MARK & WALT IN THE MORNING…A BRIEF HISTORY.
MARK EVANS & WALT LINDALA
MARK & WALT in the MORNING debuted on the morning of January 6th, 1998 on Sunny 101.9 WKQS-FM. The show, featuring Mark Evans and Walt Lindala, has always presented a family-friendly mix of music, news, information and comment that makes up a blend of enjoyable, local, community-focused morning radio. The show has been recognized by many in the Marquette County area as the number one choice for those who want to know what’s going on in their community and want more to their mornings than simply “10 hits in a row”. With a clever combination of tunes, news, interviews with newsmakers and kid-safe humor, it obvious to see why Mark & Walt in the Morning is the perfect morning radio show for people in the know and on the go!
A WINNING SHOW KEEPS THE LISTENERS ENTERTAINED AND INFORMED.
MARK & WALT WITH MARQUETTE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT JOHN HARTWIG.
Over the years, the show has featured thousands of in-studio guests, ranging from the area’s top politicians, business, sports and arts leaders to Marquette County folks promoting fundraisers and other community events and activities. The show has won several awards over it’s history, and Mark & Walt have been named “Personalities of the Year” by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters four times in the last decade. The show went on a brief hiatus following the departure of Mark Evans in early 2007, but the duo was reunited in January of 2008.
YOUR SHOW HOSTS.
NETWORK NEWS DIRECTOR WALT LINDALA
WALT WITH BARBECUE MASTER "FAMOUS DAVE" ANDERSON.
Walt is a native yooper who was born in Chassell, Michigan. He has lived in the Marquette area since 1986 and graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1990. He currently resides in Marquette with his wife, April and their two cats, Merlin & Shadow. Walt is active in many area community arts and educational groups and boards and is a founding member of one of the area’s most successful bands, the Flat Broke Blues Band.
MORNING MASTER MARK EVANS
MARK EVANS IN THE STUDIO.
Mark Evans began his radio career so long ago that the first station he worked at was an AM that still played music. The run began 24 years ago at WXCO-AM/WYCO-FM in Wausau, Wisconsin, and led to stops in Madison, Wisconsin, Northern Iowa/Southern Minnesota, Manhattan/Topeka, Kansas and finally the U.P.
Mark has been a part of Sunny 101.9 since the very beginning, minus a 10 month time-out when he left the station to work for a local consulting firm. But, radio is thicker than water so in January of 2009 he returned to where he belonged, behind a mic with a dramatic view of Walt Lindala. Evans has been recognized on several occasions by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for sports play-by-play, commercial production, and was station program director when Sunny 101.9 was named “Station of The Year” by the M.A.B. in 2003.
Mark was the voice of Northern Michigan University Hockey on television from 1996 – 1998, and served as NMU’s radio voice from 2001 -04. Evans also worked with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program from 2004 – 2006 at the International Ice Hockey Federations’ World U-18 international tournaments. He worked as play-by-play announcer and associate media officer from Belarus/Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Sweden; earning two Gold medals and one Silver medal.
Mark and Kristi Evans have been married for almost 19 years and have two children and one terrific dog named Chance. Heather is 15 and finishing her freshman year at Marquette Senior High School. Jared is 12 and a sixth grader at Bothwell Middle School, while the dog is almost nine.
