Monday, June 23, 2008
Campus Crusade Part 3
In my February 1972 newsletter I wrote. "I have been assigned
to take over the making of overhead transparencies. This is a
service that the Audio-Visual department provides for the staff
of Campus Crusade. An overhead transparency is a sheet of acetate
(with drawings, diagrams, and words) that can be placed on an
overhead projector which transfers those images to a movie screen
so that they can be easily seen and read bu an audience. This also give
me an opportunity to put my art background (and cartooning) into
action which is very much to my liking." The reason I got the
transparency making job was to free up Johnny Meitz to work
more fully on a second Christian comics tract, "The Greatest Treasure"
which he illustrated and Bill Bright wrote.
The next part of this letter dealt with a special friend that I met at
the San Bernardino YMCA (which I lived near at the time). The Y
(and my apartment) was on Fifth Street which is on the historical
Route 66 highway. This was special as I remember fondly the old
Route 66 TV program.
Here is what my letter said, "I am very excited about the outside
ministry that God has given me at the YMCA. I have been praying
for another Christian who would be interested in seeing the "Y"
evangelized for Christ. My prayer has been answered in the form
of a dear 56 year old power-lifter (he does 400 ilb. leg squats)
named Don Franklin. Don has been in the San Bernardino "Y"
since he was 9 years old and has been one of the few Christian
witnesses there during that time. He works there part time and
knows the members and staff very well. He has done a good deal
of evangelism and pre-evangelism there himself over the years.
Interestingly enough he has also been praying for help in witnessing
at the "Y". I go on to share how we went to a Lay Institute for
Evangelism at Arrowhead Springs together and were ready to put
into practice what we had learned there at the "Y". We schedule an
event at the "Y' for next month.
My friendship with Don proved to be a long lasting one and lasted
beyond my tenure with Campus Crusade until his death in 1986.
Don, proud of his Irish heritage, was a World War II veteran
(in the tank corps) though to his regret he was never shipped
overseas to see combat. Don was a real unforgettable character-
married with two daughters, a Santa Fe Railroad worker for
many years, a power lifter on the Muscle Beach scene during
the 1950s and a well-read Christian man. We did many social
things together like going to soft ball games, color guard
presentations, power lifting and bodybuilding contests, church
events and just hanging out. What a fine gentleman he was.
I still miss him.
to take over the making of overhead transparencies. This is a
service that the Audio-Visual department provides for the staff
of Campus Crusade. An overhead transparency is a sheet of acetate
(with drawings, diagrams, and words) that can be placed on an
overhead projector which transfers those images to a movie screen
so that they can be easily seen and read bu an audience. This also give
me an opportunity to put my art background (and cartooning) into
action which is very much to my liking." The reason I got the
transparency making job was to free up Johnny Meitz to work
more fully on a second Christian comics tract, "The Greatest Treasure"
which he illustrated and Bill Bright wrote.
The next part of this letter dealt with a special friend that I met at
the San Bernardino YMCA (which I lived near at the time). The Y
(and my apartment) was on Fifth Street which is on the historical
Route 66 highway. This was special as I remember fondly the old
Route 66 TV program.
Here is what my letter said, "I am very excited about the outside
ministry that God has given me at the YMCA. I have been praying
for another Christian who would be interested in seeing the "Y"
evangelized for Christ. My prayer has been answered in the form
of a dear 56 year old power-lifter (he does 400 ilb. leg squats)
named Don Franklin. Don has been in the San Bernardino "Y"
since he was 9 years old and has been one of the few Christian
witnesses there during that time. He works there part time and
knows the members and staff very well. He has done a good deal
of evangelism and pre-evangelism there himself over the years.
Interestingly enough he has also been praying for help in witnessing
at the "Y". I go on to share how we went to a Lay Institute for
Evangelism at Arrowhead Springs together and were ready to put
into practice what we had learned there at the "Y". We schedule an
event at the "Y' for next month.
My friendship with Don proved to be a long lasting one and lasted
beyond my tenure with Campus Crusade until his death in 1986.
Don, proud of his Irish heritage, was a World War II veteran
(in the tank corps) though to his regret he was never shipped
overseas to see combat. Don was a real unforgettable character-
married with two daughters, a Santa Fe Railroad worker for
many years, a power lifter on the Muscle Beach scene during
the 1950s and a well-read Christian man. We did many social
things together like going to soft ball games, color guard
presentations, power lifting and bodybuilding contests, church
events and just hanging out. What a fine gentleman he was.
I still miss him.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Campus Crusade Part 2
In early November 1971 I packed up my trusty 1969 Dodge Dart
(a college graduation present from my folks) and heading down
Interstate 10 to my new work at Arrowhead Springs the
Headquarters of Campus Crusade. I probably stopped on
the way to visit brother LeRoy and his family in Portland,
Oregon and stopped again in Grants Pass, Oregon (stayed
with my great uncle Alvin Bailey) overnight before arriving
in San Bernardino.
