Hales represent Spirit of the Community

Once a broadcaster, always a broadcaster – even at your own award ceremony.

As Chad Lange listed former winners of the Owatonna Foundation’s Spirit of the Community Award, he was a little difficult to hear in the large room.

A voice rang out: “Closer, Chad. Work the mic closer.”

Lange got the message and spoke directly into the microphone: “Thank you, Todd.”

The advice came from Todd Hale, the guest of honor last week at the foundation’s Legacy Luncheon.

Lange continued his introduction, expanding on the accomplishments of the man known as the Voice of Owatonna.

“If you’ve lived in Owatonna any length of time, and you don’t recognize the name Todd Hale, you must’ve been living under a rock,” he said.

Hale arrived in town in 1959, when he was hired by Pink Allen and Jerry Boos, owners of KRFO radio station.

“It was soon evident they had struck pay dirt,” Lange said. “With the talent exhibited, he was the perfect fit for our community, and Todd was the man behind the mic.”

For farmers doing pre-dawn milking and school kids waking up to a snowstorm, to sports fans listening to hockey games and voters awaiting election results, Hale did it all.

To this day, he tapes the “Big Band Show,” featuring music from the 1930s and 40s, which airs on Sundays.

His voice continues to resonate across the Steele County Fairgrounds as the daily events announcer. Hale also writes a weekly column, continuing to share Owatonna happenings.

As a Rotarian for more than 40 years, “he’s taken responsibility for lining up the weekly programs for the weekly meetings. We’ve always had outstanding programs due to his dedication,” Lange said.

But true to form, when it came time for him to speak – after a standing ovation – Todd Hale talked about everyone else.

“I remember when Chad asked me out for lunch one day, before I became a member, and asked me about being a trustee on the Owatonna Foundation,” Hale said.

“Now, to get Chad to buy you lunch was the big thing,” he said, drawing laughter, “but nevertheless, I considered it such an honor to be asked to join this organization.”

He is now the third-longest serving trustee on the Owatonna Foundation.

Joining him as a member was his wife, Mary (Klemmer) Hale, who died in 2022. They were married for 62 years.

“I have to talk about Mary,” Hale said. “She was my rock. I wish she were here today; I really do. She deserves all the accolades we can give her. She was a wonderful person.”

The couple raised three children, who Hale introduced: Steve, now in his 46^th year at Owatonna Bus Company, and his wife Julie; Tim, a retired police officer, and his wife Noelle; and Allison, a CNA, and her husband Steven Butler.

Their father said “the outstanding adults were molded by Mary taking the responsibility and providing the positive influence at home” while he was out covering the community.

Also at the event were Hale’s brother Jerry and his wife Ferne, who made the three-day drive from Smith Mountain Lake, Ga., to surprise him.

“I had no idea my brother would be here,” Hale said. “I just talked to him last night.”

“We were on our way from Crawfordsville, Ind.,” Jerry Hale said of that conversation. “He was just having his bowl of Rice Krispies, and we talked about the (vice-presidential) debate. And I said, ‘hey, weren’t you getting some award from Owatonna? Was that last week? We never heard anything more about that.’ We bluffed our way through that.”

Other honored guests included Duane and Lorraine Yule; Lorraine and her sister lived with the Klemmer family throughout high school.

“This is truly an honor; it’s a great honor to be honored by this group of people,” Hale said. “The Owatonna Foundation takes so much to heart when it comes to the community of Owatonna; without them, we would be in a bad way.

“To all of you people who are here today,” he said, addressing the crowd, “I know every one of you, in one way or another – and that goes to show you the wonderful people I know and have known, since I arrived here in 1959. Here we are, still rolling.”

Jerry Hale recognized his brother’s gift early on.

“Todd left our home in Edina, just after graduating from Brown Radio College,” he said, and landed that job at KRFO.

“About six months after he left, I convinced my parents to send me to Owatonna to be with Todd,” and the high school sophomore rolled into town on a Greyhound bus.

“They parked the bus at the Owatonna Hotel,” which served as the depot, Hale said. “I got out of the bus, and there was Todd, in a rocker, on the front porch of that hotel, holding court with all of these old gentlemen who were residents of the hotel, like he had been one of them forever.

“His ability to fit into the community was so evident; it was almost like he couldn’t tear himself away from those old gents,” Jerry Hale said. “To be that young, and to fit into the community the way that he did – it was really remarkable.”