Chet Buchanan: The Voice Behind the City

Chet Buchanan recently wrapped up a 25-year run as the host and creator of 98.5 KLUC Las Vegas’ “Chet Buchanan Show.” Many know him from his work hosting and auctioneering innumerable charity, corporate, and civic events nationwide. The two-time Emmy Award winner is also highly regarded as the
Public Address Announcer for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, The Two Time WNBA World Champion Las Vegas Aces, USA Basketball, the NCAA Basketball “Sweet 16 and Elite 8,” The “Voice of NASCAR” for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Events and Gameday Host for the Las Vegas Bowl, and for serving almost two decades
as UNLV Basketball and Football Gameday Host. He may be best known for his annual Toy Drive where he lived and broadcast on radio, television and online on top of a 30-foot scaffold for 12 days straight every holiday season, for a total of 300 days of his life! The 2025 Toy Drive saw astounding totals yet again as another record setting 40 53-foot semi-trailers were filled, 6792 bicycles were collected, along with an incredible $792,430 in cash and gift card donations, bringing the 27-year total of toys, bikes, and gift cards and cash collected to an estimated value of over 60 million dollars. The City of Las Vegas has twice declared a “Chet Buchanan Day.” He has also received numerous State of Nevada and Clark County
commendations and recognitions, been named “Best of The City” by Vegas Seven, “Best of Las Vegas” by the Review-Journal and received the Silver State Humanitarian Award.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to Lipstick and Legacy, a podcast where your story matters and your journey has purpose. Together we lift and inspire our communities one story at a time. Welcome, Chimette.

SPEAKER_04 0:14

I didn't realize that's what I was getting myself into.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Yes, good.

SPEAKER_04 0:22

I'm going to drink coffee a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

He's definitely a local celebrity in my book for sure. He's been the voice of KLUC for many decades, a very popular radio station here in Las Vegas, and has had a tremendous impact on our local community as well as nationally. Chet, for those of people listening that don't know you, who is Chet Buchanan?

SPEAKER_04 0:49

Oh, geez. Um that's that's a what a great question to to lead that off. That's that's honestly that's really solid.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Um do you feel like on your you're on a stage at a beauty pageant?

SPEAKER_04 1:06

No, uh well, it's funny because you ask a very basic question. And then I, in my own brain, took that super deep.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Um I hope it is deep. So who is Chet Buchanan?

SPEAKER_04 1:20

If you were to give a nutshell to somebody who really doesn't know you, who I think I'm a guy that that's um super passionate about what I do, no matter no matter what that might be. Um I take I take what I do very seriously. I don't take myself very seriously, and I don't take a lot of other things uh very seriously. I mean, you know, there's there's there's shades. Um some people are very black and white and very absolute. I I can be, definitely can be. Um but I just think I'm I'm a super lucky guy. I'm a I'm a fortunate guy, somebody who believes in working hard, I'm somebody who believes in loving hard. Um obviously I'm I'm a guy who believes in doing podcasts with his laptop camera and bad lighting. Um the you know, I I but I think that's I think that encapsulates it. I I think you know, and everybody always says, well, what you see is what you get. Um I don't know if that's always true with me. I agree. I don't I don't know if what you say, you know, and I think anybody who's everybody who says that, I don't know if they're always telling the truth. Um I think I think some people don't think that you can be positive and enthusiastic and all those things all the time. And I'm here to tell you they're right. But but um I think 90, you know, 90% of the time, you know, you you try and and um warts and all.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

So you have spent decades behind the microphone, you've built this Las Vegas community from basically the ground up in that sense. What did the young Chet look like? What did your upbringing look like? And did you think that this would be your career, like when you were a little guy running around the you know, northern Pacific, were you like, I'm gonna be a radio guy?

SPEAKER_04 3:29

Yeah, this is this is literally all I ever wanted to do. Um it started early. Uh I was an only child, um split parent household, both of them awesome in their own, in their own ways. Um both of them um I don't know what I don't know what just happened in my house. I don't know if you could could you hear that in the background? So there's a there was a crash. We do have two cats. So um I grew up, I loved the radio, I wanted to be on the radio, um, and it just and and I was a big sports guy. So the idea, I always I always thought maybe I would be a an LA New York guy. I thought I I thought if anybody was gonna be Ryan C Ryan Seacrest, it was gonna be me. Um and I, you know, and you realize now, after this, you know, after this period of time, that obviously there are choices that you can make. And and there and there were decisions that I made somewhat early, somewhat early in my career. The other thing you asked me a minute ago who I am. I'm stupid loyal. I'm stupid. I and I love wearing the jersey for my team. There were many times when I chose loyalty and staying on my team. And I kind of thought that somebody might come up and tap me on the shoulder and go, okay, man, here we go. You're up. And it just and it doesn't work that way. It just doesn't. If you think, if you think you're someday somebody's gonna come and they're gonna discover you, it's not gonna happen. Right so just so stop that. I mean So what kind of kid were you?

