Saying thank you to Ernie Blankenship
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Fourteen years ago this week, Ernie Blankenship and I sat down for a newspaper interview. And 30 years ago last month, Ernie and I sat down for a job interview.
The newspaper interview was one of many times we’ve gotten together, but it was the first time the subject matter focused solely on Ernie.
Despite having known Ernie since I was in my late teens, it wasn’t until I’d turned 35 that I really came to know a little bit about him – and about his difficult upbringing.
Too often, it seems, we see the end result that has become a successful and prosperous life without pausing to consider the process and the roads traveled.
As Ernie shared a few of his lesser-known personal – and private – recollections with me, I came to realize a little more about the man.
The man who left rural Neon, Ky., just across the Virginia state line, some 60 years ago. The man whose lifetime achievements would surpass his wildest expectations.
We all know Ernie for his 50-plus years as the sports voice of WSRW/WCHO Radio. We’ve heard many of his thousands of high school sports broadcasts.
We’ve witnessed his countless volunteer efforts of the last 35 or more years with the Highland County Society for Children and Adults.
We know of his love for the Hillsboro Indians and all the county high school teams. We know he’s a big Notre Dame football fan, too.
On a personal note, back in my sports editor days, I recall seeing Ernie at a Friday night high school football game, at a Saturday afternoon Irish game in South Bend, and at Bengals game at Riverfront Stadium. Not on three separate weekends. But on three consecutive days. I was 29 and it wore me out. But not Ernie.
Of course, there are other, more significant things that Ernie shared.
His father, Stanley Blankenship, died in 1948, when Ernie was 11. His mother, Lulu Blankenship, then moved the family from Letcher County, Ky., to Columbus, Ohio.
Because of the family’s financial struggles, she was forced to place Ernie and his three brothers and sister in St. Vincent’s Catholic Orphanage for four years. Later, after his mother moved to Hillsboro to find employment and also to be close to relatives, the children were reunited with their mother.
“We were at St. Vincent’s for four years, while my mother worked,” Ernie recalls. “I will always be very grateful for the education I received at the orphanage and for everything those people did for us.
“We were poor when we first came to town,” Ernie told me. “We ate more beans and cornbread than you can imagine.
“But there were good times, too. I remember the things that people like Heber Duckwall, Jim Ford, Boltz and Haggerty (who owned a shoe store that today is the home of The Highland County Press), Bill Mason Sr. and George Steele did for me.
“I learned about the importance of helping others because of the help they gave me.”
Helping others...
Not only did Ernie learn the importance of helping others, he fine-tuned the practice to a work of art. A genuine humanitarian, philanthropic, Good Samaritan work of art.
Ernie has been the emcee of the annual Highland County Society for Children and Adults radio-telethon for decades.
Two annual college scholarships bear his name, courtesy of NCB, for local student-athletes. He has called upon professional athletes and coaches, college athletes and coaches, fellow broadcasters, business associates, family and friends to help raise money – and open a few doors – for those in need.
He does it, primarily, for the children. Maybe he sees a little bit of his own childhood in their individual struggles.
Like most of us, Ernie’s been dealt a rough hand now and then. But he doesn’t fold, he trusts in the Dealer. Maybe that’s why he rarely misses a Mass at St. Mary’s. Maybe that’s why he attends Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame if he’s in town for an Irish game.
Ernie is always grateful. Always thankful.
Last Friday, at Richards Memorial Field, Ernie called his final Hillsboro Indians football game as a full-time radio broadcaster. Most appropriately, he had his longtime press box partners at his side. Ernie and Jim Duckwall called a quarter of the action, then handed the headsets over to Dale Martin and Richard Blankenship. Typically, the foursome would either rotate quarters or, on some nights, Ernie and Jim would call the action for quarters 1 and 4, with Dale and Richard working quarters 2 and 3.
I seem to recall that last Friday, Ernie and Jim disappeared for a few moments prior to the start of the fourth and final period of the Hillsboro/McClain Rotary Bowl. No matter. This team invented the art of improvisation.
As HCP sports editor Stephen Forsha wrote last week, Ernie’s final game was fitting, a heated rivalry match-up between two Highland County teams, with the Indians and McClain Tigers battling for the Rotary Bowl. The game belonged to the Tigers, 28-15. But the evening belonged to Ernie Blankenship.
Indeed, it did.
The Dean of Ohio High School Sports Broadcasters, surrounded by many Highland County football fans, his personal friends and his family, was fittingly honored at halftime by Rick Earley and Terry Fouch, superintendents of Hillsboro and Greenfield schools, respectively.
