Welcome to the Huntington Tri-State Time Machine, sponsored by Realty Exchange.

I'm your host WG Bunch. This is a podcast where my guests and I share our memories of the Huntington Tri-State Area. Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, Chesapeake, Ohio. Nothing too serious, no political views, and no ulterior motives. We're just here to share our fun stories about this great area.

Whether you're a past resident or a current Tri-State resident, I think you're going to have fun with us.

So sit back and relax and welcome to The Huntington Tri-State Time Machine, sponsored by Realty Exchange.

Copyright 2024 Vanessa Hankins

The Huntington Tri State Time machine features memories from across the tri state area

>> Intro: This is the Huntington tri state time machine, brought to you by realty exchange, the top performing real estate company in the Huntington, West Virginia tri state area. Each week, your host, w. G. Bunch, and his guests share memories and stories about the past, the present, and the future of the Huntington tri state area. Sets Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, and in the Chesapeake and Proctorville, Ohio area. If you used to live here or you currently live here, you're going to catch yourself saying out loud, wow, I remember that now. Here's WG.

>> Speaker B: Here we are. There you are. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Joe Murphy with some special guests celebrating the memorial William G. Bunch episode of the Huntington Tri State Time machine.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm, um, here with some special guests. Let's start out by introducing a very special guest, Mr. Alex Kendall. How you doing today, Alex?

>> Speaker C: Doing okay, Joe. Thank you for having me. Uh, it's a good day to think about WG.

>> Vanessa: Hey, guys, as always, happy to be here. Wish our guy was with, you know.

>> Speaker B: He is with us. And, uh, as you know, Vanessa, you've been doing a lot of the, uh, groundwork and getting a lot of the folks together, which wasn't really hard. They came in droves.

>> Vanessa: Oh, they did. We have people from all over the. It's. It's wild, the impact that man had on all of our lives.

>> Speaker B: Yeah, we all knew it, right?

>> Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

>> Speaker B: Since you were a.

>> Speaker C: Right, right. Well, yeah. I mean, I've known WG, like, almost all my life, but honestly, we weren't really friends as, uh, kids. Not that we weren't friends, but I didn't really know him when we were growing up. Now I grew up, he was, uh, just off Wilshire Boulevard, and I was up Holderby road, and so we'd walk to school in the mornings, and you couldn't cross the street without the crossing guards. Right. So I'm waiting on one corner, he's waiting on another corner. And I knew that that was WG because this guy was already schoolyard famous as the funniest guy. As the funniest guy famous at Meadows elementary. Uh, but, yeah, he was so much older than me. He was like, in fourth grade. I was only in, like, second grade, so I didn't really know the guy. But, uh, my favorite story growing up was we were waiting on the crossing guards one time, he's over across the street, there's this yappy little dog barking at the kids. And WG, of course, starts barking back, right? He's going to show that dog, right? Uh, and I don't know, I guess maybe the dog nipped at WG or something like that. And as the story goes, I wasn't over there, okay?

>> Speaker B: As the legend is told, supposedly WG.

>> Speaker C: Bit the dog back, okay? Now, I have no proof of this whatsoever, but this was the legend that I grew up with. That WG bunch was that crazy kid that bit that dog.

>> Speaker B: And you know who made that legend?

>> Vanessa: Out of my head?

>> Speaker B: You know who made that legend? He never bit a dog. But you were all afraid of WG bunch because he was wild and he would bite a dog. I love this guy. Yeah.

>> Speaker C: But I finally got to know him, uh, after I started hanging out with you, like, eight years ago or whatever it was. And I remember talking about him, and you're like, I can't believe you guys aren't already best friends.

>> Speaker B: Also, it takes a village to raise a bunch of us to handle the. So it's like a capacitor, right? To handle the overload.

>> Speaker C: So you were punning him up on me? No. It's funny you mentioned that because Joe.

>> Vanessa: Was busy traveling, so he needed somebody at home to take care of him.

>> Speaker C: Basically what happened is Joe sets us up on a blind date. Now, that's not what it was supposed to be. The three of us were supposed to get together and meet for dinner, mu cafe, whatever. And WG and I get there, you're caught up at work or something. He's 2 hours late. I don't know, something like that.

>> Speaker B: The love connection. I was trying to make a love.

>> Speaker C: Connection for you guys. Well, so, uh, we get to talking, and of course everything just goes and everything. We click and everything. Music geeks just go on and on. And at some point, he looks at me, he's like, did we just become best friends?

>> Vanessa: Yes, he did.

>> Speaker B: Do you want to do kung fu in the garage?

>> Vanessa: Do you, like, kiss?

>> Speaker C: Right. Well, uh, so he invites me over. I'm really nervous, right?

>> Speaker B: I'm sweating. I didn't know what to wear. This is funny.

