BIG 13 and BEYOND

By 1965, Adrian and his wife Miriam were parents to young Cynthia, with Cheryl coming along a year later.  Life at home included keeping a classic Corvette in top condition and serving as a youth counselor at a local Methodist church.  Adrian also built his own darkroom to serve an interest in photography.  Every year he created a special photo Christmas photo card of the Snow family. 

After nearly seven years at WFLA, Adrian wanted to focus more on the job of maintenance, which included fixing broken equipment and preventative work.  His boss was cool to the idea.   "The maintenance supervisor at Channel 8 was very protective of his area," laughs Adrian, who applied for a position with WFLA's chief rival…WTVT.  "In May of 1965, I was hired at Channel 13 by the Chief Engineer, Bill Witt, and a senior manager, John Haberlan.  Mr. Haberlan, who was a staunch Catholic, saw me and said to Witt, 'Oh, my gosh…you didn't tell me he was a Methodist.  We can't hire him!!'  That was John…a great guy." 

 
News photographer Marvin Scott (left) welcomes Adrian Snow
to BIG 13's film processor.

Adrian found himself among a an eclectic group of WTVT engineers.  "Jack King, Ed Shaw, Ray Fowler, Red McMurrow, Larry Pacifico, Brian Reese, Lawton Metcalfe, and Emmett West were a few of the guys I joined at Channel 13," says Adrian.  "The culture at 13 was more of a close-knit family than Channel 8.  There were regular parties and barbecues where everyone mixed it up.  Back at the studio, production and engineering got along quite well.  We worked well with the projection and tape people. It was a fun place to work, and the fact that we were doing new things with leading-edge technology, and buying stuff where money was no object…they wanted it done right."    Adrian discovered that a maintenance man's job at Channel 13 meant involvement with all departments at the studio and even work off-site.  "At WTVT it included the film lab, Roy Leep's weather department, the mobile unit, and occasionally going out to Mr. Dodson's house to adjust the antenna," explains Adrian.   "We had four maintenance men on staff at WTVT.  One of us would usually accompany the mobile unit, in case a tape machine or any other piece of equipment needed fixing."