"We Get by with a Little Help from our Friends."
Even though WKTV launched in November of 1974, it wasn't until nine years later that, in preparation for the 10 year anniversary, that a Volunteer of the Year award was created. By that time WKTV had a robust cadre of people from the community who were involved with creating media at their local station. Here are the Volunteers of the Year since 1983.
Mark Rawson
With a strong engineering background, Mark volunteered for several years before becoming an on staff television engineer until 2008. Today, Mark is one of the senior engineers for WOOD TV 8.
Mike Winfield (d)
Always a positive force, Mike and his wife, affectionately nicknamed "Moe", were a constant mainstay at WKTV and enabled many a production to happen through the years.
Cliff Rawson
The family that volunteers together. Seeing what his brother was involved in, Cliff joined WKTV as a volunteer and spent many years participating in television productions from Wyoming Fest to bowling to high school sports.
Neil Keegstra
Neil received the award in 1986 for his love of volunteering at WKTV. Neil was always a mainstay for when Jim or Linda would call and ask for his time on a new production.
Scott Winters
Scott received the award for being a reliable asset to the WKTV family since the early 80's. Scott volunteered on multiple productions over the years and in 1989 joined Melissa Prusi producing the longest continuous television broadcast in the world, which garnered the record in the Guinness Book of World Records. In present day, Scott is a radio personality in West Michigan.
Cherie Rawson
Cheri as always a reliable assist on many, many productions over the years. She helped on annual fund drives and when there were teams of hungry production volunteers to feed, Cheri was always quick to lend the helping hand.
Howard Van Dyke
Reliable, dependable and just a good guy are the words to describe "Howie" as he was affectionally known. There were years where Howard would accumulate as many as 1,000 volunteer hours over the course of a year. Howie's biggest contribution was from the days during the 80's and 90's when master control at WKTV required 3 volunteer shifts per day, 6 days a week. It was quite a feat and "Howie's" generosity with his time made it possible.
Bob Delaforce
Bob brought his lifelong experience in radio to WKTV's productions starting in the mid 1980's. With the cadence of his voice and professionalism on and off camera, Bob spent many years producing WKTV's coverage of High School Swimming in addition to wide and eclectic array of other productions over the years. Today you'll find Bob back on the radio here in West Michigan.
Doug Hansen
When WKTV began coverage of District 9 Little League in the early 1980's, Doug Hansen was introduced to the idea of volunteering in community television. It lasted for decades as Doug spent many enjoyable experiences (and probably a few tough productions!) volunteering on Little League, High School football, basketball, hockey, music programs, concerts and talk shows.
Tim Morrison
Starting out as a volunteer in master control, Tim continued to be the mainstay of master control by regularly showing up for his shift and being "one of the reliable ones." Additionally, Tim volunteer for many other productions running camera in the studio and going out on truck remotes.
Bob Strutz (d)
For most of the 1980's Bob was a reliable touch on many a production. His specialty was running hand held camera and he volunteered on multiple sports productions for more than a decade.
Tyler Mayne (d)
Starting out volunteering at WKTV just as he was starting high school at the young age of 12, Tyler quickly found himself immersed in the world of WKTV in master control, camera operation and editing. As he went through the high school years, he continued to garner more experience and realized his chosen career field. Soon after graduating from high school, Tyler relocated to Florida where he created Evolve Media Group, a highly successful audio visual company with offices in Orlando, Las Vegas and Dallas. Within Evolve Media Group, Tyler created the innovative Evolve Media Academy which he says he patterned after the successful media training he saw while volunteering at WKTV. Tyler generously gave back to WKTV when in 2019 he donated an entire cinema editing suite for use by emerging filmmakers. He also made a significant donation of a video wall to our community newsroom.
Doug Hansen
Doug's commitment to WKTV only grew over the years and this second time award went to him largely for his commitment that previous year for leading WKTV's coverage of high school sports. Always a down to earth guy, Doug enjoyed returning to the TV station on Friday night after the football game and sharing pizza with Jim DeWindt and other volunteers while they watched the game on TV.
John Fry (d)
"Johnny" (and usually with an exclamation point), as he was affectionately known, was a recent Steelcase retiree when he came to volunteer at WKTV. A sweet guy with a gentle demeanor, John was quickly welcomed onto many productions at WKTV. His main volunteer activity was running camera with his big smile.
Howard Van Dyke
As WKTV neared the millennium, it was a good time to do one more turn for "good ol' Howie." Between his last award and now Howie only increased his participation in WKTV's mission and plus, everyone liked having him around. Over the years, being our mainstay in master control, "Howie" was the first volunteer to go past the 1000 volunteer hour mark.
Dick Visser
Richard (Dick) Visser came to volunteer at WKTV in 1998 as the director of the first children's reading show, "The Reading Train." An emergency room physician, Dick would stay with The Reading Train for the next 13 years and go on to serve WKTV on the board of directors. In the meantime he participated in many productions, including the famous "Beach Bash," WKTV's inaugural music video beach marathon on the shores of Lake Michigan. Dick is still part of the WKTV family to this day.