>> Speaker C: He invites me over to the man cave, right down there with the, uh, outhouse. If you've never been down there, there's an actual outhouse in the middle of his living room.

>> Speaker B: Sounds atrocious. It's not as bad as you're making.

>> Speaker C: It sound right now.

>> Speaker B: It's a really nice. It's a nice indoor porta potty. It's a very nice indoor outhouse, but.

>> Speaker C: It'S an outhouse, um, it's right there in the middle of the kiss Star wars museum, as people like to call it. Uh, but one thing. I will always, forever be grateful to WG. We were hanging out one night down at, uh, mu cafe, of course. Uh, and we're sitting there, and he's critiquing my radio show, podcast, um, but very constructive criticism. And he was right.

Vanessa: WG changed the course of the show overnight

And I have followed his advice ever since that time, and I always will.

>> Speaker B: Uh, what? Just to stop, I'm trying to channel WG.

>> Vanessa: You're spot on.

>> Speaker C: Um, but it was a lot of fun, too.

>> Vanessa: Got to love the sound effects.

>> Speaker C: Uh, the funny thing was, we're sitting there, we start talking about the rock and roll hall of fame and who should be in, who shouldn't be in, what's rock and roll? All this stuff. And he's like, this is what you need on your show right now. He's like, let's go live right now. Get your phone out. We're going Facebook live, right? We start bantering back and forth.

>> Vanessa: All.

>> Speaker C: The hand movements, and then he starts harassing the waitresses. He's like, hey, who's better, Michael Jackson or Prince? He's like, depeche mode or who? Anyway, but it was like, even this is long before the podcast, but he was already a natural man. He was like, just made for it.

>> Vanessa: Is this when you initially met?

>> Speaker B: The very first time I meet him.

>> Vanessa: So funny.

>> Speaker B: And I can't stand the guy, right? I see that. He's so handsome, right?

>> Speaker C: Handsome.

>> Speaker B: I come in, I'm filming the guy, and these girls are coming out, and he did this thing, uh, that still to this day, I'm doing it right now called the half tuck. All right? It's for guys with a certain body shape, right? So you tuck the front in, you let the back out. Or sometimes you tuck the back in, you let the front out. It's the half tuck. I saw this guy. I even commented that night, hey, nice tuck, my friend. But I remember this guy. He came in, he was a DJ in Houston, and everybody, everybody, it was Banana Joe's island party at that time. Talk about Huntington tri state time machine, right? Banana Joe.

>> Vanessa: We had a banana Joe's episode.

>> Speaker B: So WG was the Mc, and everyone was captivated by everyone. Vanilla, I think vanilla ice one time was even there. Everybody's like, who's this guy?

>> Vanessa: Right?

>> Speaker B: So I, uh, mean, story after story, everybody. He made such an impact. But, Vanessa, uh, we saw him fix Alex's show overnight, right?

>> Vanessa: Absolutely changed the course there in the office.

>> Speaker B: You came along, uh, kind of, I think the second season, right, of Huntington tri state time machine. And I remember talking to WG, uh, about you coming on, and he said, wow. Just wow. He said, you're not going to believe the show. It's totally changed. I'm like, all right, come on. What's changed? He's like, no, it's totally changed. And I think we all know what's changed about it. It's that laugh, uh, earlier, how did this happen?

WG approached me to be on safety town episode, which people loved

That's what I want to know. All the listeners want to know.

>> Vanessa: Everybody wants in the world.

>> Speaker B: Did you two, number one, get together, number two, not kill each other in all of this time?

>> Speaker C: Huh?

>> Vanessa: We really vibed so well. Um, I think we were on the same page with what we wanted, um, out of the podcast and what we were both getting out of it. It was kind of like therapy for both of us. Um, but he had approached me to be on the safety town episode, uh, which people were going crazy for. He was not the only person. He had, like, an army of people. Hey, you need to be on this podcast. You got to be on this podcast. You got to do it. And I was like, I just don't know, man. It's not my thing. Um, I'm, um, going to be, like, an idiot, uh, for, like, I don't know, dude. So he talks to Hank, dial our city manager, to convince me, yeah, we need to do this. It's got to happen. So that's my boss. I, uh, don't have an option anymore. He knew what he was doing, and it was a great episode. It was very fun. I love my work. So talking about it came naturally, and I think that's kind of what knocked that episode out.

>> Speaker B: One of the best episodes.

>> Vanessa: It really was.

>> Speaker B: Undeniably, I think it's one of the highest rated episodes. Everybody loved it. Listen, everyone who knows of safety town loves safety town.

>> Vanessa: Safety town is the best.

>> Speaker B: It means it's a memory. I'm almost 50. I literally carry this memory so close to me. So when we heard that episode talk about walking down memory lane. Oh, yeah, that's ultimate.

