WAKY's 50th Anniversary Picnic

[John Quincy]

Anybody here going to WAKY's 50th Anniversary Picnic at Churchill Downs on July 4th?

Les Cook tells me former 790 WAKY staffers Dude Walker, Tom Dooley, Gary Burbank, Mason Lee Dixon, Rich Gimmel, Byron Crawford and Bill Bailey will all be in attendance, as well as Johnny Randolph.

[Travis]

As much as I'd like to be there it's not going to happen. I do hope the weather is nice for this event and not like it was back in 1971 when WAKY's 13th anniversary was rained out at the Iroquois Amphitheater in Iroquois Park.

I've been listening to Bob Jannsen's airchecks (excellent off the board quality) and shaking my head whenever Gary Burbank's promos for, what was then, WAKY's 11th anniversary would play. How did we get from 11 to 13 to 50 years of WAKY in so short a time?

And just who is that gray-headed old guy I keep seeing in a mirror in the hallway of my home?

Oh, wait... That's me.

The Fourth of July will find me on a beach here in Florida enjoying a fireworks display and celebrating my oldest daughter's 26th birthday. I'm sure I'll be wondering how WAKY's birthday turned out at Churchill Downs and at some point nod my head in recognition of the call letters and people who had such an impact on my life.

Best Wishes to Les Cook, Johnny Randolph and everyone else at WAKY 103-5 as they strive to keep WAKY alive in what has proven to be a very different time for radio.

Happy Birthday to the Big 79/WAKY 103-5

[John Quincy]

Okay, I'm assuming nobody who frequents this board went to the WAKY 50th Anniversary Free Picnic yesterday? If so, please share.

I would have loved to have been there (even though I heard it was a rainy day) but it wasn't in the budget for me to make two trips to Kentucky this year. (I went in May.)

[John Quincy]

This just in from Johnny Randolph:

John: You wanted a report on the picnic and it was great. The crowd was huge and the dee jays and anything WAKY were treated like rock stars. Pretty funny.

Bailey signed autographs for five solid hours....the crowd had Burbank, Walker and Mason worn out. Tom Dooley and Lovelights were a hoot.

Bill Purdom and Mike Summers (news) came in as well as Byron Crawford.

At the end my right hand was aching due to all the hand shakes. I assume they got a lot of pictures.

jr

I'll be checking www.WAKY1035.com next week to see if any pics of the event are posted.

[Tom Prestigiacomo]

I would have been there if I could have... 98.9, KIM FM had a 4th of July celebration of our own in Memphis... but DID spend about 30 minutes with Dude Walker on the phone last night. He said the turnout was amazing and had some great stories. He's getting his pictures together and said he would send them along; hopefully on this website!
We all know how much WAKY radio means to us but talking with Dude, I am reminded how much this site, the rebirth of WAKY on FM and all of us who remember mean to them.

Keep it Waky,
Tom

[diamondswilldoo]

My friends and I thought the turnout was GREATTT no rain..No blazing hot sun..perfect day filled with good friends, good music,and great memories..all of waky staff was on there toes being very helpful to any one who even looked lost which I did several times lol only because i keep drifting back to the 60's. I 'm now proud owner of a Tshirt with The legend Bill Bailey;s autograph along with Dude W and Gary B missed getting JR pic but go a few good ones will be posting soon..Want to thank Tom Dooley and the Monarchs and all the bands for the entertainment ,also thanks aarp the fans came in handy couple times thought as previously stated was a beautifully day but with the fun loving bunch WAKY had could have been rain and wouldn't have mattered. A Friend of mine took over 200 pictures should have a good selection there . will be posting as soon as possible
KEEP ON KEEPING ON WAKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.................Loyal Fan Maggie

[lcook]

