yeah they don't think about the others well I had I had the program for 12 years
Which I think I was probably the longest host that that they had so Kathy Larson had the show for nine years
And I followed her for 12 so I don't really know how long the other host added I don't know how long Helen Thomas had the program
But I would say she probably had it for a good number of years too
Well Debbie Thorgerson is here Debbie as we just mentioned hosted party line
This is WRJ and historical marker number 11
What we're doing is we're preserving the history of WRJ and because
When it goes away it goes away it does and nobody will remember it
So what we're doing is preserving it we're doing interviews with past employees
We started with the oldest Tony Gazana and I told him that because you know he can go first
So we had to get those so you're number 11 and these will be our time that they were seen public library
And hopefully also with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association I got to talk to Michelle Vetter kind about that
So you know 50 years from now when Debbie is not here anymore
They'll be able to hear you
And hear about the history of WRJ and I'm glad you came in today because
I can't tell you how many people would call up and say
When are you bringing back party line?
Now party line want you to describe what it was for people that don't remember it
Okay, party line was a totally listener based program call in
We did call in during that hour we run Monday through Friday
First from 905 until 10 and then we were moved until the 10 o'clock hour
To make room for open line which was a call in program for opinions
But it was all about what the listeners wanted to talk about
If you had a problem you could call it in you had a lost pet you could call that in
We talked about a variety of different things never knew exactly what people were going to be bringing up that day
But we always had a good conversation for that hour and enjoyed it thoroughly
I enjoyed it completely
Now you actually had a physical card catalog and he used a wheel in on a cart
And he used to sit right where I'm sitting right here
And you had the card so with somebody called up and said
You know I just built grape juice on my dress for the 40th time this week
And I'm just a clutch how do I get the grape juice out
And while they're talking you're thumbing through your card catalog
Exactly
And people would say card catalog
Just Google it and that's what did in party line
Yes, I mean I would look through that card file while we were talking I'd get a few more details
Getting a little more time to be able to find it
And pull the card out
Take a quick look at the suggestions for what we needed to use to get that out
And we'd go from there
And listeners could also call in
We certainly encouraged people to call in if they had other suggestions
And that's what kept the program going
Now did you start that card catalog with your predecessor?
No, no, no, no, that went with it
That's an accumulation of years
It was
Yes, we had three very large file boxes
So two of them were for basically suggestions
Hence how to clean things
And the third one was how to get to different places
Which of course we wouldn't need any more today
But yeah, it grew over the years
So who wrote them down?
Did you have various homes?
So would you find the information from those people calling in?
Sure
Yeah
And it was it was kept over the years
So there were there was
We're handwritten notes from every single one of us who had done the program
So it was interesting
I think that is all probably hit the dumpster after I left
Well, that's why I'm going to ask you
Because I do remember seeing it in the basement here at one time
Oh, do you?
And since then when I came back after nine years in exile
I went down there and everything was cleaned out
So I'm sure
So we're in a landfill
And what do you get to do with it?
It really doesn't serve any purpose today
Oh, I wish I could bring back party line
Yeah, it's nostalgic to bring it back
And it's fun to hear Debbie
But I mean, you can google everything now
Technology just did you? Look at you look sad
I know
Well, I do feel yes, nostalgic is right
I do feel bad
I mean, I think it was a fabulous program
It was on for more than 40 years
Whoa, and we're going to play one of the original party line hosts coming up in a minute
Yeah, I remember at some point when I was doing the show
We did hit the 40th anniversary
I'm afraid I don't I don't have the date at my fingertips here
But we did call Helen
And we had Helen on for a little bit
And she was so delighted
The program was still going
We were still talking about
Lost and found, dogs and cats
She loved animals like I do
And we had a nice conversation with her
But she started the whole thing in the 50s
And we used to run something called pet patrol
And people used to say
My dog is lost
Is bring your spannules, got a red collar
And he answers to jack
Well, we don't need to know your dog's names
That's not gonna help
Give us the description of the dog, the collar
And you know
How are you so stupid to let your dog get out
I was far more gracious about that than you
Oh, I didn't say it
Okay, we take quick break
When we come back
I wanted to hey, got into this building
To start off with
And you didn't start off on the air though
But you've been in radio and voice work
Ever since? Have you never stopped?
No, no, it's true
We're gonna hear all about that
We got some more audio to play including
We've got the Wizard of Oz people
Oh, that'll be fun
Yeah, you got the months
You know, that's so sad
Oh, the munchkins
I mean, to me munchkins are those little donut things
To get a thunken donut to munchkins
No, yes, we had the privilege of having two of them here
In that studio that's right next to me
Yeah, all right
The walls if they could talk
Debbie Thocus and from party line is our guest here
The WRJ historical marker number 11
Yeah, more coming up
717 at WRJN
Local news, timeless hits
Will you march again?
