May, 19, 2013
Nothing could be finer than to eat with friends in diners in the moooooorning!
After eating, we began our trek to Sodus Point and I snagged pics of places I had seen on TV over the years! Check out DioGuardi Auto Sales and compare with an ad I caught on WROC (RF45) back on April 3, 2012!
I also spotted Bill Gray's, which has some delicious treats according to CW-WHAM's ad (RF13-2) seen March 27, 2012!
Country Max is for the birds. No, really, it is! (Ad seen on WHAM, RF13, March 31, 2010.)
Mark's Pizzeria was an enjoyable slice of Upstate New York! (Compare with the ad seen on WHEC, RF 10, on Sept. 1, 2012!)
We soon arrived at our destination, the beautiful Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum!
We met up with Steve's father Bruce Farrington, a local historian who maintains the amazing website Historic Sodus Point. Bruce was able to give us great insight and perspective on the area's impressive roots.
The natural beauty of the area lends itself to all kinds of Kodak moments!
Sodus Point was gorgeous and the view of Lake Ontario shore looked stunning! (Compare with a pic captured from WHEC, RF10, on July 9, 2012!)
Instead of Mannequin 2, this looked like a scene from 2 Mannequins!
My eyes popped out when I realized that the Museum was home to WHEC's Weather Bug, complete with an autographed pic of the News10 NBC meteorologists!
After leaving the museum, we took a look at some beautiful murals on display including Native American Fishing on the left and the Battle of Sodus Point on the right!
Before heading back to Rochester, we stopped off at El Rincón Mexicano for some delicious Mexican food!
Later we went to Walgreen's so I could grab a TV Guide and Mr. A could grab some of the new Celebrity Apprentice ice cream flavors! (Full disclosure, Celebrity Apprentice is one of our guilty pleasures!)
The day before the trip, I saw WROC's story about the new Wegman's location opening, so it was cool to see it in person! (I picked up a cool Rochester T-shirt and LOVED that they carried newspapers from Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse!)
Jeff Freeland snapped this awesome pic of the rooster popping out inside the store! (Compare with WROC's coverage from May 16th!)
May, 20, 2013
Mr. A and I were up bright and early to visit WHAM! I had been fascinated with the station since I was a kid because on Scarborough Cable we had 8 and 10 from Rochester, but not 13. (We got CKCO from Kitchener instead.) But WHAM 13 had a way of pushing through CKCO via antenna especially in the Summer!
Mike DiGiorgio was our tour guide (he's the Executive Producer of the morning and noon newscasts) and I was happy to see a real person at the controls as we passed through!
We briefly visited the "News Archives" which had a huge collection of past broadcasts and some neat vintage branding on some of the tapes!
There's never been a station logo I didn't want to throw myself beside and pose with!
Like other stations I've visited, the newsroom had several TV sets on the wall to keep track of their competition.
I was thrilled to meet Norma Holland, who is one of my favourite anchors at the station! Her warm personality, laughter and fun make her newscasts pop!
A bonus treat was meeting Jennifer Johnson and Evan Dawson! They were awesome and friendly as well and Mr. A and I chatted with them for a bit about our road trip and visiting the Lilac Festival! (They also asked about our crack smoking mayor since the story had just broken that weekend!)
Here's a shot of the WHAM "Warm Up" I saw back on August 22, 2012 with Marty Snyder, Jennifer Johnson, Evan Dawson and Norma Holland! (I got to tell Mike DiGiorgio how much I love the Warm Up, since it's a fun and loose way to kick off the broadcast!)
Norma and others in the newsroom were getting prepared to go on the air shortly.
Mark McLean is a great meteorologist, so it was a blast seeing him get ready to rumble as the newscast drew near!
Norma Holland and I got to take some quick pics on set before the broadcast.
Needless to say, she is just as fabulous in person as she is on air! LOVE her!
Everyone got into their places and the countdown to air was on!
There was a live report about some rowdy behaviour that unexpectedly bloomed at the Lilac Festival. Luckily, it was quickly weeded out!
I loved capturing these "behind the scenes" moments throughout the broadcast!
During a break I got to snag a picture with Mark McLean and Norma Holland!
I always geek out when I'm at the desk in person with anchors I've watched at home over the years!
I got one last shot of the duo before heading into the control room for the second half of the show!
The action in the control room was pretty cool, especially when it came time to insert the New York Lottery draw. Affiliates all over New York state pick this up via satellite, so the commercial breaks had to be timed down to the second to ensure the live drawing was seamlessly integrated!
After the broadcast, Mike brought Mr. A and I back onto the set so we could have some fun with the green screen!
I will never turn down a chance to be a faux weatherman for a day!
Mr. A would totally be cut off if viewers were watching the standard definition feed of the newscast! (The tape is there to help anchors stay in frame no matter which format viewers are watching!)
They practically had to drag me out of there, since I was totally ready to begin my own newscast!
I loved the station logo behind the receptionist near the entrance. (I also pondered starring in a comedy-thriller series called The Receptionist all about my adventures chasing TV signals!)
Kudos and big thanks to Mike DiGiorgio for an excellent tour and a wonderful experience visiting the station! (He even hooked me up with some great WHAM and CW mugs before I left!)
After we left, we passed Sleep City! (Compare with an ad seen on WHEC, RF10, on June 26, 2010.)
We stopped to eat at McDonald's and I noticed our trays were sponsored by WROC and WUHF (which was later folded into the WHAM/CW group of stations.)
Here's a look at all the great stuff I brought back with me, including the WHAM mugs, numerous TV magazines and a Rochester shirt!
Thanks to ALL who made this road trip so special and memorable! Also check out Part 1 for the first wave of this adventure including a tour of WXXI! Stay tuned to TV Garth for more road trippin' reception chasing mayhem!