>> Vanessa: And like, gearing up for that episode was so fun, too, because I got to hear all of his stories. He went to the OG, um, background. Oh, he could still fit the cars.

>> Speaker C: Absolutely.

>> Speaker C: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: And I'm like, oh, I don't understand any of that, but cool. Yeah, I'll come back. I'll do it.

>> Speaker B: Well, you know, WG, one of his things was, and we all know this, uh, and you've come to know, uh, going this whole show wasn't about just blowing himself up. It's about this place that he lives. And, ah, he was always trying to shine a light on good things. And safety town, he knew was a great program. It meant something to him. We'd talked about it in the past, uh, and so that was just WG. And what people didn't know is, while he was the consummate showman, he's our Paul Stanley, right?

>> Vanessa: He's the guy that always.

>> Speaker B: He was always doing such great things for this community. Uh, and not just this community, but just people at large.

WG donated his entire collection to raise money for Ms.

Uh, throughout the last few days, I've met so many people that met us during the, uh. So we did a little thing a couple of years ago. You guys know how much WG loves kiss, right?

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Speaker B: So what many people don't know is that WG put his entire collection together. We brought it downtown Huntington. We made this museum, and we called it the kiss Stravaganza. All right? So we charged, ah, a surcharge on top of every ticket. Everybody got to come. We got a kiss pinball machine, and.

>> W.G.: We put it in there.

>> Speaker B: We had all these guitars. These amazing people came from all over the country to this event. And at the end of the event, WG started auctioning off some of his memorabilia we raised, which is beautiful, thousands of dollars.

>> Vanessa: I know that would have been hard for him to.

>> Speaker B: Yeah. Because this man, he loved his collection. He has every toy, everything that he's ever owned. He never got rid of it.

>> Vanessa: He's a collector.

>> Speaker B: So, uh, he donated all this away and made thousands and thousands of dollars. This is what people don't know. They thought we just threw a party. WG called it a party with a purpose. Right? And so we had a party with a purpose. We raised thousands of dollars for Ms. A couple years later, uh, he comes up with an idea, calls me the new Star wars movies coming out. You remember this? And so WG has a massive Star wars collection, too. So he decides to auction almost all of the collection off, except for his original figures. He kept those, the ogs. But he auctions the entire thing off. We rent the entire theater at marquee for the opening night.

>> Vanessa: I love that.

>> Speaker B: And the entire place was packed. It was absolutely.

>> Vanessa: Photos. It looked like a great time.

>> Speaker B: And again, raised thousands of dollars for Ms, which his sister is afflicted with Ms. And it's so close to him, and that's his way of giving back. And again, we know with the elf, we know with what he did, Dubba. And again, he always was a part of infectious.

>> Speaker C: You want to be a part of it? Oh, somebody's going to go see the Star Wars. I want to go with WG. Somebody's going to a concert. I want to go with WG.

>> Vanessa: Yeah. There's no other way.

>> Speaker B: Yeah. So, uh, again, we have spent the last couple of days, and there have been tears, obviously, especially again, uh, when Robin Bunch Bailey played Beth today at the. Oh, WG was. Yeah, yeah. Right. So, uh, it's been a beautiful, beautiful weekend. We've enjoyed each other's company. We've heard so many amazing stories. Again, we have folks from California, we have folks from Texas. All the Houston boys are, uh, know. Again, everybody knows that WG was a Huntington native. Uh, but then he, uh, went to the University of Houston and was a Sig Ep. Right. And that was something very important to him. Uh, and Houston, not only, uh, was he a Sig Ep and the ultimate college man. But he also entertained audiences as a popular. Not just popular, an award winning.

>> Vanessa: I was going to say, I just found out he was an award winning.

>> Speaker B: Well, he was very humble dj of the year.

>> Vanessa: Very humble.

>> Speaker C: Nobody would know that he was right.

>> Vanessa: Yeah.

>> Speaker B: You didn't know these things. But he was a popular radio club MC and disc jockey. And was one of the nation's top hospitality consultants and musical director. WG won dj of the year. I forget the year. I think it was 19. 95. 96. But he was in the Houston market, WGe. He was kind of a big deal. He was the Ron Burgundy.

>> Vanessa: And, like, seriously, he's so damn handsome. I just can't imagine the women loving him.

>> Speaker B: Well, when he came to Huntington, everybody was like, oh, this guy, right? Ah, man, come on.

>> Speaker C: Leave some girls. We don't need that extra.

