Home: Saying goodbye to Dale Nicholson

It's never easy to say goodbye. Especially to someone that had a profound impact on your career. I first met Dale Nicholson ten years ago when I interviewed for a reporter job at KATV. I was only 22 and to be honest, I was very intimidated by his booming voice. But behind that gruff exterior, I later learned, was a gentle teddy bear with a big heart. One that really did care about the people that worked for him.

I never planned to stay here. In fact, my husband and I said two years at the most. We even went so far as to say to each other "let's not make any friends here so that's it's not so difficult to say goodbye when we leave." Oops! We sure messed up that plan. :) And I'm so thankful we did.

My news director, Randy Dixon, and Dale really were taking a risk by asking me to stay here and become an anchor. I wasn't from here (like many of our other anchors) and at the time I still had a desire to move on and move up to bigger cities... especially ones that were closer to my home in South Dakota. But despite all that, they took a chance on me. And fought for me. To stay here in Arkansas and make Little Rock my home. And more importantly, to make KATV my family. And that's exactly what it became.

One of my favorite memories of Dale is back in 2006 when my family from SD was visiting. We were tailgating a Little Rock Razorback game and shortly before the game started, my husband was helping a car squeeze into one of the last parking spots right by our tailgate. Sure enough, out of the car come Dale and several members of his family. He met all of my family members and he was so kind to each one of them. Talked to each one of them and wanted to get to know them. My family was so impressed that the GM of our station would take the time to get to know them. I really think it made them feel better about me (the baby of the family) living so far away from them. They always wanted to be sure that I was loved and taken care of. And boy, did Dale make sure that I always was.

I am so thankful to "Big Pard" and I will miss his booming voice, his larger-than-life personality, and mostly his overwhelming hugs (that to be honest almost had a crushing kind of feeling... in a wonderful way). :)

Love you, mean it!!