It’s all packed up and ready for distribution, so here’s the latest blog update from Mark and Walt in the Morning!  Enjoy!

I FEEL ITALIAN, AND IT FEELS GREAT!

JIM BERTUCCI AND JIM MANTY IN THE STUDIO.

Jim Bertucci and Jim Manty joined us to get us ready for this weekend’s Italian Fest coming up on Saturday at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming.  This celebration of all things Italian including great food and fantastic muic is open to all who are or want to be Italian!  You can listen to the comments of Jim and Jim by clicking “HERE“.  And by the way, don’t be surprised if you want to talk with your hands and feel a little hungry for Italian meatballs when you are done listening!

A SPECIAL INVITATION FOR YOUR KIDS FROM THE YMCA OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.

EFFERVESCENT LORI FROM THE YMCA!

Lori Smolinski, Child Development Director at the Vandenboom YMCA offices joined us this week to tell us about upcoming child and youth activities getting underway next week at the YMCA of Marquette County.  The “Y” is presenting a full slate of activites and classes for kids of all age groups that can keep your kids busy and occupied over the remainder of our summer months here in the county.  Please click “HERE” to listen to Lori’s comments, and click “HERE” to log on to the website of the “Y”.

A NEW IDEA TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS IN AND AROUND MARQUETTE COUNTY.

KRISTY AND NANCY WITH ZATTACHAT.

Kristi Pentecost and Nancy Caldwell joined us in the studios to discuss their new idea that supports local businesses in our community.   The program is known as ZATTAchat “A Business Community for those who dare”.  This innovative program gives local businesses an opportunity to market themselves, offer specials and reach the local buying public through new technologies and more.  To listen in to the conversation with Kristi and Nancy, please click “HERE“.  To log on to the group website, please log on “HERE“.

THERE’S MORE INFO, BUT YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT!

Tune in next time to the Mark & Walt in the Morning Blog to hear Walt say…”There’s more info coming soon, so you’ll just have to sit tight!”

Talk to you all soon!

CHEERS!

-Walt

MARK HARD AT WORK IN THE STUDIO.

So the building of the new facilities is continuing and the dust is still flying.  The studios are close to done, and so are the offices, but there is still a lot going on.  That includes things like getting the heating and cooling systems ducted properly, trimming in all windows and doors, and touch-up painting.

RUNNING DUCTWORK IN THE CEILING.

Of course, there’s more than that going on, but those are the most visible items happening now.  It’s a bit inconvenient right now, but it’s still exciting!  We can really see the studios, offices, production rooms and more assembling in front of our very eyes!

FUN, FUN, FUN IN PHOTOS!!

BUILDING MORE SHELVES.

The crew working on the site has been great and they have made a monumental undertaking of a massive task and made it look relatively easy!  I tip my hat to them and all of their hard work!  Here’s a bunch of photos to give you an idea of how things are going over here at the ranch.

ENJOY!

-Walt

So it may be a bit scattered still, but we are bringing elements of the show back and you guys certainly seem to have been waiting for them with bated breath!  Today marked the return of “Today in Music History” and of course, the ever-popular classic-cartoon trivia based “Main Street Monday”.  And boy, were you guys ready for it!

“MAIN STREET MONDAY” CRUSHES THE WEAK (WELL, NOT REALLY!!

MARK MODELS THE STACK OF MAIN STREET MONDAY CORRECT ANSWERS.

This week, to mark the return of Main Street Monday Classic Carton Trivia, Mark decided to go with a tough question.  He threw down a so-called “triple diamond” of a a challenge that he was sure was going to weed out the weak.  The question was actually a revision of a question suggested by longtime listener Bruce L. from Negaunee.  It had to do with cartoons  dating to 1960 featuring Tooter Turtle.  The correct answer was “Mr. Wizard” and MANY of you knew that.  As you can see from the photo, the stack of correct entries was quite a bit larger than expected!

Congratulations to Kelly from Munising having the luck of being the winner of our very first MSM “Victory Toss” in our new studios.  She now walks away secure in the knowledge that she is a bona fide cartoon trivia expert and has picked up a certificate for two 14″ 3-topping pizzas from Main Street Pizza!  Good for her!

BACK ON TUESDAY!

So that’s a wrap for today, but we should be back in full force tomorrow at 6:00am all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  And, OK, that’s a lie!  We’ll be back, but not quite so full of body, if you know what I mean.

SEE YA!

-Walt

It’s the triumphant return of Mark and Walt in the Morning to the realms of cyberspace and the internetz!  The blog is back and we’re darn happy about it!  After a few days off, we are back.  It’s been quite an adventure with the studio move and all of it’s technological wonders, but we seem to have made the transition fairly smoothly and we are moving ahead!

