"That sure smells good!" Pete said as he and Kevin climbed out of the car, it was the can't miss aroma of baking cinnamon rolls that set two hungry radio guys on a direct path to the tent holding Karen's Kandie Kitchen.
Karen was wearing her distinctive green and gold apron that subtly incorporated the Green Packer 'G' logo around the sides and the strings that wrap around the waist before tying in front. "Hi gentlemen, are you ready for some coffee with your rolls this morning?"
She was reaching for two 24 ounce mugs and pulling two hot rolls with frosting from the pan and onto the plate. Karen marveled at how happy people were when they ate her food; for her it was better (well, almost better) than the money they paid to get it.
"Thanks, Karen - sounds great," Kevin waved at some local volunteers perched at tables under the tent eating breakfast after spending early morning hours cleaning up the grounds.
"You know, Karen," Pete teased his friend, "if you give these skiers too many rolls - those boats won't be able to tow them down the river!"
Karen's laugh lit up the kitchen area outside the tent. "I'll look out for that. To help out those kids on the water, Pete, you better take another." She slipped two more rolls into a waxed paper bag for them to take back to the station's broadcast tent a short walk away.
As the two walked to the tent, they met Els Brandt. "Good news, guys. Those skiers were released this morning from the hospital. James Schmidt and Dawn Franks were beaten up a bit with the force of hitting the water, but they will be fine. No skiing for them for a week or two. I talked to them as they were walking out of the hospital and they said it was OK for you to use this on air."
"Hey, look at the newest WRSE reporter," Pete joked, "Thanks, Els. I know all of us were hoping it wouldn't be too serious - sure could have been worse. It looked to me like the EMTs and everyone involved did a real good job responding to the issue."
"You got that right," Brandt said. "If you guys are interested, I can get some of the volunteers or leaders over to the tent if you want them for an interview or something,"
"We'd appreciate the help," Kevin said "if they can make it during the first hour we'll have more time to talk with them."
Els waved as he walked off to the Safety Control tent, "Sounds good. I'll get them over here after ten."
Pete and Kevin sat down with their coffee and rolls along with legal pads to rough out some of the things they wanted to talk about during their show from 10 to 2. It looked like the pair wouldn't need to play much music during their shift, maybe one or two every half hour to break up the broadcast and give them an opportunity to stretch their legs or make a dash to Porta-Potty out back.
WRSE switched out to the Ski Show site after the 10 o'clock news. Moss and Storm opened with a look at the day ahead and introduced Police Chief Parrot and lead volunteer Ron Dorn. They wanted to talk with Ron and the Chief about the response to the accident and what, if anything, those in attendance need to know if another emergency occurs.
Across the River, cars were stacking like offshore waves as three roads converged into a narrow two lane farm road that winds between large farm fields and the Rose River.
A couple of enterprising farmers recently made the first cut of the season and realized parking a thousand cars at $10 a shot would make enough money over a couple of days to make much-needed improvements on the farm.
It was an idea hatched late Friday night after they noticed the crowds across the water. They had a good vantage point of the contest grounds and a big enough field to put a lot of cars. What they didn't think of was how ten thousand cars arriving at the same time for 5,000 spaces could become reality.
Soon, the sounds of shouts and car horns rose above the huge outboard motors on the water. Tempers flared and nerves frayed. As the police chief finished up his interview he took a radio call and after a quick talk turned back toward the hosts, "Gentlemen, do you suppose we could take another moment? We've got a situation developing."
"Alright, Chief," said Pete, "what's happening?"
"We're getting more people interested in this Ski Show than was thought possible. Some new parking and views of the river were opened just this morning - but the roads on the other side of the river can't handle it. If you are sitting in a car and have made it onto the River Road - we'll get you parked. If you haven't made it on the road, we're going to direct you into town toward the school where we have more space. Bus drivers are responding and we'll shuttle folks form the school to the show."
"Great, Chief Parrot. We'll keep reminding folks all day."
The Chief turned back to the crowd and headed out of the tent.
While "Wipe Out" played, Pete asked Emjay to head over to the Safety Control and find a way across the river to give listeners a better idea of what's available for parking. He realized while there was a view and parking - it appeared there was - it meant trouble when people got hungry or needed running water and public bathrooms.
Kathy was on the grounds and tracked down Els Brandt to see what plans were underway for the extra folks. Brandt had just slipped into a meeting with Sheriff Stearns, volunteer leaders, and other community officials. She wondered if most of this was a major growing pain - something to inform planning for the next time.
The instigators who hatched the park and watch idea were on the phone calling back to their homes about the response. Soon, small tents made their way in the back of John Deere Gators while on the other side of the River the guys at Marberg Implement arranged with Gus & Tom and Karen to bring a limited menu of grab and go food for the growing crowd.
On the water, the White Cappers from Kalamazoo, Michigan were ready when the horn sounded at 11am. Tom Frank had been working with the team for two months in practice and during their local weekly show to be ready for today. They had a barefoot ski line, a 28 person double pyramid with two 4 high pyramids stretched across most of the river, and a choreographed double jump with three and then four jumpers flying off the floating lift, smartly painted to look like a cheese wedge. Then as the crowd recovers from that - they planned to bring out an unusually narrow and tall pyramid than most of these folks, including the competition, have ever seen.
By the time the first show was over - a small fleet of eight pontoon boats floated on the prime side of the river to take on food and servers from Gus & Tom's and Karen's Kandies. The four food and drink service boats headed into place spaced along the opposite shore while the other four boats lined with four Porta-Potties each found places along the shoreline.
"Not bad," was what Els Brandt thought as he saw the pontoons get into place before Minocqua's Skeeter Skiers lined up for their turn on the water, "not bad at all."
As the Skeeters finished their program, Steve and Kathy were ready to take over the program from Kevin and Pete. The early hosts would roam the grounds and offer occasional interviews or commentary the rest of the show day. Jeff would go on air at 6, play more music and updating crowds on site, in their cars, and at home as day two comes to a close.
By 8:30, the sun was nestling into the outstretched branches on the west side of the river while the home town Rose River Skiers put on the performance of their lives before friends and families lining the water.
"Folks, I hope you've enjoyed the full day of competition," Jeff shared over the microphone, "we've got some fireworks coming up in just a bit. Tomorrow at noon the top three teams will compete for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Be sure to listen in tomorrow morning at 7 when WRSE will tell you which teams those are - while you head home, please drive safely, and do yourself a favor tomorrow and use a shuttle.
"Beach music continues on WRSE right up to the big fireworks spectacular, brought to you by the four financial institutions in Roseville: Peoples State Bank, Roseville Business Bank, First Federal, and the Roseville Credit Union.
"Good night, everybody!"
Return tomorrow morning at 9 to pick up the action in Chapter 13.
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