After more than 37 years of bringing the news – and sometimes sports – to the Chadron area and over 52 years in radio, I will be signing off for the last time at the end of June.
Father Time catches up with us all, and although my health remains pretty good for a too sedentary 70-year-old man, he’s convinced me to leave the daily grind to someone else.
I can’t tell you what a great privilege and pleasure it’s been to serve all of you – and many others no longer with us. Whether it was with KCSR/KQSK, Double Q Country, or for the last 9 years KCSR/KBPY, the community has always been incredibly supportive.
I’ve always tried to be fair, even-handed, and unbiased, and am deeply appreciative of how many people who knew I personally disagreed with them on an issue have told me my news stories were always fair.
Records are made to be broken, so someday someone else may lay claim to the title of the longest-serving news director or full-time journalist in Chadron or the longest-service Voice of the Chadron State College Eagles.
If so, I hope they would have had as much fun and pleasure as I have.
I hope they would have had as great co-workers and bosses as I have. There are too many to mention – Dennis and Kathi Brown, the late John Howard, Jeremy Anderson, Mike Glesinger, and Fred Kruse, among others.
I also hope they would have had the same enjoyable working experience I have had with the many different agencies, organizations, and individuals in the region – Chadron State College, the City of Chadron, Chadron Public Schools, U-S Forest Service and so many others.
I’m not going anywhere; Chadron will remain my home for the foreseeable future, but I plan to do more traveling and you may not see as much of me from time to time.
Again, thank you all for a wonderful nearly 4 decades of support.
John Axtell
News Director KCSR/KBPY