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MONDAY 9-28-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
TUESDAY 9-29-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
WEDNESDAY 9-30-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
THURSDAY 10-01-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
FRIDAY 10/02/20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
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Bill’s Guests for 9-30-20
6:35 Eric Peters, automotive Journalist with EpAutos.com – two of the great articles we discuss today include Elon Does Something Libertarian and a review of the outstanding 2020 Dodge Charger.
8:10 2nd District State Senate GOP candidate ART ROBINSON discussing the race, and his personal story of people helping him battle the Slater Fire to keep it from destroying the family property in Jo Co.
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BILL’S GUESTS for 9-29-20
7:10 Andrew F. Puzder is a Senior Fellow at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. He is the former CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc. and was President Trump first nominee for Secretary of Labor. Andy is author of It’s Time to Let America Work Again.
7:35 State Sen. Herman Baertschiger talks state budgeting and other state issues.
8:10 Diamond and Silk, social media sensations – Is the black vote solely a possession of the Democratic Party? D&S say NO. Their book is UPRISING: Who the hell says you can’t ditch and switch. Go to www.DiamondandSilk.com to get an autographed copy.
8:35 CD2 GOP candidate Cliff Bentz – We discuss the race, his quarrantine (wife tested positive for Covid, no symptoms) and the fight for a sane smoke, fire, and forest policy.
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BILL’ GUEST FOR 9-28-20
7:10 Greg Roberts at Rogue Weather Dot Com with the fire and outdoor report
7:20 Homeless Advocate Clarence Carr – heavily involved in last week’s Hawthorne Park occupation
7:35 Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro – her latest book DON’T LIE TO ME: And Stop Trying to Steal Our Freedom
7:50 Secretary of State candidate Kim Thatcher – big event tomorrow and you’re invited.
Secretary of State candidate Kim Thatcher is holding a Community Forum in Medford on Tuesday, September 29th to talk with local voters. The event will be held in person at the Inn at the Commons (200 N Riverside Avenue in Medford) and virtually over zoom starting at 7 pm.
“I’m looking forward to hearing what Southern Oregon residents are thinking about the upcoming election,” said Thatcher. “Even though the pandemic has made it difficult to do a lot of face-to-face campaigning, it’s important to try to touch base with voters in-person when I travel around the state.”
The Community Forum will take place in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. Social distancing, masks, and other preventive measures may be required at the event.
This is the Zoom link to join the forum:
https://zoom.us/j/97596058797?pwd=NVE3UkY2Kzl4N0Q1ZGVwYU44R1Izdz09
To join by phone on the west coast call 1-253.215.8782 Passcode: 253276
8:10 Dr. Powers, “Where Past Meets Present”
Today’s profile:
Sam Pecktol: Powerlifter making a Difference
By Dennis Powers
Born in San Diego, California in 1954, Sam Pecktol joined the Boy’s Club at eight; playing mini-basketball, flag football and track and field, he was also in Little League and Pony League. In high school, Sam focused on basketball, and in his senior year at Castle Park High School (Chula Vista), he was All-Metro League 1st team and MVP. When his parents retired to Medford in 1978, Sam joined the YMCA here and developed his passion for weight lifting. Teaching an all-women’s weight-lifting class, he in 1981 entered a bench-press contest in Grants Pass. Even though he was the only one then who didn’t place, he was hooked on the sport for life. Forty-years later, five operations and eighteen World Championships later, Sam still instructs and competes.
In 1993, Pecktol won his first world title in the age 41-43, 275-pound division in the dead lift and set a world record in the process. He lifted 677 pounds and successfully made nine lifts in a row (which is very difficult to do). Teammates such as Medford’s Dennis Smith in the age 65-70, 123.5-pound class set records in the squat lift, bench press, dead lift and total pounds. North Medford High graduate Eric Thomas did the same in the age 22, 165-pound class in the squat, bench press, dead lift and total. Working at Superior Health Club, one of his sponsors, Sam was the coach for selected athletes in the Rogue Valley.
