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Hangin' Out with Bob (and his friend, Wayne Damerow) · Hangin' Out with Bob

0:06
All right. Hello and welcome to "Hanging Out with
0:08
Bob," a podcast hosted by me, Bob Edholm. Thanks
0:13
for joining us and let's get started. "Hangin'
0:18
Out with Bob" is a podcast where guests tell us
0:20
their stories, where they grew up, where they've
0:22
lived since then, what they're doing now. which
0:25
kinds of shows they stream, which kinds of books
0:27
they read, which teams they cheer for, the kind
0:30
of music they like to listen to, and so on, and
0:32
so on, and so on. And the more laughs we have
0:34
as our guests share their lives, their stories
0:36
with us, the better. Okay, so let me introduce
0:43
my guest today. He's Wayne Damerow, a friend and
0:46
former classmate that I've known since we were
0:48
both nine years old. And we're a heck of a lot
0:50
older now than aren't we, Wayne? Thanks for joining
0:55
us though, Wayne. Good to have you here. Sure,
0:56
glad to be here, Bob. Wayne Damerow, and for those
0:59
of you writing us down at home, his last name
1:01
is spelled D-A M-E-R-O-W. That's Italian,
1:04
right? German all the way. Wayne and I have known
1:10
each other for more than 62 years. I mean, John
1:13
F. Kennedy was president of the United States
1:15
then back in the early 1960s. Wayne lived just
1:20
six houses up the block from me on Chatham Road
1:22
in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. And anyone from
1:25
Columbia Heights, of course, usually shorten
1:26
the name of our town to just the Heights. Anyway,
1:30
it was summertime 1962 and we probably met by
1:34
playing baseball at the local park, Hilltop Park.
1:37
That's the park where the kids in our neighborhood
1:38
played baseball and football, pick -up games,
1:41
of course. We skated there, too, in the winter
1:43
when the city park board would flood the rink.
1:46
Wayne and I, we went to the same grade school,
1:48
Highland, the same junior high school, Columbia,
1:51
and the same senior high school, Columbia Heights.
1:53
We're Hylanders. We even went to the same community
1:56
college the first year after high school, Anoka
1:58
-Ramsey, or AR, in the northern suburb of Coon
2:01
Rapids. And not to get too anal retentive, but
2:04
when Wayne and I went to Anoka-Ramsey, AR, it
2:07
was still called a junior college, not a community
2:09
college like it is today. But Wayne and I really
2:11
didn't see much of each other after that year
2:13
at Anoka-Ramsey. He transferred to the University
2:16
of Minnesota's St. Paul campus the next year. Well,
2:19
I finished my second year at Anoka-Ramsey and
2:21
then transferred to the University of Minnesota
2:23
on the East and West Bank campuses in Minneapolis.
2:26
I remember seeing Wayne at a couple of our high
2:27
school reunions. I think it was the 10th and
2:29
the 20th, but really not too many times from
2:32
then, from say the late 1970s until the 2010s.
2:37
We reconnected, if that's the right word, about
2:39
a dozen years ago and since then we've managed
2:41
to keep in touch every six months or so, maybe
2:43
a year, usually for lunch somewhere on a Saturday
2:46
afternoon to catch up on things, maybe talk about
2:48
Minnesota sports and solve all the world's problems.
2:53
And that's been a good thing. If we hadn't reconnected
2:55
more than a decade ago, we probably wouldn't
2:58
be doing this podcast right now, Wayne, right?
2:59
Right. All right. So now I'm going to step back
3:02
for a few moments and I'm going to let my guest,
3:04
Wayne Damro, tell us a little bit about himself.
3:07
Oh, wait, wait, sorry, Wayne. I mentioned how
3:10
the kids in our neighborhood used to ice skate
3:11
at the local park when we were kids. Well, here's
3:14
a lame joke. Why did the ice skater go to the
3:18
party? I don't know that. To break the ice. You
3:25
want me to tell it again? Yeah, pretty deep.
3:30
So with that, Wayne, please take it away. Well,
3:33
you mentioned Anoka-Ramsey, and I'll never forget
3:37
commuting with your car. It was a Volkswagen...
3:41
Karmann-Ghia. Karmann-Ghia. The worst car ever.
3:44
Piece of crap, yes. That's where I learned to swear
3:48
really well. I got a lot of practice. That was
3:53
funny. I also had one school that I don't think
3:56
you went to, Silver Lake Elementary. Oh, right.
