Friday 9/25/26 Bill Meyer Show Guests and Information
Podcasts on www.BillMeyerShow.com
Facebook – www.Facebook.com/billmeyershow
Podcast XML feed – https://media.rss.com/bill-meyer-show-podcast/feed.xml – On this feed you can download the podcast. Right click on the audio player and use the “Save Audio As” command.
6:35 Former Congressman Ken Buck
More on Rep. Buck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Buck
More about “Wake Up America” and Where you can find it: WWW.AMERICANSFORGOODGOVERNMENT.ORG
In the new book WAKE UP AMERICA: The Rise of Socialism is the Death of Freedom by Former Congressman Ken Buck, we find a shocking and scathing exposé of corruption and morally bankrupt ideas. Buck reminds us of the Founders’ vision for a limited federal government, “of the people and for the people,” designed to protect personal liberty by adhering to federalism and separation of powers – and how progressives have methodically chipped away at these bedrock principles to consolidate power in a government detached from those it is supposed to serve.
KEN BUCK is a former five-term Congressman from Colorado, lawyer, and author of four books, including Crushed: Big Tech’s War on Free Speech. Congressman Buck served on the House Judiciary Committee and was the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, and was a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. He also served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, The Pacific, and Nonproliferation. He was also a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice.
7:10 Greg Roberts, www.Rogueweather.com with today’s Outdoor Report.
7:35 Dr. Glenn Gumaer – southern Oregon chiropractor embroiled in a dispute and lawsuit against the City of Medford regarding mis-timed red-light cameras ticketing motorists in south Medford on the corner of Stewart and Barnett. Those cameras have been recently located farther east on Barnett Road. Following is from the Dr.’s email sent out to interested parties.
Potential Class-Action Member Update
Dr. Glenn F. Gumaer <gfgdc1@15540503.mailchimpapp.com>
This is to update everyone on the outcome of yesterday’s hearing on the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment and our Motion to Certify the Class.
The City argued that they were in compliance with Oregon law (ORS 810.436) and that our case should be dismissed. They relied on out-of-context semantics and contorted logic to suggest that the Institute of Transportation Engineers Guidelines (ITE) recommended the old 1965 Kinematic Equation alongside the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation. The City thereby advocated for the exclusive use of the 1965 Kinematic Equation. Not only were they clueless about how both equations deliver the same result for timing yellow lights for straight through traffic, but that the 1965 Kinematic Equation is incapable of calculating correct yellow light timing for turns!
Much like the infamous rationalization of what the meaning of the word “is” is, the City suggested that the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation was simply “a” recommended method, not “the” method. This ludicrous argument was based solely on the first sentence found in Chapter 3 of the ITE’s Guidelines, titled: “Recommended Method for Determining Yellow Change and Red Clearance Intervals.” Chapter 3 focused exclusively on the derivation and application of the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation.
So, after the ITE’s second Chapter concluded in its recommendation that the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation is preferred for timing intervals for through and turning movements, it provided Chapter 3 to teach engineers the proper application of this recommended method.
Our attorney, Bil Smith, pointed out that nowhere in all of the ITE’s Guidelines is the 1965 Kinematic Equation identified as their recommended method, whereas the 2020 Kinematic Equation is the only method unambiguously referred to as their preferred and recommended method. He powerfully rebutted the City’s argument, emphatically declaring that the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation is the ITE’s recommended method.
The city also admitted to not using the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation to determine the timing of the yellow lights, because they believed that they were not required to do so. Mr. Smith brilliantly suggested that the city likely didn’t use either equation to come up with the 3.5-second yellow light timing at E. Stewart Avenue, because neither equation would have delivered such a short result for a 35 mph street.
Judge Orr denied the City’s Motion for Summary judgment! He was persuaded by our attorney’s arguments and held that the City was required to use the 2020 Extended Kinematic Equation. This means that our case will be allowed to proceed!
Our Motion to Certify the Class was heard next. Bil provided an equally convincing argument that our Class meets all of the ORCP Rule 32 requirements for Class Certification. Insistently, the City suggested that we cannot identify individuals that are similarly situated and, therefore we cannot define our class. They suggested we would be unable to sort out whether an individual was speeding and deliberately ran the red light, or perhaps was intoxicated, on their cellphone, or otherwise distracted. In what I believe was the most profound response, Bil explained that we do not need identify such individuals for exclusion from the class because the City failed to meet its obligations to legally operate their photo red-light camera enforcement system.
