Wiregrass Legend Dies

As a kid growing up in Southeast Alabama I was very aware of two local TV personalities: Gene Ragan and Ann Varnum. And, when I happened to see them in person for the first time - Ann, at a restaurant, and Gene at a livestock show - they had star appeal, at least to me at that age.  Shows you the power of television!  My dad would have the "The Noon Farm Report" on his lunch breaks.

Just to a share a more personal note, Ann Varnum and I have actually corresponded a few times via e-mail and by phone.  Back when Kade's sister was diagnosed with Lupus, someone told me that Ann had Lupus, and has had it most of her life. To learn more about the disease, I simply reached out to her, and she was very helpful and encouraging.  What's interesting is that, as we talked a bit more and she found about Kade's Thai cooking talents, she asked if Kade might want to be on the cooking segment of her morning show.  Someday it may happen!

 

 Five years later, he made the transition to television when he introduced “The Noon Farm Report” which ran on Dothan, Alabama’s WTVY, reaching farmers throughout the Tri-States area. He broadcast an estimated 30,000 shows until his retirement in 1998. Amazingly, he was never employed by a radio or television station, preferring to remain a private contractor, with independence to serve the Tri-state agricultural industry. - source