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Like were you a good student? Were you squirrely? Were you interested in things? What how was that for you?

SPEAKER_04 5:37

I was a good kid. I'm sure there were a lot of people that probably didn't like me very much. Um, I don't know. I know one, I know, I know one guy who um, but uh yeah, I mean, I I had I had a lot of friends, but I get I was I was like I was ASP president, I was good student, decent athlete, you know, all all of those, I was kind of I was kind of all of those things. Believe it or not, I was a pretty good looking kid. I look at I look back at that guy and I'm like, look at you. Um the yeah, um it was it was a good childhood. We my parent, I I touched on my parents a second ago. They both worked incredibly hard, and they were both very uh uh value driven and um results driven. I was gonna say achievement driven. That's not that's not right. They were both very, but they were both very results driven, and and by that I mean it wasn't even it wasn't even whether you won or lost. It was did you do your best? It literally was that. It was it wasn't, hey, great, no, you do have good, you have great grades. And do you know why you have great grades? Because you're you're a reasonably smart kid, but because you worked hard.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Were you an athletic kid? Were you in sports and things like that?

SPEAKER_04 7:06

I was just an athlete. Yeah, I play I played football, basketball, and baseball, and soccer and all that stuff, and I was good. I think um I was a good enough athlete, but but like I outworked people. I I know that now. I you know, you see it now and you think about well, how you were how you were when you were younger. I outworked people. I was not the fastest, I was not the biggest, I was not the strongest. Um, any of those things, but I didn't I didn't quit. I was too dumb, I was too dumb to quit. Um and I just I remember I remember situations of going of going, okay, I'm tired, but I don't have to be. Like where your mind takes over. And that's man, that's dangerous in a good way. In a good way.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

You're gonna set you apart from everybody else.

SPEAKER_04 8:00

Oh man, you are a dangerous person when you dig in.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

When you dig in, you're consistent and persistent. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 8:07

A little a little something you know about.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Yes, yes, definitely. So, what brought you to Las Vegas? You you came from the Pacific Northwest and you're in Las Vegas. What did you get a uh break here? How did that occur?

SPEAKER_04 8:20

Yeah, it was the job. Um, and and oddly enough, um at that time, I had been out of radio for god, probably a year. Um, just ran into a bad situation in Seattle. Um, and again, when you know, when we talked earlier about about the the staying loyal and staying, I really love the Northwest. I mean, you know, we still my my childhood home, the the farm, we still spend about half our time there now. Um, and I'm the PA announcer for the Seattle Kraken and all of those things. And I love the Northwest. I love Las Vegas. Um, and that and that'll that'll come into this story as well. But I had run into a bad situation at at the station in Seattle, um, and I went, that's it, I'm done. I I'm not gonna do this. And my dad kind of has this little self-built empire that he had. We had a mobile home, he built a mobile home park from the ground up. He was a um, he was a rocket engineer and an aerospace engineer at Boeing. Um, came from the Dust Bowl, you know, in Oklahoma City. He was a depression era baby. He was almost 40 when they had me, you know, so he was older. Yes. Um and so so he really wanted me to, you know, give up this stupid, and he thought radio was stupid. I mean, you know, it was a re thing was a real job. Um, and and he wanted me to give it up and you know, and kind of take over this, take over this this thing, and and I really didn't want to do it. Um and I was kind of just hanging out, and through a you know, friend of a friend, I ended up, I ended up coming to to Vegas to fill in for a week on KLUC on the morning show. Um, and it was just come, we'll we'll pay you a decent amount of money, which I was I wasn't making any money at the time.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

So it sounded great.

SPEAKER_04 10:29

Yeah, and the idea, come to Vegas for a week. Um yeah, and we'll pay no to that.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Some money and Vegas for a week, right?

SPEAKER_04 10:35

Hotel, hotel food, and we'll give you money on top of it. You bet I'll go on vacation. Thank you very much. Um, and it was and it was it was fine. At the end of the week, they said, Um, would you would you like to stay and do mornings? And I said, No, I'm done with radio. And they said, Um, we'll come back. Kat Thomas, who um will who will did you know I'm getting a lifetime achievement award from Nevada?

SPEAKER_02 11:06

I read something about that, yes.

SPEAKER_04 11:08

So Kat will be the one we'll be one of the people who'll who will speak for me that night. And um, and Kat Thomas was the one, and he goes, he goes, and it was really it was really smart what he did. He goes, um, okay, we want to bring you back to Las Vegas. We're gonna give you the same amount of money that we gave you for a week. We're gonna give that to you. Come for a weekend, and you were you don't even have to be on the air. Um, just come down for the weekend, and here's a list of people, and we went in a hang out with them. Okay, so I'm gonna take another vacation and I'm gonna come back and you get paid for it, okay. Okay, dummies. All right, I'll do it. And we hung out, and we, you know, and I went and I did some of the you know club appearances and just kind of, you know, and just kind of integrated a little bit. And I was like, no, this is great. I see what you're trying to do. I'm not gonna get sucked in. I appreciate it. I'm glad that I'm glad that you think that you think enough. Um and then it was, and then it was, okay, come again, come come back one more time.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

So now there's a part time you're like, this is like the perpetual vacation that never ends here.

SPEAKER_04 12:29

Yeah, and and come back, come back for another weekend. Um, this time you're just gonna, you're just gonna hang, we're gonna hang out with people, and it's just gonna be like it there, we're not gonna do anything related to the business. Okay, great. This sounds amazing. Um, and we did, and by the time it was over, by the time that weekend was over, I had put a deposit on on an apartment and and I was okay, go back and get your stuff. And and I was here, and so then when I got here, I kind of reached out to a guru, you know, once all of the excitement and all the all the fun of being, you know, basically being recruited, um, once that wear, you know, once that starts to wear off and you start It's like they were dating you, so they were showing you all the nice things, right? And now, and now, you know, now we're gonna now we're gonna do this. And I I called um a guy who's really kind of a guru in the industry, and I said, How long do you think I need to stay here? I said, because now, okay, if I'm getting back into radio, then I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right this time. Vegas is close to LA. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna come in here, you're gonna, we're gonna make an impact. And then, you know, we're gonna do it right. You know, now, now we're gonna make the push. And he goes, Well, how long is your how long is your contract? Three years. Or it's two years. It was two years. Um he goes, Okay. Well, I I think I think you've got to stay there for the two years. But I really believe if you if you do that, I don't think you're ever gonna leave. Because I think this is perfect for you. I think this is perfect for you, and you're perfect for them. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Great.

SPEAKER_04 14:20

So the two years goes by. He's not wrong. We create Toy Drive, the ratings are through the roof, stations making a ton of money. We're um it's it's basically us and Mark and Mercedes, you know, doing this. Which which we did, which we did for the next 20 years. Um the uh yeah, and it was great. And then um Clear Channel came along, which is now iHeartRadio, and they said, um, the station that you basically got your your big break on um in Portland, Oregon, they they really need help, and we really want you to come and save it. And I thought we were negotiating, and this is a super long story, I'll make it super short. I thought we were we met at Mandalay Bay in in a cafe that I'm not sure is still there. I th I I think it's that one on the corner, like it's now Legends or something like that. And we're sitting there and um they basically I thought we were negotiating, they go, What's it gonna take to get you out of here? I throw stupid numbers out, they write them down on a notepad from the from the room, and he the guy who's and he's the he's the head of programming for everything in the West. And he uh so it's kind of a big deal, and he writes it all down and he pushes it across the table, and he goes, Great, do we have a deal? Wow, and immediately I'm like, Well, I've obviously I should have gone for more, but they were literally tripling my salary, they were tripling what I was making here, yes. Um and everybody else on the show was gonna benefit as well. And um I said, geez, I don't know. Can I can I call my wife? He goes, he he goes, yeah. And tells, he says, here, hand me the phone. Eventually you realize, and cell phones were still kind of new. This is like 2004 or I'm sorry, 2002. And and so I realized that he's hearing every word that's being said, and we think we're being sly, we're not. Um, and he goes, give me the phone, and he says, if you tell your husband to say yes, um, I will take him down to the Bellagio right now, to the Tiffany store, and buy you a pair of two carat diamond earrings.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

He's like, say yes, say yes, say yes.

SPEAKER_04 16:51

No, she goes, I don't think that'll be necessary. She laughs because I can hear her, and she laughs and says, I don't think that'll be necessary. And then I get the phone back and she goes, Was he serious? And I said, Yes, and she's like, Shut up. And um yeah, and we ended up we ended up going to Portland. Um it was it was good for a little bit. The lifestyle was great for a little bit. I will tell you this. Anything I have ever done for the money has turned out horribly. And I did that for the money. Anybody else would have done that for the money, no one would have not done that for the money. Um, I had to, I had to do it for the money, but it just was it wasn't great. And I couldn't wait to get back to Vegas.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Really?

SPEAKER_04 17:42

And I realized, and you know, and we and obviously there were conversations then, there were back channel conversations after that. Um, yeah, they had they had made me a low ball offer. Vegas had made Vegas said, Vegas said, okay, well, let us give give us a chance to counter.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Not a great offer.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

No, it was like, oh God, that's sweet. And I know, I know, I know you're trying. Um, but uh, but I gotta go. Then when the two years were up there, and again, that's long, there's a long story there. Um, I couldn't wait to get out of there. And there was an opportunity to come back, and they matched, they matched what we had done um in Portland. And um, yeah, and then I was here and and it that lasted 25 years. And we grew, yeah, and we grew together. We the this city, this city and I grew together, and what was so cool was there were so many opportunities and so many things that I just kind of happened to be. There wasn't a Mark Chinook yet. There wasn't a Bojo yet. Um Bojo's Bojo was in college at UNLV. You know, Chinook was, I I guess probably back east, you know, and and Rock of Ages had not come here. Um there weren't there weren't the number of people there just nobody was really interested in doing what I do. Um where where I was before you, Mike O'Brien and the breakfast. No, but I mean, but like Mike, Mike was is it like he played he played with the Wedge brothers on the weekends. Mike and Mike was around. And really it was like you said, it was it was it was really it was it was Mark Mercedes and and us at the top. And then you know, Sonny would be there and Mike O'Brien, wherever he was, would he was before though.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

He was like when I was in junior high, he was the the thing on the radio.

SPEAKER_04 19:30

The breakfast flakes, yeah, yes, and all of that. And um, and then there was Jay Casey and and I'm friends with all those guys. In fact, Mike and I Mike and I are uh still threaten to go to lunch every week and we never seem to make it, but of course, but um, but on the but the outside of radio part of it, the outside of radio part of it, because I I love being on stage and I love being and I love hosting events and I love and there weren't really and I love sports, so there weren't really people like me that wanted those jobs, all the things, all the different little we didn't really we didn't have anything. We you know, I mean, sure there were teams like the you know the Las Vegas Thunder, which was already gone by the time I got here, but but um but I mean really it was UNL V, right? Right? It was UNL V basketball, and you kind of missed that curve because no were you right at the end of that? I was right on top of that curve, okay the second, the second curve, the second curve, not the first curve with Long Kruger, and that no, we were sell we were selling out the Thomas McMagna team was making the tournament, yes, those are the best days ever when UNLB was like up there. Well, it was good, it was good, and it gave the the city something to rally behind. Yes, and and what was funny was the strip was starting to explode, and and you know, and we were starting to become a the city that we forget that this city was not this city 20 years ago, right? Um, and it's changed.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

UNLV basketball was kind of our initial. I remember my mom owned a costume store, and she would lock the door to go into the back to watch the games. We would lock the front door of the shop so we could go watch the games, and I was just little, you know, and I just remembered that. And the whole town was just behind UNLV. It was something that we could really rally behind. It was it was a wonderful time for this town.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Yeah, and it was different, and it was different then than it was like you said, 1990 was it was everything.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 21:30

Um, but it was making a resurgence in the early 2000s when Long Krueger came to town. They came to Toy Drive, they had just beaten Reno up in Mackey Arena, and it was and it was a big deal, and you could tell it was a turning point for the program. Um and they brought Lon and dragged his son Kevin out of bed and brought them to Toy Drive. And in the in the midst of the conversation, I had Said something to the effect of, however, I can be involved, let me know. Um, and they were like, Oh, yeah, this is yeah, mmm, and then um basically it was uh Dick Calvert, who was the PA announcer for UNLV basketball since the 70s, um, was there and the and the game was shifting, and there was more in-game entertainment, and there was more, you know, and there was there was things to do during the breaks instead of just the band playing and all that. And and Dick didn't really want to be a part of that. And they were like, and it was basically will you come, will you come and maybe do a couple of sponsor activations and will you read and will you be the one to read the commercials, basically? And I was like, Yeah. And then I ended up, then I ended up being there 15, being there 15 years and kind of being a uh, you know, an addition, an additional cheerleader on the floor. Um, but I was just I was lucky because there wasn't really anybody else who wanted to do that.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Do that, Mitch. So you were just talking about the toy drive. That's something that is huge here in Las Vegas. Before that, you've spent years and years, decades on the radio. And I'm sure you've had lots of moments where you're like, this moment really made an impact for me. And I know you somewhat on a deeper level than just the radio voice. What is the moment that really impacted your life? And then we'll get to Toy Drive. But was there a moment on the radio with maybe a person that called in or somebody you met through your work that really you knew in that moment you had an impact on the community and other people's lives?

SPEAKER_04 23:38

Outside of Toy Drive.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

Outside of Toy Drive, yes. We'll get to Toy Drive next.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

You know, I had been on the radio for um yeah, it was almost 20 years by the time I got here. Um, because I started what I started really young. Um, I started when I was 15.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

So what was the moment that you noticed that your voice would have an impact on people personally? Like on their, was there a moment in your life in that moment when you were on the radio, whether it was when you were in Las Vegas or or Oregon, what where was that moment where you're like, wow, was there ever an impactful moment?

SPEAKER_04 24:22

It so the so the going so the going heavy on community stuff was always something that was really in the back of my mind, but it was never never really manifested itself until Toy Drive. It's not that we didn't do anything, it's not that it never, it's not that it didn't happen. Um, I think it was more, I think on my end, I think it was more being a a um a secondary part to it. Um I had there uh our morning show at Cube in Seattle when I would and the and literally when when that station started when I was in high school, and Charlie, I'd listened to Charlie Brown, I'd listened to literally his name on his birth certificate, Charlie Brown. Um Charlie was the morning guy at KJR when I was in when I was in school. Um they started a radio station called Cube 93 in Seattle when I was in when I was a freshman in high school. And um Charlie, Charlie was everything to me. And when I worked with Charlie at Cube later, and the fact that he thought I was good um was just phenomenal. And like I get emotional talking about it now. Charlie had done, they had they had made a thing for Charlie to execute, um uh, and it was and it was just Christmas wish. And it's a basic, it's it's so basic, but it's so effective. Um, you go to somebody's door, you know, you know, the the your stunt guy or whoever goes to the door, knocks on the door, person answers the door, stunt guy reads, stunt guy goes, Hey, I'm you know, Skippy from the blah blah blah show. And um, you know, they're usually dressed like an elf, whatever. Um, and Charlie wants to read you a letter. Charlie reads a letter from this person's close friend or relative. That person, you know, cries. It's you know, bit highly emotional. Charlie then says, Oh, and there's more. And then, you know, coming in behind Skippy the elf, you know, is whatever they needed. They really needed, they really need a new car, you know, or she really needs a new lawnmower, you know, or whatever, whatever whatever it was. Whatever the tragic story was. And and um yeah, and I went, that's cool. You know, there's there's more to this. There's more to this than that. Um, so yeah, I didn't really um coming to Vegas and when we when we did the morning, when we did the morning zoom, um was really the first time that I had the opportunity to go, hey, let's go outside the box. And and the the toy drive story is really one that just um Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

So how did that come about for you personally? Where did it start? Um, just for people who don't know what the toy drive is, you get up and on our in our power company parking lot on the scaffold for is it two weeks?

SPEAKER_04 27:45

It's 12 days.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

12 days, two solid weeks.

SPEAKER_04 27:47

I can explain it for you succinctly.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yes, you're probably much better at explaining your toy time. Go ahead, Chase.

SPEAKER_04 27:53

I can I can tell a story if you'd like. Um tell me the story. Yeah, for for 25 years, I lived for 12 days um from the Thursday after Thanksgiving to the following the second Monday after that, uh, for 12 days on top of a 30-foot scaffold. Um, man, I never came down, not even once over over that period of time, huh?

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Not even to go potty.

SPEAKER_04 28:21

There's a porta potty up there. Yeah, no, I did not hold it for 12 days. Um, that would be weird.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Um that's not what I was implying, but okay. I was implying do you come down ever to go to the bathroom? That's all I was implying.

SPEAKER_04 28:35

No, yeah. So everything's done other than that. And there's there's stories. I mean, there's stories with that too. Um, for the last God, it had to have been a decade. Um, I never even touched the stairs. Um the you know, I mean, it because because and it needed to be that needed to be that serious, um, because my my whole thought with that was if I can stay up there for 12 days every year and never come down, never even think about coming down, um, then can you just show up once with one toy? Um was really kind of the concept behind it. And um I had listened to, I don't really know the gender, the story's super muddled in my own head, but there was a guy named Terry McDonald. He was on a radio station called KYYX in Seattle. He got stuck on Mount Rainier, he was climbing Mount Rainier. Um, he was a big outdoorsman type guy in the Pacific Northwest, that kind of makes sense. He got stuck on Mount Rainier and it became a thing. And he had, and the idea was that he was just gonna do satellite reports of this climbing of Mount Rainier. It was just gonna be the bit to try and get people to listen. And again, Storm came in, he got stuck. Somehow in my brain, and I and I was young, I was 10, 11. Um, somehow through that, they turned it into a fundraiser. I I I don't I know that they, you know, like and if I come, I don't, at least in my mind, that's how it became. And and somehow oddly, I came up with this idea that I wanted to live on top of a wooden scaffold just outside the uh when I go do cracking games, about once a month, I will go and stand in the spot that I one day wanted to have a wooden scaffold that I would stay on top of until we raised $10,000.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

10,000, wow.

SPEAKER_04 30:42

I thought, oh my God, 10,000. You know, when you're a kid, 10,000 might as well be a million. Um and I, yeah, and I'll go and I'll stand in that spot. Ironically, that's also in where people go, I don't know what you're talking about. You do when I tell you that that is where they had the candlelight vigil for Kurt Cobain when he passed, which now is which now is also becoming an old reference, but or is an old reference, but it's right there if you know anything about Seattle Center. It's right where um Climate Pledge Arena, it's kind of in the middle of Climate Pledge Arena, Space Needle, and the International Fountain, all the stuff you see on TV, and it's a big grassy area. And so, so when I when I came to Vegas, uh Kat Thomas and I were sitting in the conference room, just me and him at um K L U C and we were just talking about I'd been there maybe 90 days, maybe. Um, and we were just talking about how we were gonna build this show, and I wanted to do something that would make a splash, but I didn't want it to be stunty. Now, a guy living on a scaffold for 12 days smells like stunty. Um, and it's why a lot of people never covered it. Um, trust me, everybody you name uh anybody who's done charity stuff on their on their national TV show, Ellen, ABC News, um Kelly Clarkson, God love her. And Kelly has been on the show from Toy Drive, Kelly's producer, and she was all in, wanted it, she wanted to be part of it. We were talking about, we were talking about partnering up and then getting like national, like, you know, getting Target to you know, Walmart to to be a part of it and make it huge on a national level. And Kelly's producers didn't like the idea of it. Um, oh, it's a oh, it's a radio guy, you know. So there was a lot of that. Um, but but yeah, it just and it just became just kind of became a beast.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

So you over the years, how much have you raised? Is there like a cumulative number for this?

SPEAKER_04 32:54

Yeah, it's uh it's it's hard to put it. You can't put an exact number on it. It's the same reason why we don't have a uh Guinness record. They wanted to Guinness wanted to charge us anywhere between 15 and $30,000. Rightfully so. Rightfully so. Because you would need they wanted to have somebody out there. How were we going to certify measure it that you're the biggest toy drive in the world? Um the and so somebody would have had to have been there for all 12 days. We were gonna do it by weight, we you know, we were gonna, and it just didn't, there wasn't a real way, and we were like, we're not gonna spend the money. You know what I mean? The money, the money is better. Great. We know we know we're the biggest. I always tell everybody if there was anybody, if there was anybody who was bigger, bring them to me. I will be the first person to acknowledge somebody doing, you know, I'd be the first one to go to go.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Right, because it was about the work for you, it was about what you were being the lion.

SPEAKER_04 33:56

Don't gotta go around telling everybody it's a lion, you know. We knew we knew what we were. So to answer your question, um, 300 days, 25 years of toy drive, um, for me, um, total 27 years and then 324. There were two years I didn't do it when I was in Portland. Um, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 million dollars. And I think that's I think that's conservative.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Um are you gonna continue to do it now that you've retired from your radio?

SPEAKER_04 34:32

Man, do I hate the R-word? Man, I oh I mean I what was that? What were you showing me?

SPEAKER_02 34:38

I was just covering my face. I'm sorry. Are you gonna continue with your toy drive? Are you going to continue to impact our community?

SPEAKER_04 34:45

Did we not did we not start this by saying I don't I don't take these things seriously? No, I hate the I only hate the R word only because I'm not um I I don't I don't know what the future will bring. I'm sure we'll get to that in a minute too, so I'll save that. Um my days of doing toy drive are done. Um that was part of I will tell you that. I will tell you my my doctor and my wife um are pretty happy about that. Um, you know, I man, I did in 2022, I did toy drive less than 90 days after getting a new heart valve. Um you know, so I I don't uh it was going to end sometime. I my my only true regret is that I in in in the process of leaving, I wished I had made up my mind. I wish I wished I knew. I wished I knew what I felt. Um I didn't leave until I left. That's God's honest truth. I didn't leave until I left. In fact, I had signed a two-year extension on my contract um pretty much right after Toy Drive ended. Um which I I I just kind of wish I kind of wish that I'd have I'd have waited on that a little more.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Why was that your thing that you were passionate about? Or was it did it did it matter what the thing was? You just wanted to build community and help and help others. Why toy drive? Why not blood donation or this or that? Like why was that your purpose?

SPEAKER_04 36:34

Uh I think uh I I I yeah, because I think we got lucky. Um, I I honestly, I think we got I think we got lucky. Nobody thought this would turn out the way that it did. Nobody.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

So I asked you before, what was a story? Do you just have one moment you can share? I'm sure you have thousands.

SPEAKER_04 36:53

I don't. I'm I'm sorry. I would love to tell you that I did. I would I would love to have this. This I will I will tell you there is a story that I have told a million times that that it was the catalyst that really kicked this thing into gear for me. Um but but toys, I think we got I think we got lucky that we hit on something that is visually uh that it that it's that affects people. It's it's not just toys. And and by the way, it's not kids. Um I shifted, I shifted my focus on that fairly early. When because it's not the kids that are going. I mean, yes, they'll parents will have kids write letters, thank you, that kind of thing. But Juliet, when when a a parent, when a mom comes to you, there's two versions of this story. One of them is when a when a mom or a dad and they show up to toy drive and they get out of their car and they run around to the back of the car and they grab that bike out of the back of their car and they hold it over their head like they're raising the Stanley Cup. And they're like, I'm here, we made it. And then they come over and they kind of wave you over to the, you know, hey, can I talk to you for a minute? It's like, well, I'm on top of a 30-foot scaffold, and you're way down there. So we'll try to keep this as private as we can. Um, yeah, what's up? Um, hey, I just want to tell you, you know, last year, two years ago, five years ago, we had nothing. We didn't know where we're at, and we we made it. Toy Drive, we made it through the holidays, and I knew we were gonna be okay because of Toy Drive. So we're paying it forward right now.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Um there's there's a parent, I can really relate to that. A million percent moment where I've had six little kids, I found myself homeless.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

Jesus, you ended up with six.