So?

So let’s have a beer!  A Keweenaw Brewing Company beer!

THE KEWEENAW BREWING COMPANY BOYS JOINED US!

HEY EVERYBODY!! IT'S DICK AND PAUL FROM THE KBC!

The bossmen from the KBC, Dick Gray and Paul Boissevain,  joined us this morning on the big program to let the cat out of the bag concerning the name of their new brew being unleashed on the masses later this year or early next year.  As many of you recall, we hosted a special promotion a couple of months ago to solicit suggestions from you folks for a name for the Scottish Ale produced by the fine brewmasters at the KBC.  After several weeks of consideration of a wide selection of possibilities, the decision was made to name the brew the “Olde Ore Dock Scottish Ale”, based on a suggestion gathered at the Northland Pub at the Landmark Inn in Marquette.  You can listen to the comments of Dick and Paul from the show by clicking “HERE“.  To go to the Keweewnaw Brewing Company website, click “HERE“.

SO WITH THAT…WE’RE BACK WITH A BEER!

Have yourselves a great weekend and we’ll see you again next week sometime!  Get on out and enjoy some of the great events and activities going on this weekend, and we’ll talk about it all with you next week on Mark & Walt in the Morning.

CHEERS!

-Walt

The Mark and Walt in the Morning blog is on a summer vacation.  Well, sort of.  Due to the highly technical wiring that is going on over the next week or so, combined with being short-handed on the show staff, the blog is taking a break.  But be sure to stay online and keep checking in every so often.  There may be some occasional updates posted during the hiatus.

NEW STUDIOS AND OFFICES WITH THE SAME OLD BLOG!

The new Great Lakes Radio facility will soon be fully functional and up and running, and when that happens, the blog will be back as well.  Until then, keep listening and log in when you can to see if any surprises pop up here at markandwalt.com.  Thanks for your patience and understanding.  We love you too.  OK…maybe we just like you a lot, but you get the picture!

SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOON!

Planning a speedy return to the internetz!

CHEERS!

-Walt

GOOD MORNING MARQUETTE COUNTY!

Armed with a fresh pot of coffee, two sets of headphones and our respective news and sports copy scripts, Mark and Walt in the Morning boldly jumped into the abyss of the history books of Marquette County morning radio.  The very first edition of Mark & Walt in the Morning from the new Great Lakes Radio complex in the Superior Lanes Building in Marquette Township.  It was something, to say the least!  The studio is a bit cluttered at this time due to the ongoing construction of the studios and offices, but it is wired up well enough to go on the air, and that’s what we did!  A history making day was had by all!

MORE MOVING, MORE WORKING.

MOVING, MOVING, MOVING! KEEP THAT STATION MOVING!

The rest of the day is being spent moving the WFXD-FM studio equipment from the old Marquette Mall studios to the new facility,  This will allow them to broadcast out of the new studio as early as tomorrow…or at least that is the plan.  As with any significant project as this is, delays and slowdowns are a possibility.  However, I must say that this overall move has been as close to flawless as it could be.  This large of a project is fraught with a countless list of technical concerns and issues, but it has been going along like sliding on glass!  That’s a credit to the technical crew and the construction folks involved in this monumental effort.  Well done, everyone!

WIRES, CABLES, CONNECTORS, OH MY!

WHAT'S SO HARD ABOUT WIRING A RADIO STUDIO ANYWAY?

The challenge is not over yet, though, and we will be continuing with moving all of the various operations and offices over the next week or so.  Please keep listening and keep checking out the blog for the latest information about our efforts.  We’ll be up to full speed soon and then you all can come by for a cup of coffee and join your favorite morning radio team as they muddle forth into this new era in Marquette County radio!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

-CHEERS!

-Walt

UHHH....WHAT DO I DO NOW??

Good Monday Morning!  Well, here it is another week and the move is continuing.  Clutter and debris are the norm around the soon to be vacated Great Lakes Radio Marquette Mall facility.  For those of you who have been long-time Sunny 101.9 listeners and for those of you who remember what the studios looked like, today’s rack of photos are for you!  Check out the former Sunny Studio, now but a mere shell of it’s former self.  It’s kind of hard to believe to a certain extent, and as you can see even Mark walked in and sat down to do the show and found everything was missing!!

THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES OF A STATION MOVE ARE AMAZING.  TRY MOVING THREE OF THEM!!!

WHAT WAS AND WHAT SHALL NEVER BE!

