On January 2, 1996, I received a phone call from Mel Sauer of Scottsbluff. Mel was a longtime western Nebraska broadcaster, who — along with Jack Payne of Omaha — had been inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in August 1995.
Mel learned I was on hiatus from KCOW and wanted to know if I would run the control board at KPNY Radio (102.1 FM) in Alliance during Western Nebraska Community College Cougar basketball games. I accepted his offer, and I worked the controls two or three nights a week. In mid-January, Mel asked if I would take over KPNY’s morning show, as well as record the next-day’s commercials. I would also continue operating the controls during the WNCC basketball broadcasts. The job would pay $900 a month. While I had never been a fan of KPNY’s rock music format, I seized the opportunity, and the experience proved to be rewarding.
Sauer and I had a good working relationship that developed into a strong friendship. Sauer also had a wonderful working relationship with the KPNY sports announcer, Ford Clark. More importantly, they had a great friendship. Mel and Ford reminded me of a mild version of the relationship between Al Pacino and Chris O’Donnell in the movie Scent of a Woman. Simply put, the duo nurtured each other.
Ford, who also broadcast Scottsbluff High football games, was a young guy who grew up in Melbeta, Nebraska, where he attended school until the 9th grade. Ford then attended the Scottsbluff Public Schools and graduated from Bearcat High in 1988. After attending Wayne State College in northeast Nebraska for two years, he married and then moved to Lincoln. Ford graduated from UNL in 1992. While attending NU, Ford was an intern for the Nebraska Sports Network’s Sports Day Mid-America program, which aired across the country each night on the Nebraska Sports Network. Hosted by Jim Rose, the program originated from KLIN Radio in Lincoln. I enjoyed listening to Ford’s football and basketball broadcasts on KPNY. Like all good sports announcers, he was enthusiastic yet painted a clear picture of the action. During a football broadcast, if Scottsbluff High scored on a long run or a lengthy pass play, he would exclaim, “Strike up the Band!” One of my greatest regrets is that Ford and I were never paired to announce a sporting event. I know we would have had a lot of fun and made a good broadcast team.
Mel, born July 11, 1939, in Bayard, Nebraska, was blind. Despite his handicap, Mel announced the KPNY weather and produced several commercials. As I stated earlier, Mel was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1995. Mel’s fascination with radio began at an early age after receiving a radio from his Grandma Sauer. From that point on, radio was his life. His radio career began in September 1960 at KIMB at Kimball. Mel also broadcast from 1961 to 1985 at KOLT at Scottsbluff, 1985 at KOBH at Hot Springs, S.D., 1986 at KCSR at Chadron, 1986 to 1989 at KOAQ at Scottsbluff, and from 1989 to 2006 at KPNY at Scottsbluff.
Mel loved to talk sports, and he especially enjoyed Cornhusker chatter. His appreciation of my Cornhusker football knowledge and radio skills was genuine, as was mine toward his. Since Mel worked at the KPNY office in Scottsbluff and I was in Alliance, our communication was mostly by telephone. Computer e-mail and cellular telephones had not yet made their way into the KPNY equipment inventory, so Mel would either call me at the station or at home to talk business. Each business conversation usually included a short chat about sports. Whenever I traveled to Scottsbluff, I would stop and visit with Mel at the KPNY station or at his house.
Mel was a generous guy, who always bought me lunch or supper during one of my Scottsbluff visits. One of my prized possessions was a huge piece of carpet shaped like a football field that commemorates Nebraska’s 1994 and 1995 national championships.
It was a gift from Mel Sauer.
Mel passed away on January 18, 2007, at his home in Gering.
That beautiful Husker rug was later donated to the Box Butte County Fair in Mel’s memory. It was auctioned and the proceeds were donated to the fair for the new livestock barn.