It's the WRJ historical marker number 11
That's what you are
Now you just have a number
How did I get that far down in the numbers
That's what I want to know
Be happy because it started with the oldest people first
Debbie Thocus and from party line is here
How did you start here?
How did you start at the radio station?
Well, I kind of got my feet wet at WFNY
I was hired there while I was in college
I did some writing
I did a little bit of on air
At WFNY
And then decided I wanted to come over to the big station
Which is WRJN
And I was hired by Bill Gum, station manager
And I was primarily hired to write commercials
And do general office work
And during that time
There weren't a lot of females in this office
So when they needed a woman
To just be on a commercial
They would pull me in and say
You know, we need you
Let's do a commercial together
David Armstrong was the one that actually got me into that
And we did
I enjoyed it
And of course I
I loved being here
I got to work with some of the legendary people
Don Edmark, Gary Sur
Bob Cook
Frenchy Bhutan
I thought it was great
It was wonderful to be here
I was quite an honor
So you got, you started doing commercials
When did you make that
Switch over to being a host on the radio
Well Kathy Larson had been doing the program
For nine years
And you know, whenever she was gone
Jim Sorenson was the one that would fill in for her
He would just
Hold over that hour
From being a morning host
I thought something was wrong about that
This was primarily a lady's program
So one day I just had this
Burst of Nerve
And I said to Kathy
Burst of Nerve
I did because it wasn't really me to do that
That's a, that's called a BLN
Burst of Nerve
I had one of those
And I went to Kathy and said
You know, I think I'd kind of like to do party line
And she said
Oh, well that'd be fabulous
So I did
It was of course very frightening for me
But I did it
And thoroughly enjoyed it
So it was shortly after that
That she decided that
Nine years was enough
Would I like to do the program permanently
And I said I would
So that actually happened in
1985
January of 1985
And you had it for 12 years
You did for 12 years
So we said voice work
We mean voice over work for commercials
So you do both
We're gonna talk about that coming up
But let's go back to the beginning
This is not the same Helen Thomas
Who used to start the press conference
This is the White House
She worked for United Press Internet
And this is not that Helen Thomas
Oh, no, no, no, no
That's a different Helen Thomas
A lot of times people will say
Helen Thomas, she was started
A couple of years ago
He gas everything
How do we get this stuff
It's a great historian
I picture that house looking like a big warehouse
From Citizen Canyon
Where it went on for miles of storage stuff
That's what I picture
So this is Helen Thomas
And doing party line
And let's give a listen to it
I never heard this before
So let's listen together
Helen Thomas speaking
And inviting you to present your household problems
Or answer the problems of others
On our party line program
Ford Monday through Friday morning
From 8 to 8 30
We also accept news of lost or found articles
Try to find unusual articles
Or services not generally available in the stores
And accept cancellation
Or a false form
Notice it's a meeting
Party line was carried on over the next four decades
And we have the host including
Good morning. Welcome to party line
It's Wednesday morning
The 22nd day of December
I'm Kathy Lyerson inviting you to join me
For the next 25 minutes
The last true voice of party line
Bringing it home for the final time
In October of 1996
Debbie Thogerson
Good morning and welcome to party line
Your program for helpful hints
Ideas lost and found in recipes
We have about an hour here
Problems or questions
Will be more than happy to try to help you
Today being Thursday
We'll be talking with the Wisconsin
Division of Tourism
And hello there you're going to be the first caller today
Hi Debbie
Yes hello there
Hey Lyerson I got a giveaway of two bird cages
Our number is 634-9756
Wow
That brings you back
It does
It does
Yeah that's uh whoa
It's amazing
Yeah it's to hear you do party line again
I know it it just makes me kind of
What was the jump in and do it again
So when was the last one?
What do you date did he say on that?
Well October late October of 96
Oh okay
Is my last program
I know
I don't even know how I got through that program
I don't know
I will say I do have one regret
If you don't mind my bringing it up
One regret was
I wasn't permitted to say
That was my last program
Until the end of the show
Why not
Wasn't me who said that one
I'm looking at him
Yes you were program director
Yes
Why would I say this?