3:58
Yeah, that was before I moved up here. That was
4:01
first through third grade, then to Highland.
4:05
So that was all the school history. As far as
4:11
since then, I graduated with a degree in forestry,
4:15
forest management, in 1975 and got on with the
4:19
state. and spent 37 years and two months with
4:24
the state. Nice long career. Yeah, it really
4:26
was. And a job I really liked. Yeah, yeah. Let's
4:30
see. As far as work, where I went, because it
4:34
was the type of job that if you wanted to move
4:36
up, you moved. It wasn't required, but then you'd
4:41
just stay in place. Sure, sure. What were some
4:43
of the places? Started out in Willow River. Nobody's
4:48
heard of Willow River. Where is that? I don't
4:50
know where that is. You know where Moose Lake
4:51
is? I've heard of Moose Lake. Yeah. Okay, it's
4:53
about 10 miles south of Moose Lake. Okay. Parallel
4:57
on Highway 61 with 35. Okay. Anyway, so there
5:02
I was the nursery assistant superintendent. So
5:06
we grew something like six, eight million trees
5:08
a year. Wow. They still do. And then from there
5:13
I went to Alexandria. where I worked with private
5:18
landowners for about five years. And then got
5:23
promoted to assistant area supervisor in Cambridge
5:28
for five years. And that was a time when there
5:33
was great amount of fire. So we were working
5:36
80 hour weeks. It was not unlike out west, only
5:43
localized. So then from there, Cambridge to Brainerd
5:50
as the supervisor and was there for 14 years.
5:54
Wow. Probably my favorite place where I work.
5:57
Brainerd? Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful. Anyway,
5:59
by lakes. Yeah. And I had a pretty neat house
6:01
on a marsh about five miles west of Brainerd.
6:05
So easy commute. Yeah. Yeah. It was good. And
6:09
then ended up in St. Paul to finish my career
6:12
as assistant director. So, a lot of moving around,
6:18
but it never seemed hard because there was enough
6:20
time between them. I can't remember if when we
6:25
were going to Anoka-Ramsey, if you knew then you
6:27
wanted to major in forestry, but what made you
6:30
decide to do that? A friend of mine was going
6:34
into it. urban, because I had always thought
6:38
I'm from Columbia Heights. Yeah. Forestry? What?
6:42
Right. And he was also a big city kid. And then
6:47
there was another guy we both knew Tom Tomczyk.
6:49
Oh, yeah. He also got a degree in forestry. Oh,
6:52
okay. I didn't know that. Yeah, kind of a surprise.
6:56
And so ended up going into forestry and I said
7:00
I'll give it a year and see if I like it and
7:03
the first thing we had to do is go to Itasca
7:05
State Park for four weeks and get some field
7:09
work in and get introduced to forestry and so
7:13
I found I really liked it and so continued on.
7:18
Wow good long career with this with the DNR then
7:20
yeah and all those years of working did you ever
7:23
wear a suit and tie? Uh, the last one. The last
7:26
one? Yeah. They figured being outside, you know,
7:29
looking like that ranger like in Yogi Bear. Sure.
7:36
No, we had uniforms that we wore up until about
7:40
Brainerd when I was probably halftime uniform
7:43
and then St. Paul was all suit and tie. Okay.
7:46
All right. Well, thanks, Wayne. All right. Now
7:48
that Wayne's told us a little bit about himself,
7:50
I want him to talk a little bit more about the
7:52
neighborhood where we lived. What were the things
7:55
that you remember most about growing up there?
7:58
Talk about the places where you like to hang
7:59
out, where you'd go swimming in the summertime
8:02
or skied or toboggan in the winter. Talk about
8:06
the sports you played as a kid. And I know you
8:08
played some instruments growing up. Just talk
8:10
a little bit about that, too. OK. First of all,
8:12
I should say, too, I am married. And no kids
8:15
to finish my introduction. Thanks. Let's see.
8:20
Growing up, my parents were in the same house
8:23
for 60 years and not unlike yours. I mean, we
8:27
were five houses apart, five or six. Six houses.
8:30
I counted it when I drove by a couple of weeks
8:33
ago. I hated guarding you in basketball because
8:37
you were left -handed. Tough to stop. He had
8:41
a hook shot that couldn't be beaten. But anyways,
8:46
as far as sports in high school, very limited.
