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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, For many years, veteran broadcaster Bob Nance was |
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one of the most familiar and distinctive voices on KNAL radio in |
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Victoria; and |
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WHEREAS, KNAL was founded in 1948 as a country music station; |
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pronounced "canal," the station's call letters were chosen in honor |
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of the Victoria Barge Canal that connected the town to the Gulf |
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Intracoastal Waterway; and |
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WHEREAS, A native of Beeville, Bob Nance joined KNAL's lineup |
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of announcers in 1953, and in those colorful early days of the |
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station, improvisation was the order of the day; on Mr. Nance's |
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first night on the job, the station abruptly lost its affiliation to |
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its network, and the new deejay was forced to replace a baseball |
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game with an impromptu program of recorded music; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Nance continued to hone his improvisational |
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skills as the announcer for the local minor league baseball team, |
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the Victoria Rosebuds; home games were broadcast live, but the |
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budget did not allow the station to accompany the team to away |
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games, so Mr. Nance dramatized the play-by-play as he received it |
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from the Western Union teletype, adding such sound effects as crowd |
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noise, the whistle of a passing train, or the sound of an aircraft |
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overhead; an engineer in the studio next door supplied the sound of |
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a hit by cracking two bats together near the microphone; and |
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WHEREAS, In those early days, Mr. Nance also witnessed the |
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beginnings of several stellar careers; standing in the doorway of |
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the station one summer day in 1953, he was handed a demo record by a |
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young sailor named George Jones, and the station was occasionally |
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visited by the young Jim Lehrer, the future PBS anchorman, whose |
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father managed the local Trailways bus station; Mary Elizabeth |
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Smith, the sister of fellow KNAL announcer Bob Smith, went on to |
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become Liz Smith, the internationally famous gossip columnist; and |
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WHEREAS, The years Bob Nance spent in the broadcast booth at |
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KNAL have made him a beloved and well-respected figure in Victoria, |
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and he may indeed look back with pride on a career well spent, |
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bringing the gifts of entertainment, inspiration, and information |
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to his listeners; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby honor Bob Nance for his |
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immeasurable contribution to his community and extend to him |
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sincere best wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mr. Nance as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |