Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994 TAG: 9402250353
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Melanie Hatter
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It might be a long shot, but Sally Sevareid(cq), K92's morning news announcer and co-host, is hoping she'll find a distant relative in Norway.
Sevareid and Monty ``Mofo'' Foster are winging their way to Lillehammer so that they can provide live broadcasts this weekend from the Winter Olympics. They flew to New York on Thursday and should arrive in Oslo todayfriday.
Diet Coke is paying for the trip in return for advertising. WXLK (92.3 FM) is the only radio station in Virginia and one of 30 from across the country to participate in the Diet Coke Radio Network in Lillehammer. Sevareid and Mofo will broadcast live, via satellite, Saturday, Sunday and Monday afternoons between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Diet Coke has arranged for them to talk to sports personalities, including figure skating gold-medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and world champion skier Tamara McKinney. They'll broadcast from the Storgaten, the main pedestrian street in Lillehammer.
The station had to present a proposal on how K92 would represent and promote Coca-Cola if it was chosen, explained Lois Whitlock, assistant sales manager.
Whitlock says she's watched more Olympics coverage than ever because, ``I feel like I'm a part of it now.''
Neither Mofo nor Sevareid has been to Norway. Sevareid, whose ancestry is Norwegian, said she couldn't believe she was getting the chance to go. Earlier this week, she had yet to put her dog - Lison, a Norwegian elkhound - in the kennel. Once that was done, she said, the reality of the trip would hit her.
She said her aunt in Washington, D.C., would try to track down any relatives Sevareid could meet while she's there. ``I'd love to hook up with a distant relative'' and perhaps have them on the radio.
While the morning crew is gone, afternoon DJ Jay Slater will fill in for Mofo, and WSLS (Channel 10) reporter Andrew Colton will do the news.
Look for Bill Whitlock in Sunday's Showtime movie, ``Assault at West Point,'' which tells the story of a black cadet at West Point in the 1880's. It airs at 8 p.m.
A native Roanoker and resident of Alleghany County, Whitlock stumbled onto the road to Hollywood when he was spotted on the set of ``Sommersby,'' which was partly filmed in Lexington. Whitlock and his two daughters, who live in Christiansburg, appeared as extras in the film.
Perhaps it was his thick beard and burly appearance that caught Hollywood's attention. He owns a bait and tackle shop in Alleghany County and gives tours of Lake Moomaw and the Jackson River. ``I'm a mountain man from up there, and a fisherman,'' he says.
He was told to contact a talent agent in Norfolk who got him the part as a judge in ``Assault.'' The movie was filmed at Virginia Military Institute, Southern Virginia College for Women in Buena Vista and at a Staunton courthouse. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Waterston and newcomer Seth Gilliam as the cadet.
Cox Cable Roanoke is airing ``A Whale of a Time'' on public access channel 9 at 11 a.m. Wednesday3/2. It's an interactive electronic field trip to the Science Museum in Richmond for first- through fifth-graders across the state. The museum's latest exhibit is of giant robotic whales courtesy of California's Dinamation. Students can call in and ask questions about the huge sea creatures during the live one-hour show. The program is commercial-free and copyright cleared to tape for instructional use.
Doug St. Clair, former host of WPVR (95. FM's) ``Saturday Night Swing,'' is planning to host a big-band request show on Moneta station WBLU (880 AM). St. Clair and station owner Jeff Raynor are putting together ideas for the show to begin soon, Raynor said. St. Clair left WPVR in mid-November and went to WBLU in December. He was replaced by Dave Hart at Lite 95.
by CNB