8:49
I was on the swimming team as a diver for one
8:52
year. You were on the first swimming team at
8:54
Heights, right? Because they just built the pool
8:56
like in 68. And then when we were sophomores,
8:59
it was 68, 69. So that was the first. And I could
9:02
swim, but not well. So anyways, I gave it one
9:06
year and then said, no, that's not for me. A
9:09
little bit of baseball. A little bit of baseball.
9:12
But overall, no, it was graduate and move on.
9:16
Yep. You did play an instrument. Talk a little
9:18
bit about that, that you played the trombone,
9:20
right? Yep. And you could play bass guitar too,
9:25
didn't you? I had a bass guitar, was in a band
9:28
for a brief time. Yeah. So what in fact you and
9:37
your brother Al both played trombones, didn't
9:39
you? Yeah, and he was better than me Okay, just
9:44
like in sports for some reason he was very athletic
9:48
and client he went to state in tennis. I did
9:55
not know that. Was he in the class of 76? Okay, okay.
10:01
Yeah, he was really good in tennis. I did not
10:03
know that. Yeah, went to state in doubles. And
10:06
then also, he was a heck of a bowler. He was
10:15
on the University of Minnesota bowling team.
10:17
Oh, wow. They went to the Nationals in Vegas.
10:21
So really good. I'm fair. Yeah. And really smart.
10:25
I will say Wayne was always a really good student
10:27
and really smart. He just, he used his brains. As
10:34
far as local, did you go fishing with me? No.
10:39
To Hex Lake? I know. I, fortunately I was not
10:51
a fisher person, but I'm sure you did fish with
10:54
others. But yeah, there was a, there was a lake
10:55
near us, Highland Lake or Peck's Lake, we called
10:57
it. You get bullheads. That's all we could catch
11:00
is bullheads. It was, it was, it was like a
11:03
glorified swamp as well. I mean, you couldn't
11:05
put a boat on there or like a motor boat. It
11:09
was pretty, it's pretty in the summertime and
11:11
that stuff. Yeah. Okay. All right. Great. So
11:14
that's. Pretty much it. I mean, I was in the
11:16
house till I was 18 and it's still there and
11:20
my brother's son lives there. Yeah, right. You
11:23
kept the house in the family name, so to speak.
11:25
So yeah, that's great. It looks great. I'm driven
11:28
by it, you know, when I go up Chatham Road and
11:30
I can see that they put the new siding on a couple
11:32
of years ago. It looks very nice. Very nice.
11:35
We're going to follow up a little bit more in
11:36
our old neighborhood again. I've mentioned in
11:39
a previous podcast that the neighborhood we grew
11:41
up in was literally a golf course until the mid
11:43
-1940s. Some of the street names there kind of
11:46
give it away. Golf Place, Heights Drive, Fairway
11:49
Drive. Do you remember how old you were when
11:51
you first learned that our neighborhood was a
11:53
golf course? And what kinds of things do you
11:55
remember reading or hearing about the old Hilltop
11:58
Golf Course? Chet Latawiec lived next door. He's
12:03
since passed on, but he was an excellent amateur
12:06
golfer. Right. And he used to talk a little bit
12:09
about golfing there. And then he bought a house
12:11
next to mine and got a chance. His son also is
12:15
an excellent golfer. Yeah. Yeah. Doug. Yeah.
12:18
And the did we ever figure out where the clubhouse
12:21
was? Well, I know in the corner of 45th and Chatham,
12:26
there's a big house and we we knew a family that
12:28
lived there growing up. But right across the
12:31
street from there, I believe that's where the
12:34
clubhouse was, where people would go in and get
12:36
their ticket, you know, to play 18 holes and
12:38
that stuff. But the clubhouse had to be right
12:40
near that house and next to it. I think I read
12:42
somewhere that that was sort of like a manager's
12:45
house or something where that house is now. But
12:48
that's where you kind of started and finished
12:50
right in that area. So yeah, my I remember my
12:53
grandmother being really angry with my parents
12:56
when they bought the house because it was so
12:58
far out in the country. Yeah. Right. Right. And
13:02
I can remember her getting into an argument with
13:06
them. For the listeners who aren't from the Twin
13:10
Cities or where we grew up, Columbia Heights
13:12
is right next to Northeast Minneapolis. And,
13:15
you know, to get to downtown from Columbia Heights
13:17
is maybe four or five miles. But when you're
13:20
a little kid or you lived in the only city, it's
13:22
like you might as well say you lived in St. Cloud,
13:25
you know, that far away. It was it's a first
13:27
year suburb. It's right there. You know, so that's
13:31
amazing. Well, just just for our listeners, you
13:34
were telling me something about golf balls that
13:36
they pulled out of the reservoir next to it or
13:39
something? What was the deal with the golf balls?