John Fry (d)
Over the course of the years there were many times where WKTV just couldn't resist honoring again the dedicated volunteers who gave so much. "Johnny" Fry, with his constant reliability and happy face, also broke the 1000 volunteer hour mark.
Pat Williams
Whatever was needed, Pat would come in to run graphics on The Reading Train, load tapes for a shift in master control and maybe jump on a camera to cover when it was needed. Reliable and dependable, Pat reminded everyone of their sweet aunt and her many hours were built up the WKTV family. Pat still volunteers for WKTV.
Barb Manley (d)
Coming to WKTV through the RSVP program for seniors, Barb quickly adapted to something she had never experienced before: television production! Barb directed talk shows for the RSVP program, ran graphics, and cooked food for special occasions.
Gary VandeVelde
Gary started out at WKTV as part of the crew for "Chef O's Place" which launched at WKTV in the year 2000 as a camera operator. This led to interest in running hand held camera for high school basketball which became his specialty. Still producing for WKTV, Gary now produces "Day in the Dirt" a motorcycle racing program, in addition to coverage of equestrian sports.
Doug Remtema
Doug joined WKTV as a volunteer in the 90's and quickly realized his natural talent for camera operation in addition to post production. Highly professional, Doug still is the go-to resource for jib and specialty camera operation along with post production for film (launched by WKTV in 2012) production. Using his career experience as a professional projectionist, Doug has brought that dedication to his craft to everything he continues to do here at WKTV.
Phil Moore
Phil began volunteering at WKTV in the early 80's and we're not saying it took us a long time to recognize him because who just couldn't miss Phil? He was a reliable operator in master control and in camera operation through thick and thin for many, many years. Phil also broke through the 1000 volunteer hour mark at WKTV.
WKTV Sports Crew
There was a group honor for this year. The WKTV Sports Crew of that year consisted of Doug Hansen, Gary Vandevelde, Phil Moore, Mark Bergsma, Paul Kableman, Rick Cornelisse, Ray Peuler and Ron Schultz. It was a big year as Title 10 rulings elicited greatly expanded coverage of high school sports. During this busy year, the broadcast truck was on the road 3-4 times per week for a full year and this crew was at the helm for most of it.
Bob Delaforce
Continuing his volunteer work into a second decade, Bob was honored again for his consistent work on "Chef O's Place," Festival of Chefs," plus Senior Exercise, and myriad of other shows. One thing Bob was always talented with was the production of quality audio.
Keegan Forbes
Consistency was the watchword for Keegan along with availability. For more than a few years previous, Keegan was routinely available for instant replay in many a sporting event's coverage and provided a deft hand at the control in getting the action perfectly on cue. Additionally, during the DTV transition that was ongoing at the time, Keegan proved to be a great help to WKTV in computer maintenance.
Michael Van Dreumel
Michael Van Dreumel, or "Uncle Mike" as he was known around the station, logged a huge number of hours running camera, and perhaps most importantly, being the repair person for a variety of small electronic and electrical items for more than a few years running. A retired aircraft mechanic for TWA, Mike's knowledge proved a great asset for taking the edge off of fickle electronics.
Chris Huntoon
Chris brought to the remote truck productions a real desire for organization and smooth operations and spent a few hundred volunteer hours leading the other volunteers by example.
Eric DeArmond
Eric's easy going nature made him an easy fit for WKTV. Eric's easy "yes" to volunteer requests made him a staple at WKTV for many years.
Dan Simone
Many of the remote truck sports crew has made the roster of Volunteer of the Year and Dan Simone is no different. His reliability and "always show up" attitude is still much appreciated in a world of busy schedules. Dan routinely ran camera and many other jobs that were needed during many a football, basketball and hockey game.
Leslie Vaas
One of the least appreciated positions on a television production is graphics operator. Leslie proved that this was her niche and she performs it flawlessly and steadily each time. Still today, you may find Leslie with the sports crew running graphics in the seamless manner that now is her trademark.
Doug Remtema
We will occasionally honor a volunteer more than once over their long tenure with WKTV and Doug Remtema is "one of the good ones." A reliable and professional jib operator, editor, colorist and camera operator - Doug has been a mainstay at WKTV for many years.
Brice Miller
Brice's unique love of sports and his ability to both direct and run camera made him an easy fit for the long and at times grueling hours with the TV truck. Rain, shine, cold or warmth, Brice was always a fixture with the television sports crew.
Charlie Kormanik
"Just a really nice guy" is how most other volunteers describe Charlie. Charlie was always available and one of our best hand held camera operators, plus his easy smile and cheerful demeanor always made volunteering for everyone else a pleasant experience.
Bill Renderknecht
Coming to WKTV as part of a producing team for an equestrian documentary, Bill readily latched onto the production opportunities available and became a regular with the TV sports crew.
Scott Baisden
Whatever is needed, Scott is there. It's probably the best way to describe Scott. Scott assists other producers with digital effects, post production for sound, picture, and helps other film projects out as a colorist. In addition, Scott will run camera for virtually any production and, like all of the volunteers, be the difference between a smooth running production and a bumpy one.