Broadcast vet shares with Scouts

01/23/2012

Written by Jonathan Reid

The Cub Scouts weren’t the only ones excited about meeting Valley radio and television veteran Pat McMahon.

The experience was particularly memorable for David Felten, who made an appearance on McMahon’s famous The Wallace and Ladmo Show as a child.

Now a longtime friend of McMahon, he cherished the opportunity to arrange a meeting with his son’s tiger cub den.

“When I was their age I was actually on The Wallace and Ladmo Show,” Felton said. “To be here now just a few years later is really exciting to see.”

The Cub Scouts are a group of first-graders from Hopi and ANLC Elementary School, and make up the Pack 6 – Tiger Den 4, which has one of the highest percentages of children attaining Eagle Scout rank in Arizona, according to Felton.

“The goal is to become an eagle scout, that is something that you move up to,” said Laura Felten, mother of Sam Felten. “They are just at the beginning of that trail.”

In addition to Sam Felton, den members include Morgan Manfredi, Holden Weisiger, Samuel Espinosa, Peter Mitchell and Andrew Rivera.

The boys visited McMahon to earn their communication badge and to listen to him speak about his passion for broadcasting and how he communicates to the Valley. Growing up in a traveling show-business family, McMahon went on to major in theatre arts with a minor in broadcast journalism.

“I knew that I always wanted to do something in the entertainment field,” McMahon said, “but I got tired of traveling. I said, ‘How can I do this whole communication thing without having to go to a new city every week?’ ”

McMahon has found his long career in radio to be rewarding.

“I thought it was kind of neat that you can just sit at a table with a microphone and then they send you places electronically,” McMahon said. “It really was tremendously advantageous.”

He also mentioned that Valley kids have a great opportunity to purse journalism because the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, one of the best journalism schools in the country, is in Phoenix.

Following their meeting with McMahon, the boys will be participating in other activities throughout the month in order to earn more badges. Later this January, the boys will be visiting a police station to learn about safety. They will also be going on a hike to enjoy the great outdoors.

The troop recently fulfilled their fitness badge by attending an Arcadia High School football game.