13:42
Dozens and dozens or hundreds? Thousands. What
13:45
was this now? It was the waterworks. That dates
13:50
back to the time of the golf course. It was having
13:55
clogging problems, I guess. I don't remember,
14:00
because I'm sorry, but my parents would say,
14:02
yeah, we saw them pull out a semi-load of balls.
14:05
Ha ha ha! If I were that semi-driver, I would
14:08
have found selling them off the side of the road
14:10
or something. Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing.
14:15
And we used to bike down from our house to Central
14:18
Avenue to the Heights Theater. Sure. I saw "A Hard
14:21
Day's Night," I remember. Yep, our local movie
14:24
theater. That dates us. Yep, yep, yep. And Danielson
14:27
Drugs was on the corner there, 40th and Central.
14:30
Oh, yeah, that's it. Well, and then you mentioned
14:32
Chet Latawiec, his shoe store. Yeah, Chet's Shoes.
14:35
Chet's Shoes. They're still around. There's one
14:37
in the Heights and then there's one out in Coon
14:39
Rapids. I think there's four or five. Yeah. Yeah.
14:41
He kept it in the family. So, yeah, cheers. Okay.
14:46
The name of the podcast again, is "Hangin' Out
14:48
with Bob." I'm your host, Bob Edholm. And my guest
14:54
today is Wayne Damerow, who, like me, grew up in
14:57
the same neighborhood, on the same block, in
14:59
fact, in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, or the
15:01
Heights, for short. Okay, Wayne, next topic. You
15:08
grew up in the Heights, went to school there,
15:09
then to Anoka-Ramsey, and then finished at the
15:12
U, University of Minnesota in St. Paul after
15:15
you earned your degree in forestry. Talk about
15:18
some of the places where you've lived. Well,
15:20
you kind of mentioned, but just talk a little
15:22
bit more about the places you've lived elsewhere
15:23
in Minnesota or elsewhere, I guess. I've never
15:26
lived anywhere but Minnesota. Okay, it's just
15:29
Minnesota, okay. Yep. All those different towns
15:31
where I worked. have your house in Brainerd and
15:35
Cambridge. and Alex, St. Paul and Willow River.
15:40
And I liked all of them. Getting used to Willow
15:46
River was the hardest, just because coming from
15:49
Minneapolis to a town of 325, everybody knew
15:54
me. But then I got onto a baseball team, a softball,
15:59
and we went to State a couple times. Annie's
16:04
Denham Bar. Yep, sure. The town of Denham is even
16:09
smaller. Not the denim material, you didn't
16:12
wear denim jeans when you played? No, D-E
16:14
-N-H-A-M. Oh, okay. I think I've actually
16:17
seen that somewhere. It's a little town about
16:19
six, seven miles west of Willow River. Okay.
16:23
So we're talking nowhere. Oh, okay. That's cool.
16:28
That's cool. What position did you play when
16:29
you played softball? A shortstop and then when
16:32
I moved to... Brainerd, I got on with the softball
16:35
team and I was pitcher. Slowpitch. Yeah, of
16:39
course. Did you ever play a fastpitch game?
16:42
No. I didn't either. My dad played that when
16:44
I was a little kid, but we just didn't play it.
16:47
They didn't have a league in the Heights. They
16:48
played slowpitch and they played for maybe 20
16:51
years, but you had to drive somewhere to get
16:53
in a fastpitch league. I don't even know where
16:54
they played it in Minnesota. I don't think I
16:56
wanted to. I don't think I could get around fast
16:58
enough. I mean, it's like from here to my patio
17:00
window there where they're throwing to you. So
17:02
crazy. OK. All right. Again, the name of this
17:05
podcast is "Hangin' Out with Bob." I'm your host,
17:07
Bob Edholm. And my guest today is Wayne Damerow,
17:13
who, like me, grew up in the same neighborhood
17:19
on the same block, in fact, in Columbia Heights,
17:21
Minnesota, or the Heights, for short. It would
17:24
not be an exaggeration, Wayne, to say that you've
17:26
been quite the traveler, not just all over the
17:29
U.S., but all over the world. And if you could
17:31
just maybe talk about some of the places that
17:33
you've been to, places that you really liked
17:36
as well as some of the places that you didn't
17:38
like or were disappointed in. But just give a
17:41
flavor for where you've been. Okay, well, I have
17:44
four favorite places. Four! many places we've
17:48
traveled, but my favorite is Lake Como in Italy.