SPEAKER_02 38:54

Um, I actually have a blended family of 10 now, but I ended up with seven of my own.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

You're the greatest.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

You know, six little kids, and it's like, where is it gonna come from? And so I can relate to that because the kids aren't gonna remember if they got a bike or whatever, but it's the parents who want to give this to their children.

SPEAKER_04 39:11

You do well, you know what's funny is that that you do you remember it, but not in the way that people, you know, my mom was a mail carrier, you know, we don't we didn't have a ton of money. We lived in a mobile home. We, you know, um, we we weren't, but my mom scrimped and saved, and yeah, my my first my first 10-speed bike, I couldn't reach the ground, it was too big for me.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Because we want to get it big enough so that we can drive it for years.

SPEAKER_04 39:38

Yeah, well, that was the deal. My you know, and my mom told me later, she goes, Yeah, I knew you'd I knew you'd figure it out, and I also knew that probably within a year you would grow into it, you would grow into it. Um, you know, so you remember like you remember you remember the moment just because um I but but yeah, not on our watch. Not while we could, and I've t I t I told people this a lot. Like I I would stare into their soul on television and be, you know, like not on our watch, not while we can do something about this. And I'm I'm not gonna I'm not gonna let another parent, I don't have kids of my own. I don't. Um, and and like I said, my childhood was my childhood was fine. I knew we didn't have everything, but I knew we didn't have I knew we didn't have nothing. And I never worried, and I never, you know, none of those things. Um, but um the idea that somebody might have to look at their kids and go, hmm, Santa couldn't find our house this year. No F and Way. Not while we can do something about it, not on our watch. This doesn't, and there were so many people that especially, oh my God, and social media is so evil. It's just the worst, it's the worst thing on the planet. It's why we are the way we are today, because everybody can shoot their mouth off and there's no repercussions, and then you can just and you can just take something like Toy Drive, again, which and fine, shoot all the holes in it you want. I tell everybody, if you don't believe it, come and volunteer. Come and volunteer at distribution, see where things go. Come and volunt, just come and come and be a part of it, get your hands dirty instead of just sitting in your basement without any clothes on, eating, you know, chips, banging away on your keyboard, tough guy.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Yeah, exactly. But I also really believe that it's it's not really about what it is, it's it's starting where you are, what you started in our community and doing something. Every um Saturday I go into my grocery pickup and I have these little goodie bags, and they're called the Glitter Collective, and I just fill them with like masks and lotion and self-care items, and I just give them to moms picking up their groceries or people putting the groceries in my car. And it's incredible the impact that that has on people. You give it to them and you're like, you know what? Whatever you're doing, whatever you're going through, you got this, you're beautiful, you're strong. People just start crying. It's incredible the impact you can have with something very small and just starting right where you are.

SPEAKER_04 42:10

Yeah, and just do something. Just do something. And you don't, and by the way, don't post it. Yeah, you don't have to. Nobody, you'll notice I'm pretty quiet on social media. I really am. There's no, you know why? My opinion doesn't matter, my politics don't matter. My, you know, will I post stuff? Sure. People because I get yelled at if I don't. I mean, not by just people like, hey, why don't you post stuff? Um, okay, cool. And there's stuff that I'm proud of.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

But it also encourages others, like seeing you up on top of the billboard. It's like oh, if he can do that, I can do something too.

SPEAKER_04 42:47

That's a different story. I just mean in my general daily life. Yes, you don't need to see what I'm eating for dinner. You don't care. You don't really care. Um, I I just don't. That's just I I think uh it's man, I I know I I realize I spun off into the weeds here, but that's uh um back to back to giving. Yeah, man, just do it.

SPEAKER_02 43:10

Just do it. So, what are your future plans? What does the future hold for for Ted Buchanan who is not retired? He's just shifting gears.

SPEAKER_04 43:18

Well, I mean, I I I've still got the aces. Yes. I've still got the oh, see, I didn't usually I put that so you could see.

SPEAKER_02 43:23

Oh see my Asia ACE.

SPEAKER_04 43:26

Um, no, I've still got the ACEs. Um, I've still got the Kraken. Um, I am sitting out a non-compete. You know, they have those in in our industry, which is and it great. Um I left. They don't want me going to another radio station in Las Vegas for a year. And I absolutely I signed it willingly. Um I'm four and a half months, four and a half months in. I left at the end of January. Early February, it was official, but um I I don't I'm still kind of trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Um, I'm doing some stuff with some friends, some digital marketing, which is which is fun. I'm still, and I'm still doing auctions and pageants and all that stuff. I'm just not getting up at three o'clock in the morning to do a radio show anymore. And I don't have to, I don't have to look around me and and try and figure out a way that I'm gonna turn everything into content. And you know, and all of those things I don't have to worry about doing. Um, but yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 44:33

All right, I have a couple like rapid fire questions for you.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

I'll give you rapid fire answers, I promise.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

You promise. Okay. Favorite thing about living in Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

People.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

If you weren't behind a microphone, what career would you have pursued?

