Betty Lou also hosted the yearly Iowa State Fair and VEISHEA Parades. In the mid-1970s, she conceived and hosted 'Stringers Newscast,' a show that featured film shorts and animations produced by the viewing public. Betty Lou also produced and hosted the award-winning вЂњStatus 6вЂќ which focused on the struggles of the handicapped in Iowa for which she received the McCall's Golden Mike Award for Women in Radio and Television. вЂњ Dimension 5вЂќ addressed the controversial topics of the day with shows featuring Medal of Honor Winners, Nobel Prize Winners, The American Indian Movement, Women's Rights, Gay and Lesbian rights and many others. Among the first in her field, she hosted a local talk show, вЂњ Dimension 5вЂќ, which ran on Tuesday evenings starting at 10:30 PM and ending when all of the viewers' questions were answered and the panel members had expressed their views-often causing the show to run into the early hours of the morning. She worked on other projects at WOI-TV and became the motive force behind many significant public affairs and entertainment shows. Vernam on an episode of 'The Rifleman' that aired Octoit was Season 4 Episode 3. She made only one appearance as an actress. Although targeted for young children, вЂњ The Magic WindowвЂќ would become a favorite of children of all ages as generations grew up with Betty Lou. McVay and her special friends, вЂњGregory LionвЂќ (a perpetually 4-year-old lion), вЂњCatrina CrocodileвЂќ (a witch who had changed herself into a beautiful crocodile) and вЂњDusty the UnicornвЂќ (more formally known as вЂњStardust GlimmerвЂќ, who was 3000В years old вЂ“ young for a unicorn), would chat with visitors, teach a clever craft, and watch wholesome cartoons such as вЂњ Felix the CatвЂќ and вЂњ Tales of the Riverbank,вЂќ a Canadian live-action short about вЂњHammy the HamsterвЂќ, вЂњRoderick the RatвЂќ and friends.

вЂњBetty Lou and the House with the Magic Window,вЂќ as the show was later titled, was a children's show aimed at kindergarten and preschoolers that took place in the Magic Forest.

вЂњ The Magic WindowвЂќ ran continuously from 1951 through 1994. Although she had never been in a television studio before and had only been on the job for two days, McVay took over as host of вЂњ The Magic WindowвЂќ, which would become America's longest-running local children's program. It was the first commercial television station in the United States to be owned by a major college. At that time, WOI-TV was owned and operated by Iowa State University and had just signed on the air on February 21, 1950. In late 1954, after being contacted by WOI-TV managers, McVay left her teaching job and went to work in television. She took a job teaching literature and speech at the high school in Port Washington, Wisconsin.ДЄn acquaintance of McVay's who attended the University of Wisconsin, Platteville and worked at WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa suggested her as a host for a television show. After graduation, McVay returned to her hometown, Platteville, and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in teaching. After the war, McVay moved to Madison and attended the University of WisconsinвЂ“Madison where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in English literature. The family lived in Platteville during WWII as McVay completed public school. Her father was a popular local optometrist and sportsman and her mother was a housewife. Her parents, Glen and Louise McVay, moved to the small town of Platteville, Wisconsin later that same year. I still have a framed copy of the check and the story.ДЄnd thus began my 27 years as a paragraph stacker.Varnum was born in Chicago. If it met their vaunted, venerable standards, this could be the beginning of a career if I could get the words out of my head and onto a disc in time.Д®rb said, вЂњNice job.вЂќ He paid me $25. This was a real goddamn newspaper story for the actual goddamn Des Moines Register. I paused only to steal glances at the clock. Fear drove me as I hunt-and-pecked each letter.

My fingers clattered across the keyboard in the East High School journalism room. I interviewed an ex-girlfriend who had a letterwomanвЂ™s sweater, the catcher from the East baseball team and the owner of Van Ginkel Athletic Co., a clothier on Ingersoll Avenue that made more athletic uniforms for Iowa high schools and small colleges than any other. Erb asked if such clothes were going out of style. Two of us came from East High School, maybe a dozen from city and suburban secondary schools. The Des Moines Register brought in a handful of high school journalism students to contribute to the Metro sectionвЂ™s new schools page.

Betty lou and the magic window