Art Gilmore
Chairman Emeritus
|
Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters was founded in 1966 by announcer Art Gilmore
and a group of 178 original members. Edgar Bergen (Charlie McCarthy) was
the founding Chairman of the Board. Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee) was the
second Chairman followed by Ralph Edwards, the third Chairman. Jeanne
DeVivier Brown is the current Chairman of the Board and the membership stands
at 550.
Unchanged from its original concept, PPB hosts five celebrity luncheons a year
at Sportsmen's Lodge, where men and women with at least 20 years
of professional employment in Radio and Television Broadcasting or allied fields
join together to renew old friendships, meet new members and honor fellow pioneer
broadcasters for their achievements. The person being honored at each luncheon is
presented PPB's coveted Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award, and well-known
entertainment personalities recall some of their most amusing memories of the honoree.
In the past, PPB held evening "Nostalgia Nights" at its "Clubroom" located
in the lower level of the Washington Mutual Bank building at the corner of Sunset
and Vine - the site of the old NBC Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately, a DWP
transformer explosion with resultant possible contamination has forced a hiatus
until the matter can be resolved and access again permitted.
Jeanne DeVivier Brown
Chairman of the Board
|
In its "Clubroom," PPB has accumulated one of the largest collections of scripts,
quality transcriptions of radio programs and broadcast equipment in existence.
Over the next few years, portions of this irreplaceable material will be forwarded
to California's Thousand Oaks Library for display and research in its future
American Radio Archives building. That ambitious project will soon be seeking
funding for what will be a beautiful new building housing America's most-extensive
radio memorabilia.
|