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Show TV Personality Reminisces By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL Jackie Nukes has been associated ith KSL Television for a quarter of accnlury, and many changes have taken place, she told a recent gathering of the Hountiful Area Chamber of Commerce. SPEAKING AT a noon luncheon lun-cheon at the Scrvus Drug, Ms. Nokcs said she remembers vividly her first experiences at the I V station. "I was a pioneer of television televi-sion in this area and can remember re-member well when wc first went on the air," she said. "Wc came on with too much power and blew out nearly every ev-ery set in a 25-mile radious of Sail l ake City. It was fortun-aie fortun-aie there were not more TV sets in the area because I think we blew every set that was turned on." SIIK EXPLAINED that the general area of the early television televi-sion days ranged from Spanish Fork on the south to Clearfield on the north except for the Hountiful area where reception recep-tion was nil. KSL Radio, at the same time, was well established, being the first commercial station sta-tion west of the Mississippi River. It got its start in I922. JACKIK BEGAN her career in television in 1 957 after being chosen from among 350 applicants appli-cants for a job as the star of "Romper Room." "When I auditioned for the job, I couldn't believe the humor and antics they wanted, so I just went along with the act," she said. "After getting the job, my first day was terrible terri-ble and things didn't get much better for a long time." SHE NOTED that everything every-thing was televised live and- i : f '. I ' ' I x s ' i v , f - t $ I A - . i I - JACKIE NOKES there were many bloopers. "I even forgot the Pledge of Alle-gience Alle-gience once," she said. Jackie related the early times of television broadcasting broadcast-ing when hot banks of lights would topple the actors like flies. "Once the studio lights exploded, but we still went on with the show, almost without hitch." ANOTHER TIME the drapes in the studio caught fire, "but the fire station was close by and we escaped without with-out too much damage." But aside from the hectic and frustrating moments, Jackie said she has had many enjoyable experiences with her co-workers and many associates. "WE DO A lot of fun things and have the opportunity to meet people of all walks of life," said Jackie. Then with a sparkle in her eye, she told Chamber members mem-bers that the future of television televi-sion is more promising than ever before. "TELEVISION today is only in its late infancy; it hasn't even reached the teen-age of life," she said. "There are new horizons at KSL and all television televi-sion stations that were not even dreams a few years ago." Jackie is a well-known radio and TV personality. In addition addi-tion to her work with Romper Room, she is popular as coauthor co-author of Channel 5 Eyewitness Eyewit-ness News, and as hostess and producer of Midday. PRESENTLY SHE is hostess hos-tess of the interview program, Faces, and serves as assistant to the president of KSL in charge of Educational Services. Ser-vices. She is a native of Salt Lake City but moved to Los Angeles where she graduated from high school. She attended the University Uni-versity of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1946 through 1949. She then returned re-turned to Utah and attended the University of Utah earning a degree in Elementary Education Educa-tion and Home Economics. IN ADDITION to her career in radio and television, Jackie has also taught school and was a service representative for Mountain State Telephone Company. |