If you ask Dan what he wanted to be when he was young, he would tell you, “A rock guitarist!” Dan said he used to stand on his bed and play air guitar like he was in a concert. That was in 7th grade. It wouldn’t be until 8th grade that he actually began to learn how to play when he took a guitar class in school. He said the guitar will always be like a “first love” because he was so young with his vision of rocking out! Having played for many years, he eventually set his playing aside for quite a while but has recently started to re-learn much of what he forgot since he last played.
So, how did Dan end up in front of the green screen? Well, first, he’d tell you it was actually a blue screen. However, before television, it was “Classics Overnight,” an overnight time slot at KASU, Arkansas State University’s public radio station, where his broadcasting career began. After about a year and a half, he had the opportunity to join a commercial radio station as an actual “DJ,” now mostly known as a “radio announcer.” Soon after, he graduated with a communication undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Science, Radio/Television Broadcasting. A short time after that, he started a position as an early morning production assistant at the local TV station where he lived in Jonesboro, AR, KAIT 8, an ABC affiliate. He’ll tell you that one of his best friends bet him he would be “on the air” within three months! It appears as though someone can see into the future, according to Dan.
“Sure enough,” Dan said, “It was almost three months to the day!” While there, Dan ended up doing everything he had the opportunity to do: assistant producer, fill-in agricultural co-anchor, ag reporter, general assignment reporter, photographer, morning news co-anchor, and weather anchor. Dan will tell you that forecasting the weather was something he was not prepared for at the time. He was more interested in being a news anchor and reporter. After a couple of years, having spent some time in the Arkansas Army National Guard, Dan completed some active-duty time. Eventually, he ended up in St. Louis, MO. While there, he began sending resumes to television stations all over the U.S. Then, one day, he received a call from the news director at KFDX-TV3 in Wichita Falls, TX. Dan said it’s where his love for weather and having fun at the weather wall really took off! It was a great time from ‘99-’04, Dan said. In June of 2004, Dan was called back to active duty, this time from the Army Reserve, where he decided to remain and retire as a logistics officer and is proud to be a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Over the years, Dan has taken weather-related courses from USDA, The National Weather Association, and Mississippi State University. Eventually, he also graduated with a Master of Fine Arts In Digital Cinema (Film School), another love of his, filmmaking. Yet, after almost 20 years, he is, once again, delivering the weather on the weekends and having a blast! His words to you, “Hello, Texoma!”