Because you didn't want
You didn't want people to call in
And drag the program down
Because it was like a family to me
Oh I said
I felt so bad
Because I think people felt
That I was abandoning them
And they never understood why
It was the end of the program
And I said I wasn't gonna be there anymore
And I don't even know how I got through that
I don't think you were playing that
Because I don't have headphones on
But if you do continue that
You'll hear me say goodbye
And I listen
And I think I don't know
I don't know how I got through that without crying
Well we'll do that when I get back from Paul Harvey in the news
We'll listen to the rest of that
Now I feel bad
So you were waiting for how many years to say that
Why wasn't you where the one who did it
I never forgot that
I picked you at home saying
I'll get you some day
I'll fix this is my revenge today
I'll wait some day
He'll put me back on the ear
And I'll tell the world what he did
All right, Deb Tokeson is here
From party line
It's our WRJ historical market number 11
But right now it's time for Paul Harvey
And the rest of the story
To learn how your business can be a sponsor
One of the most popular shows ever to air on WRJN
Call us during business hours
2626343311
You can be one of four category
Exclusive businesses to sponsor Paul Harvey's rest of the story
I didn't give Paul Harvey permission to say goodbye
Either on his last one
I never said that
Paul do not say goodbye
I didn't let Deb do it
I was obedient though
This is a clip from the Wizard of Oz
Dorothy leaves Munchkin land
Now that's stirred up some memories for you
You can imagine how much more that means for a very special guest today
We have Margaret Pellegrini with us
And Fern Formica
Two of the original players of the Munchkins
from that fabulous 1939 classic
The Wizard of Oz
And also Pat Boulder for St. Luke's Hospital
Who of course is responsible for coordinating their visit
In conjunction with the Christmas House
Big welcome to you
Thank you so much
It's an honor to have you here
Really is
Thank you for having us
And Pat, welcome back again to you too
Is the Wizard of Oz one of your favorite topics
Oh Matt
Oh Matt
You know about the Wizard of Oz this year
You never knew before
Oh really too
Since it's a 50th anniversary race
Paul that's just a really big time of your life right now again
Yes it is
Were they really little tiny?
They were yeah
My typing teacher at school was a dwarf
She was only three feet tall, a little less than three feet
And you can never see her
Because we have big manual type rides
You can never see her coming down the aisle
Spying on you to see if you were cheating
And you can hear her footsteps
You can see her
And she used to say
Oh you boy sitting in the back
Are you going to cheat
Because I can't see you
The guarantee you won't know how to type
I get an A plus in typing
And not a time goes by when I'm typing
I don't think of this call
Because she was so right
I get an A plus
And I don't know how to type
Isn't that something now you wish you had
I'm going to call them actors
Actors from the Wizard of Oz in here
Because you can't get more classic than that
Unless you had you know
Clark Gable and Vivian Lee
And they're from Gone With The Wind
I don't know if you're familiar with it
I don't
Okay, all right
We'll pad Balter from the hospital
Did that for several years
As a fundraiser for the hospitals
And it happened to be the 50th anniversary
For the Wizard of Oz
And so she brought them in
And it was basically the theme was
The Wizard of Oz
So they had door of these
Pin of four
I guess you could call it her dress
One pair of her Ruby slippers
Or on display at the Christmas house
And the munchkins were there
The two ladies that were
The two ladies that were with me
Right
They were there too
And it was a lot of fun
I just enjoy that interview
But you were sitting in front of
Motion picture history right there
I know it, amazing
Other than I said Gone With The Wind
It doesn't get more classic than the Wizard of Oz
You're not the same director
Directed Gone With The Wind
And the Wizard of Oz
In the same year
Victor Fleming
Victor Fleming
That is amazing
So you had the...
So how'd the interview go?
How long was it?
It was great
I don't remember exactly
I do have a tape of it at home
Oh, hello
A lot to you
That's great
So enjoyable, they were just sweet as could be
They were eating it up too
That was probably their favorite topic
Talking about their time
So I want to talk about you now
That party line for a moment
I want to talk about the voice of work
When did that all start?
I started doing some of that
On the suggestion of one of the part-time announcers here
Tommy V, I don't know if you remember him
He was doing commercials on the
Outside of the radio station
And he suggested that I try doing it too
When he actually submitted some of my work
To one of his agents
In Milwaukee, and they were interested in me
So I followed up
And I went to the agent
This is Steven C. Smith
Yeah, and they were interested
So they signed me up
And I started to get some outside work
The only rub was
Most things recorded in the morning
And that put me at a conflict here at the radio station
Couldn't do party line
And go and do commercial voice work
You know, so I was at a point where I had to decide
Which branch in the road I was going to follow
And having been here for a total of 15 years
Yeah, sad as it was
I decided that I would
Move on
I would pursue that as a line of work
And you know what, that was a very good decision
Because the party line's future
Wasn't that much longer
But commercial voice of a work is forever
True
And so, did you do any national accounts?