This show has been sponsored by many amazing folks, uh, this entire time

>> Speaker B: You know, again, we've shared so many stories. I know you guys have heard so many amazing stories. And we want to start to welcome, uh, some of the folks who are here. Uh, again, this show has been sponsored by many amazing folks, uh, this entire time. Yeah, Vanessa, obviously, this entire time. Realty exchange.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, we've had realty exchange. Um, as you guys know, if you've listened to any of the episodes, realty exchange is the number one top selling real estate company. In the Huntington Tristate area. They're licensed in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. You, uh, can find them on the web@realtyex.com. Um, of course, we also have had circle 270 media from the beginning.

>> Speaker C: Wow.

>> Speaker B: And they're going to have to do a miracle. To turn this one into something without WG.

>> Vanessa: They are the magic.

>> Speaker C: I personally would like to give a shout out for them, because we always ran long every time I ever did anything with WG.

>> Speaker B: We're going to run to the moon tonight.

>> Vanessa: Every time. Yeah. But, um, they've been wonderful. Um, we are so thankful that realty exchange saw in us, uh, to be able to continue us doing what we saw.

>> Speaker B: His vision.

>> Vanessa: Shane always saw the vision. He always saw the vision and encouraged it. And allowed us to basically be children weekly.

>> Speaker B: So all of you listeners out there, just to make sure Shane, the folks at realty exchange have made this happen the whole time.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Speaker B: And let's not forget, uh, if you guys hear some clinking, you hear some, uh, background noise, uh, we are enjoying our sweet malls, the sights, the sounds, uh, delicious food. Yeah. So, uh, we had so many people show up that we had to move the venue.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, the podcast company, normally, yeah, that coworks another one of our sponsors. There was no way we were fitting.

>> Speaker B: In there, and everybody was hungry, and everybody wanted to lift a toast. So, uh, here we are at 21.

>> Vanessa: 21.

>> Speaker B: And, uh, they have given us a nice space. And again, we hear all of them clinking and clanking in the back. Thank you guys for that. Mark Cross. Appreciate it.

>> Vanessa: Super thankful.

>> Speaker B: Uh, but again, uh, we are going to, uh, bring in some of the other folks.

Vanessa: He's crazy. He tells the truth even when he lies. Or he tells a lot of lies

But before we do that, Vanessa, uh, I know that you wanted to share a couple of moments from the show's history and listen in a few short years. What a bunch of wacky, wacky moments.

>> Vanessa: I mean, seriously, when he asked me to be on the podcast, I had to go back and listen to them all to be like, do you really want to be part of this? And I'm like, what the hell, man? This guy's wild. Or he tells a lot of lies, and turns out they're lying. Yeah, he's just that crazy.

>> Speaker B: He tells the truth even when he lies.

>> Vanessa: Yes, absolutely.

WG and Vanessa discuss making safety town buildings interactive for kids

>> Speaker B: All right, so, Vanessa, let's go ahead and play one of your very favorite moments of your very first episode with WG. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, the very first episode, uh, the safety town episode.

>> Vanessa: Episode.

>> Speaker B: Here's one of our favorite excerpts, uh, with WG and Vanessa.

>> Vanessa: Well, all the buildings are big enough to go in, but our police and fire, the goal is to have them interactive to where the kids can go in and experience. I know in our fire building, we have already have a pole.

>> W.G.: Wait, hold on. Did you just say your fire department has a pole? Did you just say that, Vanessa? Uh, for the love of God, you're not training future fire. Oh, no. Let's put a dalmatian in there or something.

>> Vanessa: Should we? Can we?

>> W.G.: Yeah, I think so. I think we can get a Dalmatian. Um, and it doesn't even have to be real, but.

>> Vanessa: I'm a big fan of pups. I know you are.

>> W.G.: Yeah, absolutely. Maybe we can talk to Courtney and work out something with them.

>> Vanessa: We can work out something with the animal shelter.

>> W.G.: I will tell you, for our childhood and our youth, those were storage buildings. The cars in there, um, that's where the cars went after the kids left. We always have them out before they show up and then spot. Okay, but then the doors would open up, and you would slide the cars in there, and we would do maintenance and have spare batteries. Um, that's the mystery behind the facade, uh, back then, because. Yeah, I would just. Vanessa, you guys never wondered why the fire department building was so popular and you're like, why do these kids want dollar bills?

>> Vanessa: It ah had to been those retirees hanging out down there.

This podcast is brought to you by realty exchange in Huntington, West Virginia

>> Intro: Thanks for listening to the Huntington tri state time machine brought to you by realty exchange, the top performing real estate company in the Huntington, West Virginia tri state area. If you have a memory you would want WG to talk more about, just send him an email at memories@htstimemachine.com or post a comment on the time Machine Facebook group page. Did you like this episode? Be sure to share it with friends and family. You can find a link in the show notes that you can use to share it. And be sure to let realty exchange know that you like the podcast as well. Their contact information can be found in this episode's show notes.