When I got there I was assigned to the tape duplication section
of the Audiovisual Dept. Bill Knop a tall, lanky former minister
was the head of the tape dup area and the area specialized in
producing lecture tapes on reel to reel and cassette tapes which
becoming very popular at the time. The cassettes were made on
a large AmPex duplication machine that made 15 dups at a time
in 10 minutes. The original tapes were made at Central Record,
a small recording studio, that was located in the Arrowhead Springs
hotel and could record discussions, sermons and talks in all of the
lecture rooms and halls on Arrowhead campus. After the talks were
recorded a master tape was made that was used to edit out all the
distracting noise from the original. The master tape is was used to
make duplicates from. Since Campus Crusade had many speakers
and teachers and the demand for the recordings was large especially
among the staff and students who attended the lectures a good-sized
staff was kept been recording duplication and mailing these tapes.
I know that I personally listened of many of these tapes again and again.
I personally was involved in the tape duplication area but never
got involved in the recording or editing aspects of the department.
Here is an excerpt from my December 1971 newsletter.
"I am thankful for the work at headquarters that I am engaged in.
I have been very busy learning the "tricks of the trade" as it were.
I have been specially working at labeling cassettes and reel tapes,
checking, erasing, packaging, and mailing tapes (both for purchases
and the lending Library) and also have been duplicating reel tapes.
I have also been involved in redoing the master tape catalog that
will help speed up orders. Soon our tape mass production will be
speeded up considerable. We will get a duplicator that will produce
15 cassettes every 10 minutes. Our present duplicator makes only 4
at a time. As it was the first week I arrived I worked we got out over
2400 tapes in orders mailed. This ministry is rapidly expanding now
and will virtually explode after Explo '72. God is working by His Spirit
through these tapes in the lives of people." Other people that I met
there was Steve Rentz (who came on staff at the same time as myself
and arrived earlier) a real go getter who fairly soon left the Audiovisual
Dept. for more Administrative work. Others included Dave Bruce,
one of the recorders and editors, Brad Basham, who mailed the CCC films
and Brian Webb who was a tall friendly Texan who was
Chuck Younkman's assistant. Another one who came on staff at the
same time was Gene Frink, a former school teacher who wrote
course curriculum. Charlotte Smith was Chuck Younkman's pretty
secretary and a heart breaker. Yes, campus romances were as rampant
as you might think in a population largely composed of single
twenty somethings.
The Audiovisual department also had an artist, Johnny Meitz,
a slender mustashed Ohioan, an excellent cartoonist who drew
the Good News Glove evangelistic children's comic book and
also produced overhead transparencies for Campus Crusade
lecturers. Johnny was also a falconer who later who a book on
hawks and falcons under the named of Johnny Hawk.
(a college graduation present from my folks) and heading down
Interstate 10 to my new work at Arrowhead Springs the
Headquarters of Campus Crusade. I probably stopped on
the way to visit brother LeRoy and his family in Portland,
Oregon and stopped again in Grants Pass, Oregon (stayed
with my great uncle Alvin Bailey) overnight before arriving
in San Bernardino.
When I got there I was assigned to the tape duplication section
of the Audiovisual Dept. Bill Knop a tall, lanky former minister
was the head of the tape dup area and the area specialized in
producing lecture tapes on reel to reel and cassette tapes which
becoming very popular at the time. The cassettes were made on
a large AmPex duplication machine that made 15 dups at a time
in 10 minutes. The original tapes were made at Central Record,
a small recording studio, that was located in the Arrowhead Springs
hotel and could record discussions, sermons and talks in all of the
lecture rooms and halls on Arrowhead campus. After the talks were
recorded a master tape was made that was used to edit out all the
distracting noise from the original. The master tape is was used to
make duplicates from. Since Campus Crusade had many speakers
and teachers and the demand for the recordings was large especially
among the staff and students who attended the lectures a good-sized
staff was kept been recording duplication and mailing these tapes.
I know that I personally listened of many of these tapes again and again.
I personally was involved in the tape duplication area but never
got involved in the recording or editing aspects of the department.
Here is an excerpt from my December 1971 newsletter.
"I am thankful for the work at headquarters that I am engaged in.
I have been very busy learning the "tricks of the trade" as it were.
I have been specially working at labeling cassettes and reel tapes,
checking, erasing, packaging, and mailing tapes (both for purchases
and the lending Library) and also have been duplicating reel tapes.
I have also been involved in redoing the master tape catalog that
will help speed up orders. Soon our tape mass production will be
speeded up considerable. We will get a duplicator that will produce
15 cassettes every 10 minutes. Our present duplicator makes only 4
at a time. As it was the first week I arrived I worked we got out over
2400 tapes in orders mailed. This ministry is rapidly expanding now
and will virtually explode after Explo '72. God is working by His Spirit
through these tapes in the lives of people." Other people that I met
there was Steve Rentz (who came on staff at the same time as myself
and arrived earlier) a real go getter who fairly soon left the Audiovisual
Dept. for more Administrative work. Others included Dave Bruce,
one of the recorders and editors, Brad Basham, who mailed the CCC films
and Brian Webb who was a tall friendly Texan who was
Chuck Younkman's assistant. Another one who came on staff at the
same time was Gene Frink, a former school teacher who wrote
course curriculum. Charlotte Smith was Chuck Younkman's pretty
secretary and a heart breaker. Yes, campus romances were as rampant
as you might think in a population largely composed of single
twenty somethings.
The Audiovisual department also had an artist, Johnny Meitz,
a slender mustashed Ohioan, an excellent cartoonist who drew
the Good News Glove evangelistic children's comic book and
also produced overhead transparencies for Campus Crusade
lecturers. Johnny was also a falconer who later who a book on
hawks and falcons under the named of Johnny Hawk.
