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HAYS INDUCTED INTO OKLAHOMA BROADCASTER HALL OF FAME
June 2007
Radio Oklahoma Network (RON) Director of Farm Programming Ron Hays was inducted into his state's Broadcaster Association Hall of Fame on March 16, becoming the first NAFB member broadcaster so honored in Oklahoma.
Active in farm broadcasting for 33 years, Ron joined his current employer last August. He was introduced to the 125 in attendance at the special Hall of Fame dinner by consultant and onetime colleague Rick Parrish, who commented, "The ag programming he has designed is considered the gold standard of farm broadcasting coast to coast."
The University of Kentucky graduate, whose first job in 1970 was as a board operator, went to work at KFH Radio in Wichita, KS, in 1974 before moving to the Oklahoma News Network to develop the Oklahoma Agrinet network in 1977. The network later was purchased by Clear Channel Radio.
In accepting the award, Hays said, "Radio is the personal medium ... our listeners trust and act on our information. I'm so grateful to be part of the industry speaking to and on behalf of farmers and ranchers."
Hays — known to Oklahomans by his trademark greeting "Howdy, neighbors" - was President of the NAFB in 1991 and a member broadcaster since 1974. He was joined at the induction dinner by his family, RON colleagues Wayne Griggs and Tim West, Parrish, and NAFB Exec Dir Bill O'Neill.
Other Hall of Fame members include Gene Autry, Curt Gowdy, Paul Harvey, and Will Rogers.
Hays notes that three Oklahoma farm broadcasting legends are enshrined in NAFB's Hall of Fame: Sam Schneider, Russell Pierson, and Wayne Liles. He also lists Bill Hare and Carl Meyerdirk among accomplished and well-known talents having helped build Oklahoma's farm broadcasting community.
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