I did something for Disney
Oh really? Look at you
I did
I did do some national things
I did a Betty Crocker spot
I was non-union
And at one point there was a talent strike for union workers
So
Those of us who are not union talent
Were able to pick up some of those commercials
And I did a Betty Crocker spot
It was very nice
It was very nice to have that work
I can't believe you didn't realize sooner in life
That you have the voice for it
You got that calming effect when you talk
Well, you know, I have to say
Playing these clips from party line
Yeah
I'm astounded at how fast I talked
I think I really talked that fast
And you know, today I would look back on that
After I had to have a
A fair amount of voice training
To do
The voiceover work
I hear it now, you listen to party line
And I think, oh my, I had such a
Midwestern accent going on
As you know that's something you have to work out of yourself
And yeah, I just hear mistakes, a lot of mistakes
That I made that I cringe at now
But um
It's history
It is history
And this is
People don't remember the mistakes
They remember the good times
And
I can't tell you how many people
Since when I came back here
When you bring them back party line
And also
When you bring back party line and tradeo
See, the probably tradeo
Same thing as party line
I mean, you can go on ebay and the internet
To sell your stuff now
And it's a lot easier than doing it on the radio
I mean, it's not, you know
Any better or worse, it's just easier
To do it
Because you can do it 24 hours
And you can wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning
And put your stuff on ebay
And the world
Is looking at it
I mean, it does make me feel bad
Um, in a lot of ways
Because I just, as far as I was concerned
Party line to me was very close to my heart
I really enjoyed it so much
Um, I will say that's the one thing
Honestly that I enjoyed the most
About my days here
Um, at one point
When
Sentry insurance was selling the business
And the next owner was coming in
A card from Chicago
Um, there was talk that they were going to dump party line
And I was told that
They were considering canceling it
And I felt very badly about that
And I, you know, I couldn't say too much about it
I mean, I didn't want them to see them do that
Of course
But I thought to myself that
If they did that, I would walk
I would leave
There would be nothing really
To keep me here
I loved it
They didn't do it
To where did that rumor start
Where did it start?
Oh no
It actually did come from one of the owners
The general manager at that time
Told me that
Well, they didn't
And there were other owners after that
They didn't get rid of it either
Right, Tony Cassana was a wonderful owner after that
Yeah
He saw the value in party line
And he said it
And valued
And to his credit
There was no talk about canceling it at that point
So it went
Hey, you know what's interesting
Because civic media
Said we want a full service
Recene radio station again
You know, forget what it was
It's going to be a full service
And all our guests
We have to do with recene, connocia area
But it's mostly recene
We have the historical museum
We have
Everyone is recene based
And they said
Chris Marl said
Why don't we bring back Paul Harvey
And the rest of the story
And he found out where he can get them
Because there was somebody who actually saved them
Off the air
I mean hundreds of them
That is a treasure
And we have Paul Harvey back
And now we got Debbie from party line back today
Yeah, I'm having a good time
Thank you
You're more coming up at just a moment
Excuse me Debbie from party line is here
Is that what they call you Debbie from party line
They didn't call you Debbie Thougher tonight
No Debbie, right
Debbie, not Debbie either
Didn't call me Debbie back in those days
Debbie from party line
You're basically looking exactly the same as I remember
Well, thank you
Debbie from party line is here
It's our WRG and historical marker number 11
And if you missed any part of this
We're going to podcast it
Probably in the day or two it'll be podcasting
And listen wherever you get your podcast
So that's more from Deb's come up
Including your farewell
We actually have a recording of the good bye
The one that I made you do at the end of the show
The one that I will probably still cry when I hear
Really? I think so yeah
I'm going to get a box of Kleenex in here
Alright so more with Deb coming up
At just a moment 749
Local news down the sits
You first again
Debbie from party line is here
Debbie Thougher's in
And we talked about your days here
How you got started on party line which was interesting
And your voiceover crew
We're just still going on
You still do voiceover work right
Well, it has
It has kind of
Well, that's a no
Well, let's say that COVID did
Certainly take a toll
It took a toll on it
As you know
Everyone had to have six feet between them
There's no such thing in a recording studio
As having six feet between you
And the next person
That's not going to happen
They're very cramped
Very close and no circulation
So yeah, that took a hit
It took a real hit
Well, you did some of Chicago as well
Yes
So that was a long schlepping it from year to there
And there are a lot
A ton of auditions
So you go all the way down there just to say
Next
