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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
New episodes appear here usually within a few hours after that KMMR air time and been striving to post new releases here by 4:30PM.
I want again welcome you to The 04:05 Coffee Break. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:I don't have a spring wheat report. You're gonna have to check it yourself. But I can tell you from Billings at PAYS last week 54 head black white face steer calves weighing 581lbs. 581 brought $4.25 a pound.
OK Solberg:You pencil that out, that's $2,460 per head. And on October 5, in Billings at PAYS, a 100lb fat lamb would fetch you $2.85 down about 25ยข from where they had been. But guys, there's more... Much more.
OK Solberg:Okay. Okay. How many of you out there remember the Lawrence Welk show? Well, anyone who grew up in the 1960's and 70's remembers Lawrence Welk. Oh, man. My grandma loved it.
OK Solberg:Guys, I enjoyed Hee Haw better. But I remember the Lawrence Welk show. Oh, it reminds me of a joke. If you like Hee Haw better than the Lawrence Welk show, you might be a redneck.
OK Solberg:But I'm telling you that Mr. Welk was some kind of a man. I'm gonna share today some of his highlights. But 1st, a bible verse.
OK Solberg:1st Chronicles 15:16 David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments, lyres, harps, and cymbals. 1st Chronicles 15:16.
OK Solberg:Yes, sir. Make a joyful sound with musical instruments. Lawrence Welk did just that. Listen now. Lawrence Welk was born in a North Dakota sod house to immigrant parents.
OK Solberg:He only went through the 4th grade of school because he was needed on the farm to help. 4th grade. German was his 1st language. He didn't learn English until he was in his early '20's.
OK Solberg:At the age of 17, he borrowed $400 from his father to buy a professional accordion, and he promised 4 years of farm labor to repay that debt. And he stayed all 4 years.
OK Solberg:As he worked for his father, those next 4 years, he gave the family every penny he earned from playing that accordion at dances and social gatherings, as well as doing all the farm work.
OK Solberg:Lawrence Welk left home when he turned 21 with $3 in his pocket and that accordion at his side. He built a successful touring orchestra from scratch. He created the musical style known as champagne music.
OK Solberg:Lawrence Welk turned a regional dance band into a national radio and television empire. He hosted one of America's longest running and most successful television variety shows ever.
OK Solberg:His program reached tens of millions of Americans every week at its peak. Lawrence Welk had a #1 hit and it was titled Calcutta. Lawrence Welk received 2 Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, yep, 1 for television and 1 for recording.
OK Solberg:He received the North Dakota's Rough Rider Award. He received the Horatio Alger Award for overcoming humble circumstances. He built successful businesses in television, music, publishing, and real estate.
OK Solberg:Lawrence Welk married Fern Renner and stayed with her for 61 years. They raised 3 children while building their career.
OK Solberg:Lawrence Welk retired at the age of 79 after nearly 60 years as a professional entertainer and he left behind a television legacy that continues to this day in reruns even after his death.
OK Solberg:But listen to this one guys. This one shocked, delighted, and surprised me and I kept it till the very end. When ABC canceled the Lawrence Welk show in 1971, yes sir, ABC canceled him.
OK Solberg:Welk refused to disappear. He personally took the show into syndication, adding more television stations than he had when he was on the network.
OK Solberg:Instead of ending his career when a major network dropped him, Lawrence Welk turned rejection into an even larger independent television operation, keeping his show on the air until 1982, What About That Then? What a Man.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.