17:55
We stayed at a place for a while that was about
17:59
two miles from where George Clooney's house was.
18:03
So we kept driving by. Not stalking, but just
18:09
to see. He never invited you in or anything?
18:11
No, he didn't. We were quite disappointed. But
18:14
that was really, it's a neat area. If you get
18:18
a chance, you should go. The pictures are incredible.
18:22
Second was Germany. Yeah. I'm doing genealogy
18:27
on ancestry. And a fourth cousin contacted me.
18:32
Oh, cool. And, you know, it's pretty distant
18:35
relative. Well, he said, come on over. So we
18:37
did. We're in Germany. They live in Berlin. Berlin,
18:41
yeah, and so he picked us up at the airport and
18:44
that's so cool. We spent two weeks driving around
18:47
Germany with So we went to Dresden. But beautiful
18:55
city and all over Germany, it was really pretty
18:58
neat. Yeah it is Then the next place I really
19:02
liked was Uruguay. In South America? South America,
19:05
yeah. See. Yeah, we combined that was a work
19:09
assignment where I wrote the fire prevention
19:11
plan, the national one, for them. Wow, wow. How'd
19:16
you do that? It wasn't a lottery. I mean, who
19:20
would like to write a fire prevention plan? Well,
19:23
I was on the State Fire Prevention Committee
19:26
at the time. Okay. They just were looking for
19:29
someone to come. There's a program called Partners
19:32
in the Americas. Okay. Each state is paired with
19:36
a country in Central or South America. And Uruguay
19:40
is Minnesota's partner. And yeah, it's not a
19:43
well-known thing. Yeah, no. But I'm not making
19:47
it up. No, no, I believe you. But anyways, they
19:52
exchange in different things like food and farming
19:56
and fire and forestry. You know, it's kind of
19:59
neat. Uruguay's... different growing patterns
20:03
compared to ours. They can grow a tree that's
20:06
about 40 feet tall and 10 inches in diameter
20:08
in eight years. And here it'll take 40. So you
20:12
get a lot of rain and just warmer temperatures?
20:15
Just different temperature. Perfect climate.
20:17
Wow. Yeah, so, so they went into forestry. You
20:21
heard of the Pampas? Oh, yeah. Argentina. Uruguay
20:24
also is part of that. But they're planting quite
20:28
a bit of it up to commercial forestry. So anyways,
20:32
that was really quite an experience. Can just
20:34
real quick follow-up on that just for the sake
20:36
of this is audio and Uruguay is obviously in
20:39
South America but If I can picture in my mind
20:42
a map of South America, where is Uruguay in relation
20:45
to like Argentina or Chile or Brazil? Okay, Brazil,
20:49
you know where that sits? Uruguay is right at
20:51
the very southern tip of Brazil. Oh. And then
20:54
you go about 100 miles or less and then you're
20:58
on Argentina. So it's on the Atlantic side then?
21:00
Yes. Uruguay. Okay. Okay. Yep. And so the Argentinians
21:05
like to vacation in Uruguay. And so where you
21:09
get people, you get fire issues. And so that
21:12
was one of the things we dealt with. Is Uruguay
21:14
really mountainous or flat? No, flat as a pancake.
21:17
Okay, okay. And some river valleys, that kind
21:21
of thing. What's the capital of Uruguay? Montevideo.
21:24
Oh, okay. Most people say Montevideo. Right,
21:27
like in Minnesota. Yeah, exactly. They named
21:31
their town after Montevideo, Minnesota, right?
21:33
Right, exactly. Okay, Montevideo, okay. Wow,
21:36
getting a geography lesson, too. Oh, that's cool.
21:40
Well, in fact, in Uruguay, isn't that the team
21:42
that the U.S. men's soccer team had to play
21:45
in this western... There was some kind of soccer
21:48
competition just this past summer. It was some
21:51
kind of cup, but it was just like Western Hemisphere
21:53
team. So the U .S. played and they they had to
21:56
qualify. They would have had to beat Uruguay
21:58
in order to advance or something. They didn't,
22:01
you know, Uruguay. I guess everybody in Uruguay
22:03
plays soccer. It's like their sport, you know.
