NOTE: This was written for broadcast and reflects the thoughts of Neal Barton.

As Paul Harvey used to say, “shop talk.” A huge award to a fellow East Texan in my business. Dave Ward was the main news anchor for KTRK in Houston for 50 years. 50 years. That’s incredible to last that long and be number one in the market. This sort of thing will never happen again for a myriad of reasons, but did you know Dave was one of us before he ever went to Houston?

Born in Dallas, he lived in Jacksonville and ended up going to Tyler Junior College. His first broadcasting job was at KGKB in downtown Tyler. He was good at broadcasting and it was here he discovered his talent. He eventually ended up in Houston radio then TV for half a century.

He retired a few years ago, but this week he had a street named for him right by KTRK where he worked for so long. Dave Ward Place is the street name. Many of you moved here from Houston. You’ve talked about him to me. What an honor. I’m friends with his daughter. She lives here. Met him through her. He’s as down to Earth as us because he still is one of us.

That’s my point of view, what’s yours? You can email me at pov@ketk.com or Facebook me at KETK Neal Barton.