The Oregon statute ORS 810.436 states that if a city chooses to operate a photo red-light camera system to generate citations without the presence of a police officer, the city must meet certain enumerated conditions. One such requirement is found in Paragraph (1)(c): If the traffic control device is a traffic light, the yellow light shows for at least the length of time recommended by the standard set by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Because the city did not meet this requirement, the timing of the yellow light at E. Stewart Avenue was illegal. Therefore, any citation generated by their automated, photo red-light enforcement system, regardless of circumstance is null and void!
We are awaiting the Court’s ruling on the certification of the class. If the court approves the class, we will begin working to identify everyone who fits within the class and notifying them of their rights.
I look forward to providing future updates as each will prove more fruitful than the last, as we close in on a trial date.
Thank you all for your continued support!
Glenn
Dr. Glenn F. Gumaer
Lead Plaintiff
Our mailing address is:
Chiropractic Physicians Group3190 State Street
STE 101
Medford, OR 97504
8:10 Jack Tomczak, Vice President of Americans for Citizen Voting
The White House is ramping up its push to identify noncitizens on voter rolls ahead of the midterms — but Jack Tomczak says cleaning up voter rolls is only part of the answer.
Reuters reported that the DOJ has charged approximately 20 people with unlawful noncitizen voting this month, while DHS has mobilized agents across all 50 states to assist investigations. Read here.
Jack, with Americans for Citizen Voting, explains to why the U.S. should not have to rely on database checks, prosecutions or executive action to answer a basic question: Should only U.S. citizens be allowed to vote in U.S. elections? The Trump Administration is right to aggressively pursue noncitizen voting. But the DOJ is setting itself up to lose these cases. The problem isn’t the goal, it’s the strategy.
to find out more about the constitutional amendment on this issue.
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Thursday 9/24/26 Bill Meyer Show Guests and Information
Podcasts on www.BillMeyerShow.com
Facebook – www.Facebook.com/billmeyershow
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6:35 Sheri Few from UNITED STATES PARENTS INVOLVED IN REDUCATION www.USPIE.org
is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that seeks to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. Sheri talks with Bill about the growing Chinese influence in U.S. K-12 education. It’s even more important to note this given Chairman Xi’s visit with President Trump this wrrk.
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BONUS: USPIE’s weekly podcast “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few” exposes the dangers of education shaped by government bureaucrats and social engineers, while exploring practical ways to protect children and preserve America’s freedom, and is available on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify and X.
- USPIE Social Media Pages:
- USPIE Facebook Page (@United States Parents Involved in Education – USPIE): facebook.com/usparentsinvolvedineducation
- USPIE X (Twitter) Page (@StopFedEd): x.com/StopFedEd
- USPIE Instagram Page (@stop_fed_ed): instagram.com/stop_fed_ed/
7:35 State Representative Werner Reschke is in studio . He represents House District 55 in Klamath Falls. Werner and Bill dig into how things are shaping up for the November election. Oh, and if you’d like to help GET OUT THE VOTE, which is extremely important, sign up at www.GOTVoregon.com
8:10 Captain William E. Simpson, ethologist from the Wild Horse Fire Brigade.
| $30 Million In Taxes to Sterilize What the 1971 Act Ordered Protected |
| $30 million to dart and suppress the genetics of the remaining Cultural-Heritage American Wild Horses that Congress ordered protected is not “safeguarding the Spirit of the West.”
That line is Secretary Doug Burgum’s. It is treating a federally protected icon like a pest — and skipping the cheaper, naturally-humane, legal alternative already on the table.
By William E. Simpson II – © Sept. 23, 2026 Wild Horse Fire Brigade
This week Interior Secretary Doug Burgum put his name on a Bureau of Land Management announcement: $30 million to expand “fertility control” of America’s wild horses and burros. USDA will train and deploy more applicators. BLM stays the land manager. The agency still says helicopter gathers come first; vaccines are to hold numbers after the trap. FY2025 treated 921 animals (484 PZP, 99 PZP-22, 338 GonaCon). The new goal is to treat about 75 percent of mares every year once herds are cut to Appropriate Management Level. Roundups do not end.