22:06
Just one memory is I was walking down the street
22:09
to the office and from the hotel and I saw a
22:12
big crowd of people hooting and hollering. You
22:15
know, I was also at a store, it looked like.
22:18
So I went up and. watch for a bit. Well, they
22:20
were watching a soccer game that was like 10
22:23
years old. Still getting excited. And they were
22:27
all just hooting and hollering. It was really
22:30
pretty funny. Oh, wow. They love their football.
22:32
They love their football. That's cool. That's
22:34
so cool. All righty. The other place I really
22:37
like is Costa Rica. So those are my four favorites.
22:41
I've heard that's right in the... Caribbean,
22:43
right? Well, both. Central America. Yeah. Yeah.
22:46
My brother was there last year first. It was
22:48
just where the Tom was there. And he said it
22:50
was amazing. Really nice hotel he stayed in.
22:53
Outside there were monkeys. Yeah. Yeah. But he
22:57
said it was just great. He really enjoyed it.
22:59
And we stayed at a mountain resort. There they
23:01
have true mountains. And they had no screens
23:05
on the window or anything. and about middle of
23:08
the night we heard the howler monkeys oh my what
23:12
kind of monkeys howler howler they howl oh h
23:15
-o-w-l yes okay what does it sound like sound
23:18
like cheetah or um no it's a just a real distinct
23:22
oh wow and at two in the morning yeah what the
23:37
Oh, wow. Well, that's a close. Thanks for sharing
23:40
the story. Was there another one you want to
23:41
mention? Okay. Thanks. Well, that's good. That's
23:44
good. I was hoping you'd just give me a flavor
23:46
from the places you've seen. Was there one place
23:49
you went to that said, boy, this place wasn't
23:50
as good as I thought it would be. I haven't run
23:52
into that. That's good. That's good. I'm glad
23:54
you said it. Cause I, when I went to Europe half
23:56
a century ago, I can't say I was disappointed
23:58
with any place I saw. It was, it was so unique
24:01
and place I'd never been to. So I wasn't really
24:03
disappointed. So, okay, great. Okay. Um, just
24:07
a little bit more now. You've been retired for
24:09
a few years now. Twelve. Okay. Um, tell us what
24:13
you do to fill your days now. I mean, I know
24:16
you like to golf and, uh, you just don't like
24:19
to travel, excuse me. So. Yeah, we're going to
24:22
go to Spain here shortly. See. We still like
24:27
to travel as long as we can. Yeah, as long as
24:29
you're feeling good and can do it, it'll take
24:31
advantage. But what was the question? Well, how
24:35
are you spending your retirement years? Golfing.
24:39
Like I said, I was just starting to do genealogy
24:43
work in my tree. I don't know. Golfing. Podcast.
24:50
Sure. Doesn't everybody work that in? Yep. Yep.
24:54
Yep. And, uh, let's see, kind of drawing a blank
24:57
here. Oh, gardening. I was six years on the board
25:00
of directors from the state horticultural society.
25:03
That almost seems like a natural tie-in for you.
25:06
If you were in forestry, I mean, you like being
25:07
outside and. Yep. trees and plants and just looking
25:12
at things, you know, taking care of them, not
25:14
getting overrun by weeds or just making stuff
25:17
just to make things look pretty, you know. Yeah.
25:20
No, I've been pretty good gardener for many years.
25:24
Both my grandmothers and my mom all were big
25:27
gardeners. Now Al, not a bit. Well, I know that
25:31
my mother liked gardening too, but she always
25:33
said it was so relaxing. That's what I find.
25:36
Yeah, you're really in touch with nature, so
25:39
to speak. And you got the sun. Yeah, yeah. It's
25:43
a nice thing. That's a nice thing. Okay. Again,
25:46
the name of this podcast is "Hangin' Out with
25:47
Bob." I'm your host, Bob Edholm. My guest today
25:54
is Wayne Damerow, who like me grew up in the
26:00
same neighborhood and the same block in fact
26:03
in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, or the Heights
26:05
for short. Okay, Wayne, last topic for this podcast.
26:09
Tell us about what your favorites were while
26:12
you were growing up. You know, favorite TV shows,
26:15
favorite teams you'd like to follow, favorite
26:17
bands, type of music you listen to, radio stations,
26:21
just to get a flavor. Sure. Well, I listen to
26:24
KQRS. I mean, that's kind of a... That was more
26:26
like in high school already. I mean, teenagers
26:29
are like... grade school. Yeah, the Top 40, the
26:31
Top 40 stations like over our Top 40 stations.
