"Good Afternoon! You're listening to WRSE at the Rose River Ski Spectacular - I'm Kathy Jones, Pete Moss is alongside and we are thrilled to welcome you to the sandy beaches on the Rose River north of Roseville.
"If you are on your way, that's great. We have traffic tips to make your trip into and out of the show site easier.
"We can't show you the ski shows, of course, so you want to get out here tonight or over the weekend. Bring the radio - we'll interview skiers, play a lot of beach music, and have contests galore. There are stupendous prizes to be given away between now and Sunday afternoon."
"That's right." Pete Moss joined in, "If you're the 8th caller to our studio contest line, you will win a dinner for four from our friends at Gus & Tom's. Caller #8, you will be a winner, and Gus & Tom will allow you to cash in at their riverside location here at the show."
"We're coming back, let's get this party started with the Beach Boys - Surfin' USA!"
Off air, Kathy turned to her partner. "OK, Pete - that was good. Do you want to take it out of the commercial and set up the interview I did with Els Brandt earlier today? It starts with his answer about how long he's dreamed of this day."
"Got it, Kathy. I missing the cue sheets for the next hour, could you grab one for me and another water, please?"
Kathy turned toward the station trailer where they could get peace and quiet or find space for an interview if it was too noisy outside. They had a stash of water and caffeine plus the latest deliveries from Gus & Tom's and Karen's Kandies. The sales staff sold both full sponsorship packages trading out 25% of the cost for food service during the show.
As Kathy stepped back out of the trailer she nearly knocked Karen over. She was bringing in fresh made candies for the staff and guests. "Hi, Karen!" Kathy greeted her long-time friend, "it's so nice you could have a tent out here - we're thankful for your sponsorship and will do what we can to send business your way this weekend."
"That's great, Kath," Karen replied, "you know this is a big move for me. I've never advertised before, but I talked to Gus and Tom and they told me being on your station helped grow their business. Say, tomorrow morning I know you guys go on the air at 10. If that means there will be people here at 9 - I'll bring in a couple pots of coffee and a tray of steaming hot cinnamon rolls."
"Karen," Kathy said, "that will be awesome!!"
When Karen delivered Pete's water, her interview with Brandt was just wrapping up. There was a small crowd pressed up against the station broadcast desk. Behind the row of excited kids were parents and some locals who were amazed to see what the faces behind the voices actually looked like.
Pete and Kathy adjusted their headphones. "Kathy," Pete picked up after she wrapped up the taped piece, "Els sounds pretty excited. Did he tell you about the hours that went into event?"
"Yes he did Pete. Els said there was no real way to count every hour, but conservatively speaking 8,289 hours. That's 345 days and 9 hours. A lot of that was planning that started more than two years ago. In the last year alone, this section of the Rose River has been cleaned by teams of Boy and Girl Scouts; the men's groups from St. Paul and Grace Lutheran churches; and crews from the county. Marberg Implement mowed the grass, added sand and raked the beach, and set up the fencing for the teams and fans."
"It looks great, that's for sure. We're coming up on 5 o'clock. Stay tuned for the news at the top of the hour then we'll be back with more from the beach at the Rose River Ski Spectacular."
A short frisbee throw downstream, next to Gus & Tom's Pizza and Pasta tent a mass of people were crowding into a large tent lined with banners of Roseville's three banks and credit union. The four institutions combined forces to offer basic banking services and provide no-fee automated teller machines for the crowds.
Behind protective fences between two large Oak trees - Marberg Implement's bright green and yellow John Deere banners marked the arrival and departure spots for shuttle service back to the park. They had six ATV units pulling special built wagons able to carry eight passengers each. The plan was to rotate the shuttles throughout the show starting 90 minutes before and running another 90 after the program.
Pete and Kathy smiled as they heard the massive Evinrude motors roar to life; it was time for practice. Each of the eight teams had 45 minutes, 30 of them on the water, to run through jumps, pyramids, other maneuvers, and get used to the crowd and waves before the competition started on Saturday.
Dale and Julie ducked under the tent and sat down in the chairs Kathy pointed to as she opened the second hour. "Now joining us, two members of the Rose River Ski Team, Dale Fritz and Julie Berg.
"Welcome, Dale and Julie and congratulations. Everything looks great, I can only guess how excited you both are to be hosting seven good teams this weekend."
