Hint: It’s not me, though I had something to do with it.
Another hint: It’s not Duke, though he had quite a lot to do with it.
Last hint: It’s not the Band. (Besides, I said “man” singular so the Band as a group is out.) But yeah, the Band had a little something to do with it, too.
Who’s the real hero? It’s this guy right here:
RONALD E. YOUNGS, Major, Media Specialist, Penn State University
I knew him as both a captain and a major, but Ron Youngs is really the guy to thank. He recorded every concert, every record and every other audio-worthy event during my five-year tenure at VFMA, and I suspect he did for many of the years prior to my arrival. His recordings are the genesis of the record albums that are listed here. His recordings of our concerts that he copied one at a time onto reel-to-reel tape for us to purchase are the genesis of the concert tracks that are on this site.
Without Ron, all we’d have now are distant memories of those fine musicians with whom we associated during our cadet days. Whether it’s the vinyl grooves of a record album or the ferrous oxide on the reel-to-reel tapes, it’s not just the Band on there. It’s Ron’s skill and talent on there, too. Sure, the rest of us had a little something to do with it, but Ron’s diligence and dedication helped preserve for all of us the memories of our friends, our music, and our alma mater.
On behalf of all the Bandies, thank you.
It was great seeing Ron again at the reunion last weekend. I too thank Ron for doing such a great job over the years.
I’ll have to agree with you, Ron was an interval part of helping preserve our youth in the recordings he produced.
Ron started in 1968 and was a civilian faculty member. The following year they made him second lieutenant where he wore a military uniform. He was a great guy and I really enjoyed working with him. He, like Colonel Woodside, always acted like normal civilian person not playing that military protocol.
I was in my third year there when I joined the audio visual club. That’s where I got to meet Ron and work for him in my last two years there. He had his office/workshop in that building behind Mellon Hall where the original movie theater was with that floor that sloped down to the front screen. And next to the regimental courtroom where people walked out with a hundred demerits and 100 hours of marching time. Didn’t they tear that building down in the 70’s?
I’ll never forget how he improved the movies that were shown on Friday and Saturday nights.
He rented movies that were more exciting and interesting which brought in larger viewing crowds. The attendance for those two movie nights were so large that there were nights that were sold out. You were lucky if that old theater can hold 300 people. He switched viewing from that old theater to the Mellon Hall auditorium. That room was much larger and had additional seating in the upper balcony.
He was responsible for having the school buy the state-of-the-art dual special Bell & Howell model 540 16 mm film projectors. They came in a pair. These two projectors enabled the projectionist to show a multi reel feature/film without that interrupted reel change. It enabled continuous showing by just pressing a button. Add to that the two expensive cinema scope, foot-long lenses that were needed to project the movie that far distance between the projector and the screen. It was some setup!
And as for as his recording equipment that he used to make those records from: he had that small 7” reel to reel Teac tape recorder that he used to record two of our choir albums. The one being that Christmas concert and the choir at the end of 1970. I guess he did the same for you guys in a band.
There were several times I came back to visit after graduation. I remember one time he caught me on campus and was anxious to show me his new audio recording equipment acquisition. He had bought a new high-end Teac 10 1/2 inch reel half track recorder. Then he pulled out the microphones. They were Newman condenser microphones: real professional equipment. Any audio enthusiast would have been envious.
When did he leave the Forge? He must’ve been there for some time seeing that the above image states his rank as Major.