26:35
WDGY. Yeah. Weegee. 1130. Yep. And KDWB. KDWB.
26:41
Did you have a transistor radio? Yes, I did.
26:43
I had it by my ear at night. I fell asleep. Yep.
26:47
Yep. About the size of our cell phones. Maybe
26:49
a little thicker with the nine-volt battery.
26:53
And just, that's how I really caught up on music.
26:56
I'd have that to bed and I'd fall asleep at night,
26:58
but that's where you hear the top 40 stuff. Sure.
27:01
So you went to music land and saw the Top 40
27:03
list. You go, Oh, I heard that last night. Well,
27:06
then every Sunday night WDGY would play the entire
27:10
full. of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly for
27:14
those not familiar with that. Oh, wow. I remember
27:17
that song. You had that album, didn't you? Oh,
27:19
sure. Yeah, OK. I didn't have it, but I just
27:21
remember the song. 1960s. Late 60s. Yeah, that
27:24
sounds about right. One memory I have is. going
27:28
with my mother to watch fireworks. And so we
27:31
were going to walk up to the top of the waterworks.
27:35
Yes, yes. Because it wasn't fenced in at the
27:37
time. Right. And I had my transistor radio and
27:40
they started playing "Surfin' Bird." My mom said
27:44
shut that. Wasn't allowed to listen to "Surfin'
27:50
Bird." During the fireworks especially. If anybody
27:54
wants to check that out. Yep, yep. Who was the
27:57
band that did that "Surfin' Bird?" The Trashmen.
27:59
Oh, a local band. That's right. That's right.
28:02
But they went national with it. Yep. Yep. Yep.
28:04
Just like the Castaways. Yep. With "Liar, Liar."
28:07
Yes. I remember seeing them at junior high school.
28:10
Yes. Yes, they played it in the gym, the girls
28:14
gym. Yep. I remember seeing it was like Saturday
28:16
night. I thought, wow. But it was, it's amazing
28:18
because, you know, "Liar, Liar" was their hit song,
28:20
but I can remember they were doing covers of
28:23
"Sergeant Pepper's," right? They're doing "A Day
28:25
in the Life." And it's a pretty good, that strobe
28:28
lights is man. It was like psychedelic. Wow.
28:31
Okay. Talk about what were your favorite TV shows
28:34
growing up besides "Lunch with Casey." Yes, I won
28:39
a case of Coke one time, because I could shout
28:43
the loudest. Willie Ketchem? Sure, with Clancy.
28:49
Clancy's a cop. Willie Ketchem. He was out telling,
28:52
all right, we need everybody to scream and shout.
28:55
And it was loud. Did you ever go on any kid shows?
29:01
You know, when they had, you know, the TV tapings
29:03
or whatever? Yeah, that was the only one. Oh,
29:04
that was the one. OK, because I was on a couple
29:06
of those, too. I remember growing up. Oh, that's
29:10
great. But like when we got a little older, what
29:13
was like for you must see TV like you just had
29:16
to watch? Because for the benefit of our younger
29:18
listeners, we most of us didn't have any kind
29:21
of recording capabilities. You couldn't stream
29:24
shows. So whenever the show was on, you had to
29:25
watch it. or you missed it you know but like
29:28
what were like must -see shows well they were
29:30
black and white too yeah that's true that's true
29:32
first well we didn't get a tv till i was like
29:35
five Then it was black and white, of course.
29:39
Yeah. Wow, that's terrific. Yeah. Little did
29:42
we know. Well, I was going to say one show I
29:44
think that we all had to have, because that's
29:46
how we learned a lot about pop culture, was Ed
29:48
Sullivan on Sunday nights. Absolutely. I mean,
29:50
the Beatles. Sure. You know, there are more people
29:52
watching that than they'll be watching the debates.
29:55
I mean, just, you know, because you just have
29:56
to see it. I think it's still the record show.
29:57
Yeah, it was. You know, it changed. It had such
30:00
an influence. So any other TV shows that come
30:03
to mind? It was so many Westerns at the time.
30:06
Yeah. "Gunsmoke" and "Maverick." "Maverick," right,
30:11
right. There were so many of them. "The Lone Ranger."
30:16
"Hopalong and Cassidy." Well, I remember the show
30:19
that was a big influence. I think we were probably
30:21
out of high school or just finished in high school,
30:23
but "All in the Family." Sure. I mean, that was
30:25
really, you know, a breakthrough TV. Controversy.