The goal for this week is to get the engineering working to allow us to broadcast Sunny 101.9 WKQS from our new studios in the Superior Lanes building next to Super One in Marquette Township by tomorrow (Tuesday, 7/6/10).  After that, getting our country station, WFXD, moved in next.  But as Mark said last week. “Goals are made be broken!”  That is of course a statement that can be taken two ways and I guess we’ll see how it all shakes down!  It certainly is an interesting process to say the least as we have progressed with this monumental task!

A NOTE TO YOU, THE LISTENER AND THE BLOGGER.

OH, WOE IS ME...MY STUDIO IS GONE!

Hey, we just want to say thanks to you out there for sticking with us through these crazy, yet fun times.  We know that many of you have been out there along with us from the beginning of Sunny a dozen or so years ago and are part of the GLR Family.  We appreciate that and again, we thank you for maintaining your support of our little ol’ station!

CHEERS!!

-Walt

THE DISMANTLING AND MOVING CONTINUES!

So with a mighty bang, the live era of Mark & Walt in the Morning from studios in the original Marquette Mall ended this morning.  OK, it was more of a solid “thud” more than a bang, but you get the point, I’m sure.  After doing thousands of shows together from the venerable Marquette Mall studios, the next chapter of the show and the Great Lakes Radio will unfold at our new location in the Superior Lanes building in Marquette Township.  As a result, tomorrow’s show will be a pre-recorded “best of” show because of the dismantling of the old studio for relocation of certain parts to the new studios.  I have to admit, the leaving of the Marquette Mall after 13 years is a bit surreal, but we simply have outgrown our space and we have to move!

SAY “GOODNIGHT”, GRACIE!

GOOFUS IN HIGH GEAR IN THE STRIPPED DOWN SUNNY STUDIO!

In typical Mark and Walt fashion, the final day was marked with some reminisces about the past 12-13 years or so, good strong coffee and a visit from the world-famous Ambassador of Goodwill from Negaunee, the illustrious GOOFUS and his polka-cello.  He sent us off with a rousing and patriotic version of “God Bless America” and his   blessings for our move.  He also moved into the Mark & Walt in the Morning history books as our last in-studio guest in the Marquette Mall studios.  Congratulations, Goof, and thanks for the fine song and all of your support over the years!

MOVIN’…MOVIN’…MOVIN’!

SMILIN' AMANDA LYN IN THE DOOR-LESS LOBBY.

So as the saga of the Great Studio Move of 2010 continues, we’ll try to keep you posted and updated as best we can.  The blog may get a little quiet over the next few days, but we promise, we’ll be back on the internetz as soon as possible.  So keep listening and keep checking in.  We’ll be here as we can and we hope you’ll do the same!

CHEERS!

-Walt

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE SUNNY STUDIOS.

Hey folks!  Just wanted to drop a line to explain about a few things going on over here in Mark & Walt land.  As you know, if you’ve been listening to the show for the last couple of weeks, we are in the process of moving our station facilities into a new location.  As exciting as that is, there are, of course, more than a few challenges with moving a radio station from one place to another.  We are actually moving THREE!  We are moving Sunny 101.9, WKQS along with WRUP and WFXD in this process and offices for over a dozen people!

LOGISTICALLY SPEAKING, THAT’S A LOT!

MORE OF THE STRIPPED SUNNY STUDIO WALLS.

So as a result of this exciting yet tumultuous chaos, things are a little kitty-wumpus around here right now and we are very scattered.  So as a result, the blog updates are bit hit and miss right now.  Be looking for an update soon with some of our recent interviews and more.  But for now, check out these photos of the destruction of the old and building of the new. We’ll get regular updates going again soon, but the next week or two will be up and down.  So, bear with us and that’ll have to do!

WE’LL BE BACK SOON!

Stick with us, folks!

We’ll be back soon!

-Walt

A busy fun-filled weekend is ahead of us and you should take the time to get out and enjoy it!  Be safe and don’t be a news story for us on Monday!  Get on out and have fun!

FOURTH OF JULY JUST AROUND THE CORNER

DEB AND TOM IN THE STUDIO.

Deb Nance and Tom Tourville  of the Marquette Fourth of July Committee joined us recently for a full run-down of events and activities planned for the City of Marquette for the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday.  They included the schedule for the parade, food fest, fireworks, family events, kids activities and more.  To listen to the interview with Deb and Tom, please click “HERE” and for more information about Fourth of July events in Marquette, please click “HERE“.

PEACE, OUT!

That’s that, kids!  Have yourself a great weekend and we’ll pick this all up next week!

-Walt