SPEAKER_04 44:54

Lawyer, probably.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Worst job you ever had.

SPEAKER_04 45:01

Doesn't exist. Working for my dad.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

What makes you laugh every single time?

SPEAKER_04 45:07

What happened?

SPEAKER_02 45:08

What makes you laugh every single time?

SPEAKER_04 45:11

Everything. Literally everything. I yeah, I laugh at everything.

SPEAKER_02 45:16

One item you don't leave home without. Well the world needs more.

SPEAKER_04 45:24

Love.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Love that. You might have a personal little thing about you that's always really and that that's the thing with somebody like that's a that's a public figure, like on the radio, is that you've you've impacted other people's lives and you don't know that, or you don't know the the impact that it's had, maybe. And years ago, I was going through a really hard situation, and I asked you to write a letter on behalf of my family. And it was funny because I had asked several friends, relatives to write letters, and some said no, and it was going to a court, so it was very, it was kind of like one of those things that people like to shy away from. And or get like three sentences like, these are nice people, we like them. Thank you. And you wrote this beautiful letter. And I don't, it didn't change the situation, it didn't change the circumstance, it didn't even change the outcome by any means, but it meant something to me personally that you took the time out of your busy day to do something for somebody that you hardly knew. And it just really resonated with me. And it showed me the kind of person that you are behind the scenes. And it's somebody who really does. You are loyal, you do step up. And I've seen you for years on stage and the radio from a bird's eye view, a different perspective. And I just appreciate you building a community that I love, that my family has been here for four generations and now five. I have 10 grandbabies. And I just really appreciate your impact.

SPEAKER_04 46:53

You still look like you're 25.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

I feel a thousand.

SPEAKER_04 46:57

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 46:58

I have one more question for you, Jeff.

SPEAKER_04 47:00

You can't by the way, thank you for saying that. That's that's very sweet of you.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

And I'm sure there's a million stories just like that one. I know it. So just don't make that base. Don't say, mm-mm.

SPEAKER_04 47:11

No, there's a few, but there's but there's not a I don't know that there's a million. Okay, a thousand. But I remember that. And and here's you said you asked a minute ago the what what the world maybe needs more of. Um I try, I try. I don't always, I don't always succeed. Oh no, because I'm mouthy. Oh my god, I'm freaking mouthy, and sometimes I'm I'm I'm I'm not I can be quick and I can be sharp and just man, and I I hate that about me. Um I secretly love it. But I but I no, but I really no, but I hate it. Um what but I but I do I lead with my heart and and I think the we need more patience and more and just people caring. More I'm not more boy, this I I can't say this without it sounding uh way self-serving, but we we care too much about ourselves. We're very narcissistic and we're very self-involved, and we're very like, well, if it benefits me, well, just for a minute, uh you know, maybe let it benefit somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

Beautifully said. I have one question I ask everybody who comes on to lipstick and legacy. What do you want your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_04 48:30

Uh i i i this is it's funny because this is what's coming up with this Nevada Broadcasters uh award, which is just which is truly amazing. Um I so somebody asked me the other day when I said, Will you be part of this video that they're gonna do? And they said, What do you want me to say? And I said, I just want him to know that he that he really cared. That he really cared, that he really loved it. And that's that's if that's my legacy, that he really he really loved it. Man, he really loved it. He loved Vegas, he loved, he loved doing what he did. Um, because I don't do anything I don't love. And that's the beauty, that's the beauty of all of this. And like I said, anything, anything I ever did strictly for the money, it turned out didn't turn out bad. I ended up making a lot of money because I loved it. Does that make sense? Probably I probably did better than I deserved, even though I didn't do as well as I think I could have. You know, assuming that we've reached some sort of pinnacle in in my career. There's still, but there's still time, man. There's still there's still plenty of you never that's the cool part about life. Truly, great things are just about to happen. Um you you never know what's coming. So um, you know, and everything goes, oh, you know, it could be bad too. Yeah, but it could be great. I learned I learned this this great prayer that and it really kind of changed things, and it was and and look, whatever you believe in, or whoever you believe in, or or don't believe in, that's awesome. I I happen to be a guy that believes in God. And um I and I don't even know where I heard it, but it was Lord, show me how great this can be. Show me how great this can be. This is good. Thank you for this. I'm grateful. Show me how great it can be. And it, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

It's interesting how your perspective and the lens you're looking through changes everything. Really does.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

Yeah, always. Always, always.

SPEAKER_02 50:40

Thank you so much for your time, Chet. I truly appreciate this opportunity. It's been fabulous.

SPEAKER_04 50:45

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 50:46

I can't wait to see what you do with the with the second half.

SPEAKER_04 50:48

We can do this as much or as little as you like.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Thanks, Chet.