Call it what the press packet will not: a sterilization build-out. PZP and GonaCon are immunocontraceptives. Repeated use is associated in the published record with ovarian shutdown, extended infertility, band disruption, and dart trauma. Branding the package “humane fertility control” does not repeal that literature. It also does not repeal two harder facts.
1. The 1971 Act did not authorize a pest-control program.
Public Law 92-195 is not ambiguous. Congress found wild horses “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West,” contributing to “the diversity of life forms,” and “fast disappearing.” The policy of the United States is that they “shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death” and “considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.” Management is to be at the “minimal feasible level.”
A $30 million dart corps, after gathers that already warehouse tens of thousands off-range, is not minimal. It is industrial suppression of reproduction in animals the statute treats as wildlife components of the range — not livestock units to be zeroed out to AML and then chemically locked there.
The same Secretary quotes “passion” for the Spirit of the West while BLM’s own FY2024 ledger still spends the bulk of a $153 million program on holding pens, not on-range ecology. Off-range care ate about $101 million (66%) of that year. Fertility control remains the cheap political headline on top of the expensive trap-and-warehouse machine.
2. Tiny AMLs plus mass contraception violate the Bureau’s own genetics rules — and IUCN-class conservation math.
BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros Management Handbook and its genetic guidance are not activist talking points. They are the agency’s paper. Section 4.4.6.3 recommends a minimum of about 50 breeding animals — a total herd on the order of 150–200 — to keep acceptable diversity. Resource notes warn that effective population size (Ne) near 50 is only a short-term floor borrowed from domestic breeding, and that Ne in a harem-structured horse herd is often only 30–35% of head count. A census of 150 can mean Ne ≈ 50. Below that, drift and inbreeding accelerate. NAS reviewers went further: if fitness matters, Ne well above 50 is required; long-term rules of thumb in conservation genetics run toward Ne ≈ 500 (the IUCN-associated 50/500 framework). Many HMAs are held below the handbook minimum. Then contraception removes still more animals from the breeding pool.
That is how you manufacture genetic decline and call it management. You cannot “protect diversity of life forms” by systematically sterilizing the mares that carry it.
3. The alternative is not theoretical. It is WHFB.
Wild Horse Fire Brigade does not dart the West into silence. It moves family bands — from conflict allotments and from holding — into economically and ecologically appropriate wilderness, where motorized fuels crews and prescribed fire are restricted, and where horses resume the job they evolved to do: graze fine fuels.
Documented WHFB points, not slogans:
• Holding and gather machinery costs taxpayers on the order of $150 million a year. Relocating horses out of that warehouse stops the meter.
• Each horse on the right landscape consumes on the order of 5.5 tons of grass/brush fuel per year.
• Lifetime fuels-work value has been estimated near $72,000 per horse versus hand crews and burns — before counting even a sliver of avoided wildfire loss.
• California-scale fire years have run to tens or hundreds of billions in damage. A few percent reduction is not a rounding error. It is hundreds of millions to billions.
That is the opposite of a pest program. It is keystone herbivory as infrastructure.
Burgum’s $30 million trains more people to shoot syringes. It does not reopen wilderness to the horses already sitting in pens at $2–$6 per head per day. It does not restore collapsed herbivore pressure that would make glyphosate-and-dozer “restoration” less necessary after fire. It buys another year of the same loop: gather, hold, dart, gather again.
What “safeguarding” would look like If Interior meant the 1971 findings:
• Stop treating protected wildlife as a reproductive problem to be vaccinated away.
• Raise herd sizes to handbook/IUCN-class genetic floors instead of chemically freezing sub-viable AMLs.
• Pilot WHFB-scale transfers from holding into appropriate wilderness and score them on fuel load, fire behavior, soil, and taxpayer outlay — not on dart counts.
• Publish the $30 million work plan: how many mares, which HMAs, PZP vs GonaCon vs PZP-22, retreatment schedule, and the genetic Ne of each target herd after 75% of mares are taken out of foaling.
Until that happens, the honest name for this week’s announcement is not fertility control. It is a taxpayer-funded suppression program that Congress never described in 1971, that BLM’s own genetics chapter cannot justify, and that is unnecessary if the horses are put back to work where fire starts.
The Spirit of the West does not need a dart gun and syringe. It needs range.
