I watched Bob's commencement speech at Drury University today as the commencement ceremony was streamed live this afternoon on the Drury website.
Bob led the graduates into the Weiser gymnasium. In his speech, he refered to the gymnasium in that when he was at KTTS in Springfield, Bob's first remote was the laying of the cornerstone of the building in 1947-what was amusing about the anecdote was that a larger crowd was there than anticipated so he hopped on top of the station engineer's car to do the report-while climbing the car he put the microphone in his coat pocket. When it came time to do the report, his microphone got caught in his jacket pocket-so all he could do was raise the jacket pocket to his lips to do the report-what he didn't say in his speech I read in an old magazine interview he did was that a mother with her small daughter was nearby-the daughter pointed out to her mother and said "Mommy why is that man talking into his coat-in which the mother replied "Nevermind he's crazy."
His three main points in his speech to the graduates were to do the best you can everyday in your profession, to not waste your time in life and to be personally responsible for your actions. Bob gave personal insights and references to each. He also acknowleged Dorothy Jo that without her, he would not be at the podium that day.
Of course he ended his speech with a reminder to help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered.
The best part of the excercise was after he received his honorary doctorate degree-Bob went over to the podium and said that for the rest of the time he's taping TPIR he wants to be referred to as "Dr. Bob."
Bob was very warmly received and elicited many laughs during his speech and cheers when he entered the gymnasium and was introduced. Yes, he received a standing ovation-the only thing that was MISSING was the TPIR theme as he led the graduates inside-that would've been a hoot.
Along with Bob on the trip was his brother Kent and his publicist Henri Bollinger who were also acknowleged.
Later this evening Bob is to throw out the opening pitch to the second game of a double header at the Springfield Cardinals baseball team which can be heard online on the Springfield Cardinal website.
As of 7:05 PM EST they are still in the first game-hopefully the online broadcast will have Bob up in the booth!!
Apparently Friday was the day to be in Springfield as Bob toured the city on foot stopping by at a few hangouts (Mosque Auditorium)where he and Dorothy Jo had their first date for one-but according to the President of Drury who was with him. Bob accomodated everyone for autographs and to have their picture taken with him.