"That's right, Kathy," Dale spoke first, "we are excited and nervous. We've performed in front of our friends and families before, but several of these teams qualify for the Nationals year after year and we're anxious to show what we can do."
Pete turned to Julie, "Julie, you are a Roseville girl and started with the team at a very early age. What does this weekend mean to you?"
"Well, Mr. Moss," Julie had to stifle a giggle, she just couldn't bring herself to call him Pete, "this means a lot. It's more than a show, I think this is a great opportunity to show off Roseville to great people from around the Midwest and to the scouts. I've been told there are some scouts on hand this weekend to see if Roseville might be able to host Nationals someday."
"It's Pete, Julie, but thank you. That's some news here tonight, folks. Our community might be able to bring this kind of excitement back to town in the future with a good show. Some of that's up to you - strong crowd support is what organizers are looking at, among other things. Els Brandt told us earlier to be considered it takes first class facilities, strong fans, good volunteers, and reliable public services like we have on hand through the weekend with our volunteer fire department and Emergency Medical Technicians. The hospital tent can take care of fans that might need help and are also ready to respond when needed...."
Pete's voice trailed off as he realized the roar of the boats had stopped and the crowd wasn't cheering.
Then a different motor sprang to life. "Pete? Jeff here, I've got an update if you can throw it to me?"
Pete took his morning show partner's message in his left ear, cleared his throat softly, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not really sure what's happened, but you may have noticed a moment ago that the atmosphere here on the river has changed. WRSE's Jeff in the morning has a better look and he's down on the shoreline."
"Pete, there are two teams of Roseville EMTs heading into the river and members of the Twin Pines ski team are rushing toward the landing area off the big jump in the middle of the river. I was watching the team practice. From here it looked like two skiers intended to cross, one over and the other under, so they wound up on different sides. Instead, the skiers collided in midair.
"They let go of the tow ropes immediately, but ran into each other at full speed before falling loudly and limply into the water.
"The Roseville Fire Department is out there now and the first skier is being lifted into the boat by a combination of skiers and rescuers. The other skier is being supported with her head above the water and placed on a backboard. An EMT is looking her over and waiting for the other boat to get into position to take her aboard. We won't have much of an update for a while, but I can tell you both skiers gave a wave to the crowd as they were loaded on to the boat. After they get to shore, an ambulance will take them to the Roseville hospital for a closer look. Back to you, Pete, I'll let you know when we get more information."
"Thanks, Jeff. The Twin Pines Ski team is from north Wisconsin. They are similar to the Roseville team in that it's a fairly new team in the world of show skiing. Roseville and Twin Pines have worked together before and I know there are some pretty close friendships between skiers.
"I'm told there will be a short break on the water and... what? Oh, OK, thank you. Sorry folks, that's live radio for you. We have an early report on both skiers that despite a horrific accident both skiers suffered a series of cuts and lacerations and should be fine. They will be taken to the hospital for a thorough check-up.
"We're going to get into a double play of beach music now. When we come back we'll introduce you to the field of teams in the Rose River Ski Show."
Kokomo and the Little Ol Lady of Pasedena blared over the loudspeaker above the WRSE tent as word filtered through the crowd that the skiers would be fine. Els Brandt wiped his forehead with his handkerchief whispering a prayer of thanks for the health of the young skiers.
Brandt knew skiing could be dangerous. A nephew of his was seriously injured the first time he tried a trick while trailing a boat at high speed. In those days, no one wore helmets on the water and when he spun out of control and slammed into the water after losing his balance he banged his head on a submerged log suffering a concussion and hematoma.
"Welcome back to the Roseville River beach - I'm Kathy Jones joined by Pete Moss, we're glad to introduce you to the teams competing in the Ski Spectacular.
"From Michigan, the White Cappers from Kalamazoo and Ski Boarders from Marquette. From Minnesota, the Big Water Walkers from Bemidji and the Austin Spammers representing Austin. And we have three teams joining Roseville's team from Wisconsin - Twin Pines from North Wisconsin; the Skeeter Skiers from Minocqua; and legendary Aqua Jays from Janesville. We'll give you interviews with members of each team throughout the weekend. When we come back we'll join Steve who made it out from the studio and Jeff as they sample some of the summer foods available here on the Rose River. You're listening to WRSE."
Come back for Chapter 12 - at 3 pm.
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