References
• Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, Pub. L. 92-195, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331–1340. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-85/pdf/STATUTE-85-Pg649.pdf
• 43 C.F.R. Part 4700. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-D/part-4700
• BLM, Wild Horse and Burro Genetic Baseline Sampling, IM 2009-062. https://www.blm.gov/policy/im-2009-062
• BLM Resource Note 35 / handbook genetics discussion (Ne ≈ 50; census ~150). https://permanent.fdlp.gov/lps22189/www.blm.gov/nstc/resourcenotes/rn35.html
• National Academies, Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program (genetics chapter). https://www.nap.edu/read/13511/chapter/7
• CRS / program cost overview: FY2024 ~$153.3M; holding ~$101.4M. https://www.eurasiareview.com/16012026-wild-horse-and-burro-management-overview-of-costs-analysis/
• BLM FY2025 treatment table and gather/fertility pages. https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/about-the-program/program-data
• KLAS / Independent coverage of the $30 million announcement, Sept. 21–23, 2026.
• Wild Horse Fire Brigade, benefits and cost case. https://www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org/benefitswhfb
• NPR Short Wave on WHFB / $72,000-per-horse fuels credit. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1110474146 William E. Simpson II is founder of Wild Horse Fire Brigade. For interviews: OfficialWHFB. Or call: 858.212.5762 |
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Wednesday 9/23/26 Bill Meyer Show Guests and Information
Podcasts on www.BillMeyerShow.com
Facebook – www.Facebook.com/billmeyershow
Podcast XML feed – https://media.rss.com/bill-meyer-show-podcast/feed.xml – On this feed you can download the podcast. Right click on the audio player and use the “Save Audio As” command.
ARTICLE ON TRANS SURGERY STUDY IN FINLAND. Really worth your time:
https://dailydeclaration.org.au/2026/04/07/after-gender-reassignment/
6:20 Nathan Worcester from the Epoch Times, Senior Political Correspondent. Nathan breaks down the geopolitics surrounding the Trump U.N. speech from yesterday. More about Nathan: https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/nathan-worcester
On X: https://twitter.com/nnworcester
His latest story: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/house-china-committee-chairman-lays-out-expectations-for-trump-xi-summit-6094076
6:35 Eric Peters, automotive journalist from www.EpAutos.com with today’s Wheels Up Wednesday on cars, politics, reviews and your calls. Some of what we got into includes: 
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2026/09/21/in-defense-of-maga/
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2026/09/23/war-tax-report-9-23-2026/
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2026/09/22/2027-nissan-frontier/
7:10 Dr. Mitch Ghen, a physician and expert in integrative and functional medicine. www.GhenMed.com We discuss what the science says about organic food and how consumers can make smarter choices without feeling like everything in their cart needs an organic label.
We got into:
- Is organic actually healthier? What research tells us about pesticides, nutrition and potential health benefits.
- Where to splurge and where to save: Which foods may be worth prioritizing organic and where conventional can be a reasonable choice.
- The “organic” health halo: Why organic cookies are still cookies — and what matters more than the label.
- Reducing your everyday exposure load: How food choices can help reduce certain environmental exposures without falling for questionable “detox” claims.
- The longevity grocery cart: The foods Dr. Ghen prioritizes for healthy aging and where organic fits into the bigger picture.
8:10 Kevin Starrett from Oregon Firearms Federation – www.OregonFirearms.org
There’s quite a bit of good 2nd amendment case law news today and we talk about that. And for the longest time I never knew about his business interests in and passion for photography. If you want to check that out it’s on http://kevinstarrett.com
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Tuesday 9/22/26 Bill Meyer Show Guests and Information
Podcasts on www.BillMeyerShow.com
Facebook – www.Facebook.com/billmeyershow
Podcast XML feed – https://media.rss.com/bill-meyer-show-podcast/feed.xml – On this feed you can download the podcast. Right click on the audio player and use the “Save Audio As” command.
ARTICLE ON TRANS SURGERY STUDY IN FINLAND. Really worth your time:
https://dailydeclaration.org.au/2026/04/07/after-gender-reassignment/
6:35 Dr. Michael Schwartz joins me and we discuss the mid-terms, last minute messaging…how’s it looking for the GOP.
