Tap Dancing Anchor Is Just Part of the Drama
While you were more than likely fast asleep, snuggled up in your sheets on 4th of July morning…Donald, Bill and I were going through our normal routine of waking up to the sound of an alarm clock at 2 am…driving into work with hardly a car in sight…then once at the studio preparing to anchor the morning news.
At 5 am on the dot…our floor director Rhiannon instructs “stand by.” I take one last glance in the mirror to make sure my hair isn’t sticking out and one more sip of coffee. Donald glances down to make sure he’s standing behind the piece of tape marking where he’s to stand. Bill is feverishly typing up his weather graphics for the show. “In three, two, one.” The show open is potted up. We’re on. “Hi there, thanks for joining us for NBC17 Today.” That was just the beginning my friends of a wild and crazy ride. Keep in mind it was a Friday morning and at that point we were already on our second cup of highly caffeinated, dark coffee (not Bill, he doesn’t drink coffee) AND it was a HOLIDAY! The madness started early. Trust me, commercial breaks are ALWAYS “interesting.” Here are some behind the scenes pics courtesy of Erica Bustamonte. 
Check out the pic below. Bill and I were just having a normal conversation (as I use the word normal loosely), but little did we know Donald was giving us bunny ears. 
And, how about my co-anchor Donald Jones’ tap dancing? When he was a child he wanted to learn how to tap dance, but never took classes. To this day, ever so often he’ll grace us with his wanna-be-moves (smile). Take a look. Oh, make sure to check out the facial expression of our floor director Rhiannon. Also, check out Donalds socks! After you watch the video I’ll explain why he was wearing those.
Not bad, huh? It almost sounded as though he was wearing tap shoes. As for the socks, on a regular workday he wears dress socks, but after the newscast he was heading out to a cycling race. You can read more about it on his blog Donalds Daily Draft.
Here’s kind of a serious moment. Bill is at the weather wall during the newscast. In the next picture Donald and I are waiting our turn. If you look closely at the third monitor behind our heads you’ll see Bill on TV. Then, Bill joins us at the anchor desk so we can chat about the weather before we toss to traffic. Ah, just another day at NBC17 Today. What a great job!
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Wow! That’s what I love about working in the mornings! All three of you are funny and the best people to work with. Oh… by the way…love the way you spell my last name