As the Tigers and Indians bands completed their halftime performances, John Barney, the HHS public address announcer, asked fans to turn their attention to the 50-yard line.
With his voice cracking ever so slightly, John said to the Richards Memorial Field crowd, “We’d like to recognize a great community leader, a family man and a cherished friend.”
After Mr. Earley and Mr. Fouch expressed their appreciation for the Voice of Southern Ohio Sports, the field mike was handed to Ernie.
And perhaps for the first time since he began his long and storied career, Ernie admitted to being nervous. But then again, he had his young grandson, Beau, at his side for support.
“I want to thank all of you from Hillsboro and Greenfield for allowing me into your homes for all these years. It has been my privilege,” Ernie told the fans in attendance, and radio and Internet listeners.
He gave special thanks to a number of his friends, family, supporters and employers. He thanked Clear Channel Radio, Chuck Snyder and NCB, Tom Archibald and others.
He mentioned several of his current and former broadcast partners, including: his brother, Richard Blankenship, Jim Duckwall, Dale Martin, Rocky Coss, Kevin Greer, Jim Vanzant, Ed Frydryk, and others. Mostly, he thanked you, the community, for listening. For tuning in on a Friday night wherever you happened to be.
“Thank you and God bless you,” Ernie told the Highland County faithful.
“Tonight is the end of an era,” John Barney said on Clear Channel Radio’s Buckeye Country. “Thank you, Ernie, for being a friend to us all.”
And what a friend he has been.
In 1980, this newspaper publisher walked into Ernie’s office in dire need of a job. Ernie was the personnel manager at Rotary Forms Press, Inc. at the time. I remember filling out an application and taking a mechanical aptitude test of some sort on a Friday afternoon.
Here goes nothin,’ I thought.
After the test, Ernie said, “Ryan, when can you start?”
I replied as any good Ridgerunner would. “Right now.”
Ernie told me to report to John Ames at 7 a.m. on a Monday in October 1980. I did.
In the ensuing 30 years, I’ve come to realize that my story wasn’t all that special. Ernie had helped many others find employment simply by taking the time to listen – and care. Ernie actually hired me twice, but that’s another story.
Let’s just leave it at this: Ernie Blankenship has given more to others than he’s ever expected in return. That’s not a bad legacy for anyone, is it?
Thanks for everything, Ernie. You da man.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press. (This article was originally published on Nov. 4, 2010.)[[In-content Ad]]
The newspaper interview was one of many times we’ve gotten together, but it was the first time the subject matter focused solely on Ernie.
Despite having known Ernie since I was in my late teens, it wasn’t until I’d turned 35 that I really came to know a little bit about him – and about his difficult upbringing.
Too often, it seems, we see the end result that has become a successful and prosperous life without pausing to consider the process and the roads traveled.
As Ernie shared a few of his lesser-known personal – and private – recollections with me, I came to realize a little more about the man.
The man who left rural Neon, Ky., just across the Virginia state line, some 60 years ago. The man whose lifetime achievements would surpass his wildest expectations.
We all know Ernie for his 50-plus years as the sports voice of WSRW/WCHO Radio. We’ve heard many of his thousands of high school sports broadcasts.
We’ve witnessed his countless volunteer efforts of the last 35 or more years with the Highland County Society for Children and Adults.
We know of his love for the Hillsboro Indians and all the county high school teams. We know he’s a big Notre Dame football fan, too.
On a personal note, back in my sports editor days, I recall seeing Ernie at a Friday night high school football game, at a Saturday afternoon Irish game in South Bend, and at Bengals game at Riverfront Stadium. Not on three separate weekends. But on three consecutive days. I was 29 and it wore me out. But not Ernie.
Of course, there are other, more significant things that Ernie shared.
His father, Stanley Blankenship, died in 1948, when Ernie was 11. His mother, Lulu Blankenship, then moved the family from Letcher County, Ky., to Columbus, Ohio.
Because of the family’s financial struggles, she was forced to place Ernie and his three brothers and sister in St. Vincent’s Catholic Orphanage for four years. Later, after his mother moved to Hillsboro to find employment and also to be close to relatives, the children were reunited with their mother.
“We were at St. Vincent’s for four years, while my mother worked,” Ernie recalls. “I will always be very grateful for the education I received at the orphanage and for everything those people did for us.
“We were poor when we first came to town,” Ernie told me. “We ate more beans and cornbread than you can imagine.
“But there were good times, too. I remember the things that people like Heber Duckwall, Jim Ford, Boltz and Haggerty (who owned a shoe store that today is the home of The Highland County Press), Bill Mason Sr. and George Steele did for me.