30:28
Yeah, yeah, it was. Every week they would talk
30:30
about something that TV shows didn't talk about,
30:33
you know. Sure. And shows like "Miami Vice" later.
30:37
Oh, right. Right. I remember. Very influential.
30:41
Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Was there a comedy show
30:43
that you think of that? "Laugh-In." Yeah, that was
30:46
funny. Yeah, that was. Yeah, like a million jokes
30:50
that cram into like 60 minutes. But I remember
30:53
some of the situation comedies. I mean, they
30:55
were fakey as heck, but I still liked them like
30:57
"Hogan's Heroes," which is still on by the way.
31:00
Oh yeah, there's some local nostalgia channels
31:03
like MeTV. It's on every night, but I can remember,
31:06
you know, watching those in high school. you
31:08
know, original. I mean, like the fakiest premise
31:11
of all, but it was "Petticoat Junction." Yeah.
31:16
"Bewitched." It was just that whole bunch of mediocre
31:19
comedy. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing what they
31:22
had. But, you know, you didn't have a lot of
31:24
choices. It was either you watched it or you
31:26
didn't watch TV at all, you know, just because
31:28
who watched Channel 2? Oh, I know. Unless you
31:30
had to like in school, they'd make us watch something
31:33
and pull the TV into the gym or in the classroom.
31:36
You have to pretend like you were interested.
31:42
Good memories. So so KQ was a radio station once
31:45
you were like in high school. Yeah, because they
31:47
played the most progressive stuff and it was
31:49
FM. So the sound was right. Yeah, that's right.
31:52
Yeah, that was a big deal. We didn't have stereo
31:54
radio. for most of our growing up till we got
31:58
to high school. FM stands for? Oh shoot, I used
32:01
to. Frequency modulation. Okay, well it's AM.
32:05
Amplitude Modulation, I think. Because I was
32:07
going to be an electrical engineer at one point.
32:11
I took one year in calculus and drafting and
32:15
all this forestry. Yeah, I want to get my fingernails
32:18
dirty. Yeah, exactly. Good for you. Alright,
32:21
again, the name of this podcast is "Hangin' Out
32:23
with Bob." I'm your host, Bob Edholm. My guest
32:29
today is Wayne Damerow, who, like me, grew up in
32:36
the same neighborhood, on the same block, in
32:37
fact, in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, or the
32:39
Heights, for short. Well, this was fun, Wayne.
32:42
It's fun to look back and reminisce. And thanks
32:45
for being my friend for the last 60 -plus years.
32:48
You know, I feel like we just scratched the surface,
32:49
really. I mean, I just wanted listeners to kind
32:52
of get a chance to know you a little bit about
32:54
yourself and what you've done in your life. But
32:56
what I really want to do down the road... I think
32:58
we could, I know we could do an entire podcast.
33:01
I think I want to talk about the music that we
33:02
listen to in high school or, you know, just for
33:05
starters. And we can talk about our minutes of
33:08
sports teams, how they've broken our hearts for
33:10
most of the 70 plus years we've been alive. And
33:14
anyway, there's, there's a lot of things we can
33:15
talk about. So thanks again for being with me
33:17
today. Hey, I was glad to do it. This is fun.
33:23
When you've got some period between your world
33:27
travels, we'll set up something so we can get
33:29
together again. We will do that. Okay. You know,
33:32
everyone has a story to tell and I believe most
33:34
people like to tell their stories, to talk about
33:37
the things they like to do, the things that interest
33:39
them, the things they've done, the places they've
33:41
seen. They just need to hang out with someone
33:43
like me so they can be asked those kinds of questions,
33:46
right? I have so many people in mind that I want
33:51
to have on as future guests. Today I was privileged
33:53
to have my longtime friend, Wayne Damerow, join me
33:56
in my palatial podcast studio. I'm using air
33:59
quotes when I say "palatial," but I have family,
34:02
friends, people I grew up with, people I've worked
34:04
with, people I've had lunch with or drunk beers
34:07
with, that I hope to get together with for future
34:09
podcasts. So, so many people to talk to Wayne,
34:12
so little time. And to our listeners again. Thanks
34:15
for hanging out with me, Bob Edholm. And again,
34:18
thanks to my guest today, Wayne Damerow. We hope
34:20
you'll be with us for our next episode of "Hangin'
34:23
Out with Bob." And until then, bye-eee!