Page 149 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

Weather and gardening were among my many interests. I filmed my planting and
harvesting for part of my weather program since I started at Channel 4 in 1962. In 1991,
our Station Manager, Steve Wasserman, suggested that we have a garden outside the
TV station. We showed that garden and the one I had at home twice a week. My
granddaughter, Amanda, frequently appeared in the show. After 2005, I bought a
beagle puppy that appeared in the garden. We named her Callie because her colors of
black, brown and white were Calico. I filmed her coming out of her doggie door and
following me around the yard and garden. Because of viewers’ interest in Callie, we
invited viewers to send pictures of their pets to show on TV for what we called “Dog
Days”. This was so popular that we continued showing pet pictures for two years.

While at Channel 4, I witnessed two economic downturns that resulted in staff
reductions. The first was in the early 70’s and the last was around 2008. Being
concerned with job security in 1973, I considered returning to the security of a
government career. On one occasion, I flew to the Regional Weather Bureau office in
Ft. Worth between weather programs.

A year later, I met with one of my former Weather Bureau coworkers at Silver Spring,
MD to apply for a position in D.C. A few months later, I was offered a job, but I
declined because television seemed to be becoming more secure. Fortunately for the
many faithful friends and viewers, I continued to be challenged by the task of having
the most accurate and meaningful weather program possible.

The downturn in the economy around 2008 and the changes in station operations were
of much concern to me and the station management. Station operations were also
changing because of automation. Studio cameras were operated by remote control and
jobs were reduced by multi-tasking from a central operations center. While I was still
Chief Meteorologist and weather anchor for the 6 PM and 6:30 PM newscasts, more of
my time was being used maintaining and filming George’s Garden and representing
Channel 4 at schools and club meetings. Realizing I could no longer continue to work
fulltime, I was told that I could continue as Meteorologist Emeritus and work part-time.

Initially, I was expected to continue maintaining George’s Garden, but after suffering
two falls and injuring my hip, I was released from this activity. In 2010, my main duty
was to occasionally appear on Channel 4 and to be known as Hurricane Expert, writing
weather Blogs on News4Jax.com.
141