Guest Blogger, Matt Mulcahy

Long before I began this blog, WSTM-TV anchor Matt Mulcahy started his.   His article about my dismissal from WTVH-TV where we had anchored together for six terrific years was about the most gracious thing anyone has ever done for me.

I saw Matt and dozens of the most wonderful faces representing decades of employment at TV5 at Riley’s Pub on Syracuse’s northside last night.  For it’s proximity to channels 3 and 5, Riley’s is the “Cheers” of Syracuse television, the most convenient and comfortable place to slug down a beer and a piece of pizza after work.

I have no idea of the actual head count, I never got in the building.  The party out the back door in the parking lot was a blast all by itself.  Never had the pizza, never even got a drink and my friends should be thankful for that because I would have spilled everything down everyone I spent all night hugging.

The only time photojournalists were included in the State Fair postcard

Matt dropped this off in the comment section this morning, but I would love to post it as an article, because there is no description of last night that I could write as well.   Matt, I don’t think you’ll mind, as I kept in your plug for channel 3 at the bottom.  One of us has to keep working to support this group!  Here goes:

RILEY’S REUNION

The din of small talk, clinking glasses and wait staff excusing themselves through the shoulder to shoulder crowd laid the rhythm track for a rapid succession of conversation. One after another familiar faces stepped through the line past the antique bar and deep wood panels of the great Syracuse neighborhood institution Riley’s. Those of us who found a treasured space held our ground and greeted the newcomers as if we were in a reception line. It wasn’t a wedding reception, but more of an Irish wake. A toast to Syracuse’s first television station WTVH Channel 5.

By now you know the story of pending shutdown of the building at 980 James Street. This gathering was not about the building, but rather the blood, sweat and tears of the people who made it run. It was only fitting that longtime producer Lou Gulino organized the gathering. He started thinking he might get ten or twelve old timers together to share war stories of carrying the camera and sticks, of chronicling local history, of laughing at what went wrong on the air and behind the scenes. He didn’t get just ten or twelve… the count pushed over fifty.

The group was intergenerational and interdepartmental. Broadcasters with a Channel 5 past reached back to the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. The group from this decade was able to match some faces with the stories they may have heard about past glories and mistakes. There were engineers and directors, reporters and anchors, producers and photographers. There were more gray hairs than their used to be, more pronounced crows feet and maybe an extra pound here or there, but the personalities were the same. They came to life recalling the late night shifts, the hours spent in news cars and the uncontrollable laughs that should not have made air.

Mo Green, Lou Gulino, Terri Peters. Wake up Lou, it's Rip Time

Lizzie Ayers hugged everyone…twice. Maureen Green’s familiar smile beamed. Bob Kirk, Dave Bullard, Rich Isome, Tom Hauf, Donna Adamo, Scott Atkinson, Randy Wenner, Terri Peters and Bill Carey are some of the other names you know, but hardly an inclusive list of people who energized the reunion or who once produced the news. Those people include Jay Labarre, Dan Roach, John Duffy, Joe Picciotto, Pete Peters, Don Rugg, Bryan Honeywell, Greg Turner, Kevin Rinaldo and Butch Charles. Others like Steve and Molly Herwood, Katie Kramer, Dan Young, Rob Jason, Loren Tobia, Jodi Milewitz and Peter Spartano. My apologies for the rest of the names that escape me as I prepare to post.

Randy Wenner wears his memorabilia proudly. All year long.

There were so many names and faces the crowd squeezed out the back door into the remarkably warm late winter air. That catching up continued on the edge of that ten space parking lot. Kids, careers and everything else needed updating. It was the stories that made the night sing. They could hardly be interrupted long enough for a string of digital group photos taken from the back stoop that leads to that lot.

It was a rare television gathering where the crowd grew before the news was off the air for the day. This group is no longer running on that schedule. The old days at Riley’s were a different story. The Election Nights, the stories around the long table in back, the pitchers of beer and lunches where plans were hatched. Tonight it seemed fitting a notepad passed around with a pen. Journalists scribbled names, numbers and e-mails the points of contact that help keep groups together. For this group the bond remains even when apart, they comprise the last ones to work at the first television station in the City of Syracuse.

You can always read the blog on CNYcentral.com.

Thanks for another masterpiece Matt. And if anyone has other photos to share, please let me know.  Would you like to start a blog of your own?   Contact Dick at richhill58@gmail.com. And I see the New York Daily News online picked up Matt’s article.  Way to go Matt!

Tagged as: news, Syracuse, WTVH