“I learned about the importance of helping others because of the help they gave me.”
Helping others...
Not only did Ernie learn the importance of helping others, he fine-tuned the practice to a work of art. A genuine humanitarian, philanthropic, Good Samaritan work of art.
Ernie has been the emcee of the annual Highland County Society for Children and Adults radio-telethon for decades.
Two annual college scholarships bear his name, courtesy of NCB, for local student-athletes. He has called upon professional athletes and coaches, college athletes and coaches, fellow broadcasters, business associates, family and friends to help raise money – and open a few doors – for those in need.
He does it, primarily, for the children. Maybe he sees a little bit of his own childhood in their individual struggles.
Like most of us, Ernie’s been dealt a rough hand now and then. But he doesn’t fold, he trusts in the Dealer. Maybe that’s why he rarely misses a Mass at St. Mary’s. Maybe that’s why he attends Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame if he’s in town for an Irish game.
Ernie is always grateful. Always thankful.
Last Friday, at Richards Memorial Field, Ernie called his final Hillsboro Indians football game as a full-time radio broadcaster. Most appropriately, he had his longtime press box partners at his side. Ernie and Jim Duckwall called a quarter of the action, then handed the headsets over to Dale Martin and Richard Blankenship. Typically, the foursome would either rotate quarters or, on some nights, Ernie and Jim would call the action for quarters 1 and 4, with Dale and Richard working quarters 2 and 3.
I seem to recall that last Friday, Ernie and Jim disappeared for a few moments prior to the start of the fourth and final period of the Hillsboro/McClain Rotary Bowl. No matter. This team invented the art of improvisation.
As HCP sports editor Stephen Forsha wrote last week, Ernie’s final game was fitting, a heated rivalry match-up between two Highland County teams, with the Indians and McClain Tigers battling for the Rotary Bowl. The game belonged to the Tigers, 28-15. But the evening belonged to Ernie Blankenship.
Indeed, it did.
The Dean of Ohio High School Sports Broadcasters, surrounded by many Highland County football fans, his personal friends and his family, was fittingly honored at halftime by Rick Earley and Terry Fouch, superintendents of Hillsboro and Greenfield schools, respectively.
As the Tigers and Indians bands completed their halftime performances, John Barney, the HHS public address announcer, asked fans to turn their attention to the 50-yard line.
With his voice cracking ever so slightly, John said to the Richards Memorial Field crowd, “We’d like to recognize a great community leader, a family man and a cherished friend.”
After Mr. Earley and Mr. Fouch expressed their appreciation for the Voice of Southern Ohio Sports, the field mike was handed to Ernie.
And perhaps for the first time since he began his long and storied career, Ernie admitted to being nervous. But then again, he had his young grandson, Beau, at his side for support.
“I want to thank all of you from Hillsboro and Greenfield for allowing me into your homes for all these years. It has been my privilege,” Ernie told the fans in attendance, and radio and Internet listeners.
He gave special thanks to a number of his friends, family, supporters and employers. He thanked Clear Channel Radio, Chuck Snyder and NCB, Tom Archibald and others.
He mentioned several of his current and former broadcast partners, including: his brother, Richard Blankenship, Jim Duckwall, Dale Martin, Rocky Coss, Kevin Greer, Jim Vanzant, Ed Frydryk, and others. Mostly, he thanked you, the community, for listening. For tuning in on a Friday night wherever you happened to be.
“Thank you and God bless you,” Ernie told the Highland County faithful.
“Tonight is the end of an era,” John Barney said on Clear Channel Radio’s Buckeye Country. “Thank you, Ernie, for being a friend to us all.”
And what a friend he has been.
In 1980, this newspaper publisher walked into Ernie’s office in dire need of a job. Ernie was the personnel manager at Rotary Forms Press, Inc. at the time. I remember filling out an application and taking a mechanical aptitude test of some sort on a Friday afternoon.
Here goes nothin,’ I thought.
After the test, Ernie said, “Ryan, when can you start?”
I replied as any good Ridgerunner would. “Right now.”
Ernie told me to report to John Ames at 7 a.m. on a Monday in October 1980. I did.
In the ensuing 30 years, I’ve come to realize that my story wasn’t all that special. Ernie had helped many others find employment simply by taking the time to listen – and care. Ernie actually hired me twice, but that’s another story.
Let’s just leave it at this: Ernie Blankenship has given more to others than he’s ever expected in return. That’s not a bad legacy for anyone, is it?
Thanks for everything, Ernie. You da man.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press. (This article was originally published on Nov. 4, 2010.)[[In-content Ad]]