September 18, 2009

ALTENBURG -- The East Perry Community Fair Board has selected recently retired KFVS 12 anchor man Mike Shain to serve as the 2009 Grand Marshall of fair festivities.

Shain will lead the annual parade, which begins at 1:30 p.m. sharp Friday September 25th, down the traditional parade route of Main Street and Church Street in Altenburg and ends at the Fair Grounds.

His voice, once heard, is immediately recognizable. His face, as familiar as a member of your own family, and his ability to deliver the news is unquestionably one of the best in the business. Each of these attributes describe recently retired KFVS 12 anchorman and 2009 East Perry Community Fair Grand Marshall Mike Shain to a tee.

Born and raised in Sikeston Missouri, and a graduate of Sikeston High School, it was here that Shain began his broadcasting career. As a senior in high school in 1956 he began working at a local radio station KSIM in Sikeston. Here he "cut his teeth" so to say in learning the business. At KSIM he "spun records" although very few. It was the other parts of the job, the news and sports broadcasts that really sparked his interest. In fact sports play-by-play was a big part of his duties at KSIM and a duty he took very seriously and really enjoyed.

It was during the years at KSIM that Shain met his wife Doris (Nance) and the two were married in 1962. With support and help from her he continued his radio career into the 1970’s. In 1970 he switched stations in Sikeston and moved to KMPL for a brief two year stint. This stay was short lived do to fact that in 1972 he would begin a job in television at KFVS 12 in Cape Girardeau which would turn him into one of the most recognizable figures in the area.

Shain will tell you that the first day behind the camera he had a feeling of "what have I gotten myself into", but those feelings quickly gave way to his natural instincts for delivering the news. He has said "the people that hired me, in those days, weren’t as interested in my education and what I knew, but more-so could I do the job?" The answer to that is obvious, with 36 years on the job at KFVS, it was a job well done.

Mike has shared the anchor desk with at least nine different co-anchors and has developed many close relationships with co-workers. He considers those he has worked with as family, and hearing him talk of the hours he has put in on the job (some days 10 or 11 hours or more) it’s natural for the news team to create a family type bond. Always keeping the most interesting part of the story in mind and making sure his video matched what he was saying were the motto’s he worked by. Remembering these points helped him excel at his profession and made all of us want to watch KFVS 12 to get our news.

Shain remains semi-active with the news team at KFVS. He has an open invitation to come to them with stories as he sees relevant and they in turn do the same with him. He thus far has chosen to remain retired and keeps busy with yard work and his love of reading. His career has allowed him to meet and talk to so many famous people (Harry Truman, George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton to name a few) that one might think why stay in the Heartland? But as he has said "there are so many interesting people that I meet right here in the Heartland, and this is home to me." The urge to leave this area never really occurred to him.

There are visits to the East Perry Community Fair that Shain can recall. Some while doing coverage for KFVS on such events as the Mule Jump, and other visits that were just for personal enjoyment. Either way he has always enjoyed his trips. This year he has an entirely different reason to attend, as we honor him and his career on a job well done bringing the Heartland its news. The East Perry Community Fair is proud to have Mike Shain as the Grand Marshall for the 2009 Fair.

Bands from Perryville, St. Vincent, Oak Ridge, Meadow Heights High Schools and the Saxony Hills Community Band will highlight the parade, along with floats and entries from area schools, churches, civic organizations, and businesses.

All attendees should plan to arrive early for the parade in order to avoid heavy traffic that precedes the parade, and to find a good viewing spot.

Please remember that traffic into Altenburg is usually stopped at 1:00pm for the parade to set up, and remains halted till the parade has finished.