Avery and our new daughter, Olivia, glow in the Sunday afternoon sunshine on a bench in our backyard. They’re surrounded by a garden I envision them working on together when Livy is old enough to carry a little plastic shovel.

Mom is a big NASCAR fan, so she’s supporting her Chase Elliott shirt. Liv is in a pink NASCAR top given to us by Wagering Wyatt McMillen and his fiancé. Abbie Brott. There seems to be a lot of pink in my life these days. You bet the NASCAR race in Texas is on the radio.

In a yard tent, with the sun setting faster at the beginning of fall, mom wraps our daughter in a blanket crocheted by Susan Sutton. Our cat, Ruby, jealously meows from our back window. She escaped from her leash, so she’s in time out.

While enjoying a Coors Banquet and a cigar given to me by Brandon J. McDermott, I’m overwhelmed with emotions.

I’m often asked, “why did you come back to Sidney?” It’s a fair question. I had built a nice life in eastern Nebraska, with people who are still very good friends today. I heard a lot from them in recent weeks with the addition of Olivia. They will be part of our family forever.

But Sidney is truly home, my friends in eastern Nebraska understood that when I announced I’d be coming back. The pride and energy of this Cheyenne County town along two railroads still shines and thrives. I was able to move closer to family. I reconnected with Avery after nearly 20 years. We’re excited to raise our family here.

However, this isn’t another letter to my family. This is a letter to you.

We’ve grown up together in Big Boy Country. You’ve been a big part of my life since I was 12-years-old and I’m thankful to be a little part of yours through radio all these years later.

Going all the way back to when I was in sixth grade, calling other radio stations for football scores for our play-by-play announcers to deliver updates on area teams during their broadcasts. We studied hard at Sidney Public Schools, earned a broadcasting degree at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, we endured a move to Nebraska City and celebrated a return home to Sidney.

We called little league baseball games out of the back of a tan 1998 Ford Ranger (Lane Harvey and Colton Onstott will remember that), competed in Big Wheel Races, watched Mike Daum, Jake Reader, Sam Schumacher and Dylan Brenner lead Kimball and Leyton to a snowy state basketball tournament. We dyed our hair green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and participated in golf scrambles for area organizations. 

I like to think I’ve always been humbled in my 22 years of radio, realizing I get to act like a tool on-air for work, but this month, with the birth of our daughter, put a lot of things into prospective.

Whether it has been for five minutes on your way to work or school, three hours for a football broadcast, or you tune in for an entire edition of “The Burn,” your support and listenership has meant a lot to me. You watch our antics live on Facebook, read up on the latest happenings in our communities and dedicate your time attending events and fundraisers across the region.

But it was the “You Make the Call” poll questions on social media that filled our hearts with joy and our eyes with tears of happiness. Poor Olivia was a radio bit before she was even born. We asked for your help on what we should name her, needed your tips on what we should include in our hospital bags, and we had you guess how much she would weigh. Final weight, by the way, six pounds and three ounces.

When we shared a photo of our Little Ms. Olivia with you for the first time on Facebook, your support through comments and reactions echoed loudly through our room at Sidney Regional Medical Center. One comment especially tugged on my heartstrings. It said, “So good to see your face, Olivia. You don’t know how famous you already are.”

I’ve never sought fame in this business. I’m a small-town radio DJ who cut his hair into a mullet and rode a mower down the highway. I’ve always thought my job was to shed light on this amazing area, its people and its strong local businesses and organizations, but something about that comment stuck out to me. It made Avery and I feel like “we got this” with an amazing community of people behind us, not just from Sidney, but from Kimball to Chappell, Bridgeport to Sterling, and areas in between.

I read all the comments (and I mean all of them) you sent to us on social media to Avery that night. I shared a story with her about Heidi Ahrens telling me her daughter, Chloe, and other students at Sidney High School – who I’ve become close with by serving as the public address announcer for their athletic events and prom introductions - were wondering if we had our daughter yet.

With tears swelling her eyes and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, she simply said, “that’s amazing.” Thank you for that.

When I say you mean a lot to us, please know, you truly do. Thank you for always being there the last 22 years. Like I promised my daughter in a previous article here, I promise you, too, we will have fun. I promise you that.

A separate heartfelt thanks to Dr. Becky Allard, the nurses and the staff at Sidney Regional Medical Center for going above-and-beyond for Avery and Olivia. From the time we learned we would become parents, through the procedure and the checkups afterwards, they’ve been there every step of the way with amazing tips, support and care. Even delivering a chaucoderie board from the SRMC cafeteria, which dad (me) didn’t even get a taste of. Our strongest appreciation to our great caregivers we have right here at home.

Now, off to a chicken enchilada dinner, delivered to us by Sarah Sinnett, surrounded by all the flowers sent to us by family and friends, counting our blessings to live in such an amazing area.

No more writing. Let’s talk on the radio again Monday morning. See you soon, friend.