He was inducted into the WABDL (“World Association of Bencher and Deadlifters”) in 2015, Sam won 13 WABDL championships. He won two WDFPF (“World Drug-Fee Powerlifting Federation”) world championships, to along with 8 ADFPA (“American Drug Free Powerlifting Association”) world championships, and one AAU world championship. Sam set 9 world records in WABDL, AAU, and WDFPF competitions, and he was inducted into the Medford Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. He is the Oregon state chairman for the United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) and is a national judge and world international judge.
He coached Eric Thomas to 4 world titles and 5 world records; his daughter, Alex, was coached to 6 world titles and 9 world records. Sam got a 15-pound bar for Alex when she was 5-years-old and had a high school shop teacher make 1-pound wooden weights to put on it. “At 5 years old, I guarantee you she was the only kid in Medford who knew how to do cleans, deadlift, squats and bench,” he said later.
By age 8, she was in her first competition and had abandoned her other sport (soccer) four years earlier. The trophies would soon begin pouring in for the Central Medford High (then a junior). The 132-pounder deadlifted 325 pounds in the Teen 16-17 division at the WABDL North American championships. (Owing to her competitions, she missed too much school and transferred from North Medford High to Central.)
However, it is the story of Fred Garnett where Coach Sam Pecktol truly stands out. Garnett became blind shortly after getting his driver’s license in 1986: he was diagnosed with then-untreatable Lebers Optic Atrophy, which he likened to a growing blind spot appearing over his field of vision. At that time, Coach Pecktol was coaching a teenage powerlifting team at a local gym in Medford. He was also competing and assisting one of the Medford high schools with their strength program.
When Fred first started powerlifting, he came under the guidance of Coach Sam Pecktol. He won six of nine contests; four out of five since becoming legally blind. Both entered and won their classes in the “Big Boy Invitational,” the Oregon drug-free open championships. Pecktol won the 220 lb. class with a 1700 lb. total (including a 650-pound squat), while Fred took the 165 lb. class. He won the 181 lb. class in the Southern Oregon High School championships at North Medford High School with a 1220 lb. total. His individual lifts were: squat, 475; Bench, 295; deadlift, 450. (Amazing!)
Garnett, 46-years-old, then made headlines in 2001 for opening a coffee stand in front of Table Rock Fellowship. At the time, he spent mo540re than a year researching his options, building and retrofitting a coffee stand for his lack of sight and–the biggest hurdle he faced–was convincing a local bank to take a chance on a blind man wanting to serve hot coffee.
“Great Awakening,” Garnett’s drive-up, ran for 12 years before a sluggish economy and divorce prompted him to find a more stable income. He then proceeded to work his way up from a kitchen line position at the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics to the position of lead cook. “How many head cooks does anyone know who can’t see what they’re doing and are really exceptional at their job? Most people don’t think twice about the vision because they can see, but when you think of all that he’s accomplished, he’s been a big inspiration. The last thing he remembers seeing is how everything looked in 1986.”
Sam Pecktol continues to coach anyone who wants to learn powerlifting—and he has made a difference in our region.
Sources: Bruce H. Gray, “Blind Courage: The True Story of Fred Garnett,” at Fred Garnett’s Story; Randy Hammerick, “A burden lifted: Pecktol gets record,” Mail Tribune, September 9th 1997, at Sam Pecktol; Dan Jones, “Girl Power,” Mail Tribune, April 16, 2013 at Alex Pecktol; Buffy Pollock, “Vision Quest,” Mail Tribune, Nov. 14th, 2016, at Fred Garmett’s Careers; Medford Sports Hall of Fame: Sept. 23, 2017, at Medford Sports Hall of Fame.
8:45 Kevin Keating, Jackson County Republican Party Chair, and Saturday is SIGN DAY for the local GOP, looking for volunteers to get local candidate signage put up. Call (541) 770-5277 to volunteer!