Arlington Hts. is ground zero for Spike O'Dell's farewell
Spike O'Dell, WGN Radio's morning anchor, isn't the sentimental type. He says he hates saying goodbye.
But when he signs off his show at 9 a.m. Friday - not just for the day, but from a 20-year broadcasting career with WGN - there will be hundreds of people shouting farewell.
O'Dell's final broadcast, at the 300-seat theater inside the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights, has been one of the single biggest events the venue has had to prepare for.
The phone at Metropolis hasn't stopped ringing since O'Dell's final show was announced. His fans are even booking local hotel rooms to sleep for a few hours before getting up in the wee hours to stand in line for wristbands.
"It's going to be surreal," O'Dell predicts.
The entire team from O'Dell's weekday show will be in Arlington Heights for the 5-9 a.m. broadcast.
Scheduled guests for Friday include Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder and the St. Viator High School band, as well as former staff members and old friends from O'Dell's show, including Linc Hampton, Tom Petersen, Lyle Dean, Anne Maxfield, Mike Mathis, Roger Triemstra and Glen Kozlowski.
Starting at 4 a.m., Metropolis will hand out wristbands to people in line.
The first 309 fans will take their seats at 4:30 a.m., and once the theater is full, no one else may enter until someone leaves.
Overflow fans will be issued tickets numbered in the order of where they stood in line. They can listen to the broadcast in the adjoining restaurant, Grand Station, which will open early for the occasion.
O'Dell is looking forward to the farewell, and being on location, which he says "definitely is different than being in the studio."
"You're not in your comfort zone, so it keeps you on edge, keeps you sharp and keeps you focused," he added.
After the broadcast, O'Dell and the team will chat with the assembled fans.
"It's pretty cool to be able to get out and press the flesh and meet the people who listen to you," O'Dell added.
"(Then) I'll be getting in my car to drive south, where my family already is settled in the new house. It's pretty crazy."
Marlene Wells, sales promotion coordinator for WGN, said the station was searching for the next stop in its "Hometown Voices" tour, and Arlington Heights was suggested as a community not yet profiled.
Each month for the last three years, WGN has selected a different community and their on-air talent takes turns broadcasting from the various sites.
"It just so happens that Spike's turn was up," Wells says, "and it turned out to be his final broadcast."
Station officials had two Arlington Heights sites in mind, but ultimately went with Metropolis for its stage, theater seating and sound system.
The stage will hold three tables, one with producer Jimmy Wiser and the sound engineer. The middle one will have O'Dell, newscaster Andrea Darlas, business reporter Orion Samuelson, and the featured guest. Traffic reporter Mary Van de Velde and sports editor Dave Eanet will sit at the third.
"Now I know what it's like to have front row tickets to a Rolling Stones concert or the presidential inauguration," quips Jim Jarvis, Metropolis executive director. "You're the most popular person in town."
Metropolis officials say their increased workload has been worth it.
"There's a lot of pressure on everyone to make his last broadcast go smoothly," Jarvis says. "But that's what we do here, put on 427 live performances a year. We've got the staff to do it, and we're up for the challenge."
Their work doesn't end with the final broadcast. No sooner does the program end, then Metropolis officials will break down the stage to start setting up for an 11:30 a.m. performance of "A Christmas Carol."