Dr. Michael J. Schwartz is a nationally recognized media contributor, bestselling author, and former law enforcement officer. With advanced degrees in multiple disciplines and appearances on Newsmax, OAN, and Fox News Radio, he delivers sharp, unfiltered commentary rooted in real-world experience.
site: https://www.michaeljschwartz.com/show
Podcast: The Mike Schwartz Show on Rumble
7:35 Former state Senator Herman Baertschiger talks about the bond market, explains how it works and why when you REALLY want to know what’s going on in the economy, watch the BOND, not the stock, market.
8:10 John Charles, President/CEO Cascade Policy Institute www.cascadepolicy.org
It’s Cascade Policy’s 35th anniversary, and we take a look back on their work, the wins and how some of the success stories impacted real Oregonians.
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Monday 9/21/26 Bill Meyer Show Guests and Information
Podcasts on www.BillMeyerShow.com
Facebook – www.Facebook.com/billmeyershow
Podcast XML feed – https://media.rss.com/bill-meyer-show-podcast/feed.xml – On this feed you can download the podcast. Right click on the audio player and use the “Save Audio As” command.
6:35 Michelle Steeb, CEO of Free Up Foundation www.FreeUpFoundation.com
Author of Answers Behind the RED DOOR: Battling the Homeless Epidemic
. Michele Steeb has released all new information about the homeless problems in America – especially California – caused by mismanagement of the government (surprise! Surprise!)
We’re Ignoring the Cause of Homelessness and How to Solve It
By Michele Steeb, Homelessness Expert
While we cannot expect every homeless person to become a homeowner, or that every journey will look the same, all people deserve a system that treats them as if they were created to flourish.
Imagine the hundreds of thousands of people who could be strengthening cities like New York, Seattle and Los Angeles had local leaders invested in systems designed to restore lives and cultivate human flourishing, rather than embracing the federal government’s Housing First approach adopted in 2013. Housing First made housing placement the primary intervention and measure of success, while removing expectations for treatment, sobriety, employment or progress toward self-sufficiency. In doing so, it too often treated the symptom of homelessness – lack of housing – while leaving the deeper human crises that frequently accompany and perpetuate it unaddressed. [more…]
7:10 Dolph Lundgren, action star and author of his new memoir FIGHTS WORTH FIGHTING.
Best known for his role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Dolph Lundgren skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s and has since built a remarkable career spanning over a hundred films-including producing, writing, and directing multiple projects. But beyond the on-screen battles lies a far more compelling story: the real-life fights Lundgren has faced behind the scenes.
< In this deeply personal account, Lundgren opens up about his upbringing in Sweden, his rise from a chemical engineering student to a martial arts champion, and his eventual transformation into an international movie star. He explores the pressures of fame, the emotional and physical toll of life in a cutthroat industry, and his private struggles. Now, as he faces his most difficult challenge yet-a fight against cancer-Lundgren reflects on the cost of survival and what it truly means to keep going.
7:35 John West, county commission candidate for position 1 Josephine County. www.ElectJohnWest.com. We dig into all sorts of issues including the cost of jail service. The following from a note he shared with me: Bill I have come out with a way to fully fund the jail and juvenile justice for 79 cents saving taxpayers 6 plus million vs this levy at .93 cents that doesn’t fund juvenile justice. Jackson cut beds why doesn’t Josephine , August 26 budget meeting fiance director said quote they have three years finding in the bank for juvenile justice . 2024 the jail had 3.2 million left over 2025they had 2.1 left over . A new juvenile levy / district will cost another 15 million at there purposes rates . Totally absurd
8:10 Dr. Dennis Powers with today’s “Where Past Meets Present” from www.DennisPowersBooks.com
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 baseball. 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 such 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.
Since then, Sam continued in competitions. According to the WABDL recorded results, he has won from 2018 to today, a total of 28 times in different Master age competitions (M 65-69: M 70-74) at different weights over this time, including Oregon State and Regional competitions. These records include in late 2023 setting a new world record at 69 years old in the deadlift (619 pounds) and bench press (363 pounds). He was the Oregon state chairman for the United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) for years, including being a national judge and world international judge.
He coached Eric Thomas (see above) 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 more 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, including still competing now in powerlifting competitions—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; Dan Jones, “Girl Power,” Mail Tribune, April 16, 2013; Buffy Pollock, “Vision Quest,” Mail Tribune, Nov. 14th, 2016; Medford 2017 Sports Hall of Fame at Medford Sports Hall of Fame; see WABDL results at its website: https://www.openpowerlifting.org/u/sampecktol.