Published: June 12, 2009 05:55 pm      

Cheers & Jeers - Staurday, June 13, 2009

Jim Gregg deserves memorial

Cary Hiers of Russiaville sends this Cheer for a community leader:

“Kokomo lost a great man and a great resource with the passing of Jim Gregg on May 4. His work touched most of the people living in Kokomo and very few knew it.

“He grew up in the 1940s in Kokomo in a neighborhood full of boys who also contributed much to Kokomo – his boyhood friends included Dr. John Elleman, Pastor Kyle Dalquest, Bill Puckett and Dick Scoggins.

“In the 1950s, after graduating from Kokomo High School, he earned an engineering degree from Purdue and then served time in the military. When he came back to Kokomo, he worked for Delco. His work at Delco continues to touch our lives today because, almost 50 years ago, he developed the automatic climate control in cars.

“Jim was not built for the 8-to-5 job because he performed much better working late in the evening and getting started late in the morning. His favorite schedule was 10 a.m. to midnight. So in the 1960s, he left Delco and started a business that touches everyone in Kokomo. With the help of several family members as investment partners, he bought WKMO radio in Kokomo and knew he had to start from scratch to make a success of this business.

“First, he hired a research firm to conduct a survey of Kokomo residents, asking what type of music they would prefer to listen to on the radio. The vast majority in the survey said they wanted to hear country music. Then he wanted to have brand new call letters since this was a brand new radio station. With our location being east of the Mississippi River, the first letter had to be ‘W,’ so he came up with WWKI. When I asked Jim why he chose those letters, he said, ‘KI for Kokomo, Indiana.’

“Jim had a great talent for recognizing talented people, then gave them the freedom to do their best. So Jim hired Dick Bronson and Charlie Cropper. Dick always had a thousand ideas, and Jim gave him a lot of freedom. For many years people thought Dick Bronson actually owned WWKI. When Dick came up with the We Care idea, Jim went along with it, even though it cost the station a lot of ad revenue at that time.

“Then in the 1970s, Jim wanted to hire a manager whom he could turn the day-to-day operations over to so he could pursue other interests he had. He hired Don Rice, and again gave Don a lot of freedom, and with his great success, allowed him to become a partner in the station. Then in the 1980s, Jim sold the station and started a business that he loved.

“When his daughters were in the Western band, Jim would always videotape their performances. Eventually people wanted copies so they could see their children perform also. So Jim got a contract with the Indiana high school band directors organization and started taping band contests all over the state and selling the tapes to parents and schools. He called this business KI Productions.

“Talk about a big heart – Jim helped a lot of people. Here are two examples: A childhood friend of his had a lot of bad luck after he turned 50, lost his business and had no job. Jim wanted to cheer him up, so he asked him what he dreamed of doing for a living. He said he always wanted to have a certain type of business. Jim said, ‘OK, let’s do it. I will finance the business, you do the work and we will be partners.’ It worked and a lot of people in Kokomo really enjoyed their product. Twenty years ago, I had a friend that quit his out-of-town job and had no job to support his family. When I told Jim about the situation, he said: ‘Send him in. I will hire him.’ And he did hire him.

“I know of no one who was born, raised and spent all his working years in Kokomo who has helped more people or touched more lives in Kokomo than Jim Gregg. He is so deserving of a memorial. I know he would not want it because he was always a behind-the-scenes guy. But Kokomo owes it to his memory.”

Callous act saddens family

Brenda Creason of Kokomo sends this Jeer:

“This Jeer is sent out to whoever stole the solar lights from the crosses we set at the accident site on Center Road last August. Our daughter, Jenise Gang, and her friend, Meagen Smith, needed a memorial put up where their young lives were snuffed out. We put a solar light on each cross to illuminate their names at night and to make passing motorists aware of how dangerous that stretch of road is through there. There are no streetlights along there, the speed limit is too fast to be so close to a park, and deer are seen crossing from the creek to the pond on the other side of the street.

“Someone had mowed the spot where the accident occurred before we set the crosses, and for that we are very grateful. We set the crosses far enough off the road as to not distract other drivers and another accident occur. You hear of people stealing from grave sites ... but an accident memorial? How callous have people become? Our daughter was afraid of the dark, so we thought the lights were a fitting touch to the crosses. But within two weeks they were gone.

“It took me, the mother, a long time before I could even go to the site, so imagine my horror to find someone had disrespected their memory by stealing from them! Thank you for leaving the crosses so we will at least have something to attach the new lights to when we eventually hang some back up.

“Now for our daughter’s 21st birthday, 10 months later, we made sure her final resting place was nice and clean and ready for visitors. A week later, we all arrived with nieces, nephews, sisters, cousins, aunts, basketball coach, mom, and dad, Greg, to celebrate her life, only to find within the past week someone had stolen four solar lights.

“It hurts my heart to know someone would not love our daughter and respect her memory. So, jeers to you for making my sad existence even sadder by stomping on Jenise’s memory. Even though you didn’t get caught, God knows!

“R.I.P. Jenise and Meagen.”

‘Queen for a day’

Colleen Leach of Kokomo sends this Cheer:

“On my recent trip to St. Joseph Hospital for emergency surgery, I truly felt like ‘queen for a day’ after 82 years. The staff was right on it and so professional and caring. Also, special thanks to two wonderful doctors, Westrom and Abassi. That’s really the place to go.”