Grow Learfield

History of Learfield: The First Office

Our first office was located on Dunklin Street in Jefferson City in a restored older home next door to Rackers and Baclesse Lumber Company -- Buell’s business. We were only there four months and then we moved to a new residential house that Derry and his wife, Verni, were building for speculation on the end of their farm property near Marion -- 15 miles or so from Jefferson City. Here is a picture taken recently of that first location.  At the time the porch wasn’t enclosed.
 
The first equipment was new and purchased from Gates Radio.  We had a simple console with four “pots”, two cart machines, a mic, and, a clock. That’s about it. There was a small rack to hold the cart machines.
 
I was our first engineer. As a teen, I’d put together several electronic “kits”. First a “Heathkit” amplifier and then I upgraded to a Dynakit for my music system. I painstakingly hand-wired every piece on every circuit board.  So I knew something about electronics. (I still have those tube-type amps today). I did the wiring and installing over the New Year’s holiday as the shipping was slow. In fact, I had to drive somewhere to a shipping dock to retrieve the equipment so we could go on the air on the 2nd.

The telephone company tested the circuit during the last days of 1972 in preparation for our inaugural program. I called each station to insure everything worked perfectly. Derry and I showed up at 5:00 am on the 2nd and I ran the equipment while he talked. Eventually, of course, he had to learn how to operate a board, so I could make sales trips and bring in some money!

--clyde

Richer or Poorer? Up To You.

My parents were poor. That’s a hard statement to make. Yet, it has some truth. Dad was one of eleven born in the Missouri Ozarks; he had to leave home just after high school because there wasn’t money. He joined the Roosevelt “make-work” program: the CCC's and built roads and similar infrastructure. Mother’s dad died in the influenza epidemic of 1919, a few months before she was born. To raise her four children, my grandmother moved her family to Jefferson City to get a state job. Mother and Dad met and I was born after dad had shipped off to the war. When he returned Mother stayed at home and he worked for the state. Money was tight although I never knew, except we had to be careful about leaving lights on at night and about wearing more clothing so the furnace could be turned down. Mother worked after my brother and I were in high school. Both had state jobs for their lifetimes.

Mother died on August 30th. My brother and I are trustees on their financial matters. We’re amazed at how much money they had upon their death. How did they do it, you ask?

Simple. They saved. For a whole lifetime they saved. As far back as I can remember, I recall Dad talking about “The Bond-A-Month” program where $18.75 of each paycheck went to buy a US Saving Bond. Now, don’t think they skimped entirely. We had a nice car, and home. They paid for much of our college. For 17 years during retirement they spent the winters in Arizona playing golf! It’s the rule of compounding that makes it possible. Sorta the reverse of a mortgage! I know you think you can’t do this, but you can. 

I’ve got something better for you than Dad’s Bond-A-Month. Sign up for Learfield’s 401(k). As an incentive Learfield will match your savings. That’s correct: for every dollar you put in, we’ll add a dollar, up to a certain limit. (So if you put in $18.75, immediately you have $37.50!)  Another thing: the government will contribute too: 25 to 50 percent.  (so you’re already at some FIFTY BUCKS or Six Hundred dollars per year!!)  Pretty durn good, isn’t it?  Frankly, it would be silly not to do this. Call Jeff Martin at 573-556-1220 or e-mail him at jmartin@learfield.com. 

If you want some financial planning help (I’ll pay for it), call Kenny Nicklas at 573-893-5939. And if you’re really underwater financially, there is free, confidential, private credit counseling for every employee at 866-479-5650 (toll free).  Whether you’re single or hitched, old or young, this is the right thing to do.  Get going now. 

--clyde

Howell moves to Montana

Todd Howell will be making the move from Miami to Missoula late next month as he’s accepted an Account Executive position with Grizzly Sports Properties.  Todd has been a part of our Hurricane Sports Properties team for a couple of years, and we’re excited to have him now join new team at Montana.

Gabriel Derr joins Oregon State

Gabriel Derr is our new Account Executive at Oregon State, working alongside GM Steve Sullivan.  Before joining Learfield Sports, he worked with Person to Person Marketing LLC for seven years, Handyman Across America for three years, and the Wichita Wranglers for one year.  He earned his undergraduate from Penn State and is an Alumni By Choice at Baylor.  Gabriel is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is the oldest of five kids.  Welcome aboard!

It's Indiana for Matt Bauschek

At our Indiana property, welcome Matt Bauschek as a new Account Executive.  He joins IUSP from Riley Hospital for Children, where he served five years as the Senior Manager of Corporate Giving.  Matt is a graduate of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and he and his wife, Andrea, have two sons named Cayden (7) and Coen (2).

Tigers get Legg up

We’re happy to have Mike Legg as Tiger Sports Properties' newest Account Executive, replacing Pat Fagan when he transitions to Penn State in early December.  Mike has 13 years of experience working in Division I college athletics, having served with Southeast Missouri State University and most recently, Western Kentucky University, where he was Director of Broadcast and Sales for six years. At both universities, he was the play-by-play voice as well, with Southeast Missouri State from 1994-2001 and WKU from 2001 to last season.

Mike is originally from Fairfield, Ill. and graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.  He and his wife, Tricia (a Memphis grad), live in Germantown, Tenn.

SDSU Game Postponed

Here's the latest information from San Diego State:

Due to the wildfires throughout San Diego County, all San Diego State home athletic contests scheduled for the remainder of the week have been postponed. This includes Saturday's home football game against Brigham Young, which has now been rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 1, at Qualcomm Stadium.

"This decision was an easy one to make," SDSU Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel said. "We have thousands of our fellow San Diegans who are either in peril, have lost their homes or are still evacuated. Many of those evacuees are counting on Qualcomm Stadium as their temporary home. All of that is much more important than any athletic event. Our thoughts, prayers and most importantly, our efforts should be focused entirely on those people."

Update 1:38 p.m.: Google map of San Diego fires.

West Coast fires intensify

Not the update we hoped to get from Kelly Jensen but good to know what's happening:

"Sounds like things have unfortunately changed in San Diego. Steve Becvar has evacuated his house, as have many other athletic department employees and coaches who live north of San Diego.  Steve and his family have relocated north to Murrieta, California.  Diane, Mike and Corey appear to be out of harms way.  I’ll keep everyone posted."

We'll post updates here.

--clyde

Sales Office opens in Chicago; Mary Lee Gilliland hired

Learfield Sports has opened a Chicago sales office to cover not only the windy city but Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Cleveland, as well.

Mary Lee Gilliland will manage that office. I met her last week in San Antonio during the GM Academy. She'll do well. Let's welcome to our family.

She began her career with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers before moving back to her native Southern California (she’s a USC grad) to work with Pursuit Sports Marketing agency, where she developed its sports & entertainment division. She relocated to Chicago to attend the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Our plan is for Mary Lee to be joined by one more national sellers in Chicago before the end of the year.

--clyde

Learfield San Diego staff out of harm's way

I’m sure most of you have heard about the terrible fires in Southern California and have been thinking about the Aztec Sports Properties staff. Kelly Jensen has been in contact and while many people in San Diego have had to evacuate, our staff is home safe and they appear to be out of harms way.

The office has been closed, but the staff is reachable by cell and email if you should need to contact them.  The local authorities are asking for limited use of cell phones, so please use email if possible.

--clyde