Well, not really because
Several a few years back
WRJN, the owners
At that point, wanted me to come back
And do some recording here
And so in exchange for that
Ah, yes
I was doing auditioning here with the help of Lou Turner
Right
So I record for WRJN's use
And also some of their other stations that they owned
And I would be able to audition too
So it was a very nice arrangement
That I had going on
Saved me a lot of running
Well, that's great
I appreciated that
Go over the list
And I'll list the lady who did party line after you for a short time
Oh, the list of hosts
Yeah, start with Alan Thomas
Alan Thomas
I think there was a lady named Sandy Lamb
If I remember right
I've never met these people
I believe it was Sue Paulson after that
And then Kay Bus
I may have those two
Turned around, I'm not quite sure
Again, I was not here at that time
Then Kathy Larson
Me
And Carolyn
Carolyn, Carolyn
I can't remember her last name, I remember Carolyn
It was only a short time
Right
And we had some fillings I filled in once
And as I've never done this again
We had a few other Jim Walker filled in
Ruth Ann
Ruth Ann Willand
Ruth Ann Willand
Jim Walker filled in once he said I'm never doing this again
Tom out and did
Tom out
You know what, it was hard to talk to people on the radio
While you're thumbing through cards trying to look for stuff
Trying to hold a conversation that sounded like you were interested
And what they're saying
Oh yeah, tell me what I'm gonna hold this in
It was hard to do
It took a little practice
It took a little practice
I knew what, and I said I'm not doing this again
Yes, it was hard to do
You know, you just learned to ask more questions
About what the concern is
And that would buy a little time
To be able to thumb through things
And that was kind of the methodology
You just bought time
What's some of your memorable moments here?
How many? You can think of
Oh boy
Yeah, well a couple of them actually
One was rather silly
I was in the next studio
And there was a spider
That was crawling on the
The cord going to the microphone
And I'm talking, and as you know
We're only a few inches away from the microphone
And here's this spider coming on this cord
Toward me
And I'm looking at that thing and I hate spiders
And I'm thinking
What am I gonna do?
There were no commercial breaks coming up
This thing is getting closer
And closer
What were we talking about here?
No, it wasn't a tarantula
But it was big enough to make me go
It's either him or me
So
To that memorable moment
I think I just took a piece of paper
And I just had to whack the
And I said I'm sorry everybody I just can't stand this
And I just made fun of it
I made a little lightheartedness out of it
Either that or someone came in
I think I said something about it
And another staffer came in
And said I'll take care of it for you
And gave him a good whack
But yeah, that was kind of funny
The other memorable thing was
You remember the great flood
I have pictures of my video on my phone
I know you do
Were you here for the great flood?
Certainly I was here for the great flood
We
It was like Noah's Ark
In the lobby
We understand we have a flat roof on this building
Or we did
And we had a roofing company come in
To redo the roof
And they didn't lay any plastic down
And it rained
And so when I came in the next morning
It was basically raining
In the building
It was all over
All the desks
Thanks to Ron Richards
And I'm sure you and maybe
If you salespeople come in too
It was awful
But you know we had to go on
We had to go on the air
And act like nothing was really going on
And I just remember that
When we would use a line
We would punch the button
To take a line
It wouldn't
You couldn't get rid of it after that
So it was quite interesting to do party line
When you'd say hello to someone
And when that call was over
With
We just had to continue on
As you do
You keep calm and sharing
I got the whole thing on video
Having them by video camera in the comments
That was I know an amazing time
But it was very messy for a long time
And it smelled in the building
After that too
Had big fans going
All right, get rid of the cry
Okay, I'm getting ready
This was Debbie's farewell
Her final goodbye on party line
We did a few years ago
And let's see if I can do it
Without screwing it up here
Thank you everyone
And once again it was
Certainly 12 wonderful years with you
Thank you so much
God bless you
And look forward now to my successor
Radio Mall is coming up
Right after ABC News
With them
Wow, that was it, huh?
That was a short goodbye
It was
I thought it would have been
Longer than that
I don't think I would have gotten
Through it if I had to
See more than that
Look at me
I got tears in my eyes right now
I was here 24 years when I got fired
And they let me stay on another week
Let me ask me to stay on another week
That's all folks
That was out of here
Yeah, yeah
Well, yes, it was very hard for me
It was very difficult
Well, I am so glad now I see Debbie in church every Sunday
So it's not like I haven't seen her in a while
But thank you for coming in today
I do appreciate it
It was a pleasure, it was a joy to be here
Great to connect with listeners again
So thank you
All right, I love having Debbie Ferguson from party line in here
It's 8 o'clock
Here's time WRJN