Hello to all my WAKY friends, The return of the WAKY World's Largest Free Pic-Nic was a resounding success on Friday July 4th at Churchill Downs. I want to thank Bill Bailey, Gary Burbank, Tom Dooley, Dude Walker, Mason Lee Dixon, Byron Crawford, Rich Gimmel, Bill Purdom Tom Maxedon and Johnny Randolph for going out of their way to be a big part of the event. Bailey signed autographs for almost 5 hours! Gary Burbank is such a cool guy, he signed anything and everything they brought to him. Tom Dooley did a high energy set with the Lovelights including our own Eddie Lee. I got to meet Dude Walker for the first time and he is fun to hang out with. Mason Lee Dixon was on hand and while he was on stage greeting fans he looked up at the clouds in the sky and said "The clouds are there, but the medicine's strong and it's not raining here." Classic Mason Lee! Byron Crawford came out and visited with Bailey and checked in with everybody. Last time I saw him he was rockin' with the doo-wop of the Monarchs with George Pool on vocals. Bill Purdom made the journey from Orlando and he was a hoot all day! Rich Gimmel was there with his million dollar smile and Tom Maxedon made it out to the party. The crowd was very cool and enjoyed almost 8,000 hot dogs and 7 hours of music from Tom Dooley & the Lovelights, Paul Penny with Wayne Young and Marvin Maxwell, Crushed Velvet, Donnie Dynamite & the Dynamos, The Headstones, Decades and the Monarchs featuring Mike Gibson, Johnny Hourigan and George pool. It was a great day for WAKY and showed the love that the people of Kentucky-anna still have for WAKY. Thank all of you who built this legend and entertained us for so long back in the day, and thank you John Quincy for keeping the legend alive with this wonderful web site. Les Cook

[dudewalker1]

Just wanted to thank Les Cook for the outstanding job he did with the WAKY picnic. It was awesome to say the least. The crowd was hugh and the people who now work at WAKY made sure we had plenty to drink and eat while sigbibg autographs. It was terrific seeing my favorite boss johnny Randolph along withThe Duke, Gary Burbank, Mason Lee Dixon, Mike Summers, Byron Crawford and Bill Purdom. We talked for hours about old times and Mason and Gary joined my wife and me for dinner which lasted for 3 hours but was truly fun. We laughed the whole time. Thanks again Les. your staff
did an excellent job, best wishes Dude Wakjer

[John Quincy]

Thanks so much Les and Dude for your recaps.

Dude and Mike Summers sent me some photos from the day. I put them here:

79waky.myphotoalbum.com/

If anybody has more pictures from the event, send 'em on!

[diamondswilldoo]

I have over 200 photo's of 4th were do i send them too..and why can't i view the ones you posted.Most of mine or of crowd some of bands etc..If you like i could email then to you and u decide which to display..thanks M moch

[Travis]

Not sure why you're unable to view the photos, but I'd love to see the ones you shot. From what I've heard and seen, so far, it appears I missed a really good event. I did enjoy the photos and the scoped air-check of WAKY's Fast Eddie Lee which featured reports from Churchill Downs. Gotta hand it to those who arranged to hold the event in the infield at Churchill Downs. What a great idea and what weather.

Johnny Randolph has a very distinguished look these days with the way he wears his hair. Some of the camera angles capture him in way that reminds me of Groucho Marx (due to his glasses and mustache), but a very distinguished Groucho. Throw in a cigar and a duck with the magic word (WAKY) and we may have something here. (just kidding, Johnny) I do think it's wonderful that he's generally the one who takes the time to transport the Duke to and from events such as the 50th anniversary picnic. But hey... no matter where he goes, there he is.

The ever smiling John W. "Dude" Walker appeared to be looking even better than when I last saw him at the 2nd WAKY-WKLO reunion a couple of years back. Dude certainly has a lot to smile about these days as he continues to break longevity records for males in his family. Dude's voice is actually much softer in person these days, but during a LIVE report from Churchill Downs, I heard Dude in much the same way as I remember him from the Big 79. His tone and delivery were really coming across in what sounded to be a phoned-in report with WAKY's Les Cook. Check it out on Fast Eddie Lee's aircheck, available on this site. Cynthia (Dude's wife) can be seen with Dude and with Gary Burbank in the photos.

Mace in Your Face now has hair on his face. I'm referring of course to Mason Lee Dixon, who is probably one of the most fascinating people you could ever have a conversation with. The Aztec calendar has many believing that the end of the world will occur on December 21, 2012 (just four years from now) and I'd love to sit down and get Mason started on that one. Mason has long been an astrologer and was surely responsible for WAKY's Giant Aquarian Weekends back in the day because, as he said, "Records, too, are born and made possible under the stars and this song is a Taurus (or Capricorn or whatever the song's Zodiac sign may be). There's a great photo of Mace alongside Dude Walker in the photos.

Geez, so much to write and so little time. I have functions to perform here at Hydraulic Junction and must depart. Again, it sure looks and sounds like WAKY's 50th went very well. Just wish I had been able to attend.

[John Quincy]

WAKY-FM has their photos of the event here:

waky1035.com/WAKYWorldsLargestFreePicnicPics.asp