KNEI's Chuck "Allen" retiring after 40-year career on the local radio airwaves

by Lissa Blake

After 40 years in radio, KNEI’s Chuck Bloxham is hanging up his microphone.

Bloxham, whose on-air persona is Chuck Allen, has been a familiar voice on Waukon radio for more than four decades.

A 1966 graduate of Waukon High School, Chuck married his high school sweetheart, Maxine Klocke, in December of 1967 before entering the United States Navy, where he was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL. It was during his enlistment, when he spent a year on the U.S.S. Tripoli troop carrier, that he got his real start in radio. He worked in the aviation maintenance department by day and was a DJ in the evenings.

“At night, when we had time, we would hang out in this little room on the ship. We had these Armed Forces radio records they would send out for us to listen to. The chief asked me one time if I’d like to play some over the intercom, so I played these old records at night on the ship,” Chuck recalled.

Chuck said his radio show was sort of a “scaled down version of Adrian Cronauer’s Good Morning Vietnam” program. “I just got on there and talked. I’d play some records and say things like ‘This goes out to the guys standing the watch,’” said Chuck.

Later, he was stationed on the Bon Homme Richard Janson on the Gulf of Tonkin, just off the coast of Vietnam.

HOOKED

Chuck found he really enjoyed broadcasting, so upon his discharge from the Navy in November of 1970, he enrolled in the Career Academy of Milwaukee, WI with the intention of taking a four-month broadcast school course. Unfortunately, Chuck soon found that school wasn’t what he had anticipated.

“I just didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it,” he said.

So when, after just a month of the program, his instructor got a call from a little radio station in rural North Dakota, Chuck jumped at the chance to go. “It was KTGO, in extreme northwest North Dakota,” he said. “I packed up my gear and left the next day for Tioga, ND. Max had to put in her two-week notice and came to join me after that.”

Following a year at the small, 500-watt “day-timer” station, Chuck took a job at KCHA in Charles City. It was during his employment there that he happened to meet Dave Hogendorn, who was in the process of purchasing the KNEI station in Waukon from Ralph Sweeney.

“I met him at a Charles City/Waukon football game. I told him if something ever opened up back here I’d be interested,” said Chuck.

Just a couple of weeks later, Chuck received a call from Hogendorn, offering him a job. “The rest is history,” he said.

THE EARLY YEARS

It was March of 1973, and KNEI still had what was called the old “block format,” according to Chuck. “In the mornings, we played country music from 6-6:30 a.m. At 6:30, we had a 15-minute polka block before going back to country until 7:30. Then we’d switch to rock and roll for the kids on the bus from 7:30 to 8:30. Then it was back to country until 3:30 where we’d play rock and roll until 5:00 for the kids on the bus again. Then we signed off at 10 p.m.,” he said.

Chuck remembers working with Jim May, Jim Juve and Denny Nesheim. “Dave Hogendorn had the Sunday Morning Showcase, where he would play big band music. That was really popular,” he said.

At the time, everything played at the station was on vinyl. “You had 45s and LPs. There were two turntables and then two cart machines for playing commercials. The records would be scratchy and poppy and that’s just the way it was,” he said.

THE MARATHON

Chuck said one of the things he doesn’t miss about those early years was the dreaded weekend “marathon shift.” “We took turns working weekends and you’d have to work from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Then I’d be back on the air at 6 a.m. Monday morning,” he said. “I appreciated that Les Askelson would sometimes come over from Decorah and help us out with some of those.”

But Chuck said Max was always great about helping him get through some of those isolated marathon weekends. “She would come out to the station and bring some burgers. We’d put on an LP, get the grill going and have supper together,” he said. 

LOOKING BACK

Chuck said he has had a lot of fun being part of "Chuck and Sherry in the Morning" with Sherry Strub for the past 11 years. “We always had a lot of fun with our show. Sherry had never been in radio when she started and she has adapted to it very well,” he said.

Chuck said he truly appreciates all of the faithful listeners and the calls he received from all over northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin. “I really cherished all the calls we used to get from dairy barns in the morning, when people were listening while they were out milking cows and doing chores,” he said.

BIGGEST THRILL

Chuck said while he has enjoyed it all, his “best years” were the 30 he spent as the voice of the Waukon Indians, doing the play-by-play for Waukon High School sports such as basketball, football and baseball. “I remember the good, the bad and the ugly. I remember back in the 6-on-6 days when Jodi Runge scored 83 points in a girls’ game at New Hampton,” said Chuck. “But I was also behind the microphone when Decorah beat us in football, 68-0, in 1987. Enough said.”

Chuck said his “biggest thrill” was Waukon’s win against Dubuque Senior in the 1977 state softball tournament. “Waukon had a seventh-inning rally to win the game with two outs and nobody on base. I still have a tape of that game. I still have a box full of old reel-to-reel tapes that I haven’t listened to in years. I plan to do that when I retire,” he said.

BIGGEST CHANGES

Chuck said the radio of today is a far cry from what it was when he started. In 2001, Chuck, Les Askelson and Greg Wennes purchased the station from Marathon Media and Chuck took over as general manager of the station. “Before we bought it, Hogendorn had upgraded to a 50,000-watt license. The technology is so different. There are no more records. Everything is on a hard drive. Commercials are all put in by our traffic manager, Janelle Halverson, over in Decorah,” he said. “Everything is so computerized now.”

A GREAT GUY

Askelson, who has known Chuck for more than 40 years, said Chuck was the one who inspired him to pursue a full-time career in broadcasting. “I was just out of high school when I worked the weekends at KNEI. Chuck really gave me the encouragement to continue on in radio. I went to school and I’ve been in broadcasting for 32 years,” he said.

Askelson, who is a friend of Chuck’s on and off the air, added, “He’s so dedicated to the sport of golfing, if a golfball goes in the water, he will swim for it. That really has happened.”

Askelson said just hearing Chuck’s name brings a smile to his face. “He’ll be missed,” said Askelson.

Josh Blake (Johnson), KNEI program and news director, has worked with Chuck for the past seven years. “I’ve really enjoyed working with him and we always have a good time. He knows so many people. Whenever we’re out somewhere together people always greet him,” he said.

“And we pick on Chuck a lot, but he’s a good sport about it. He doesn’t ever cry or try to get even. He knows it’s in fun,” said Blake. “He says he’s retiring, but there might be a time when I call him and say ‘I need you.’ I bet he’ll help us out every now and then.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

Chuck said he has no plans of going anywhere after he retires. “Small towns have struggled and Waukon is no exception. I applaud the people who are trying to get things going downtown again. I love this place. It’s still my town,” he said.

Chuck hopes to do some volunteer work and play a lot of golf in the summertime. “I have seven grandkids who will keep me busy,” he said.

ALL INVITED

The public is invited to an open house for Chuck Wednesday, December 18 from 4-6 p.m. at the Vet's Club in Waukon.