OK so here is a verry recent photograph of myself (wrapped in a delicate musical instrument), my buddy Craig Walker, and giving the shaka-brah sign, our long-ago colleague Lyle Arthur.

Lyle joined Craig and me at Super 62 KGW in 1978, when he was hired as our morning traffic reporter (and wrecked the station Rabbit four days into the gig). Lyle did a terrific job on traffic (if not behind the wheel), and also brought great fun to the morning show--and especially a taste of the Islands of which he is native.

In December 1978, Craig asked Lyle if there's any particular Christmas song from Hawaii, and, well, yes! There sure is!

Lyle brought in his ukulele and sang Mele Kalikimaka for us--and then he taught it to us!

We've been trying ever since to get it right. In 1986, Craig and I made the leap from AM to FM, and though Lyle found his way back to the paradise of his birth, we all continued to strum and sing this little ditty, with Lyle playing his ukulele--the Leaping Flea, I believe he called it--by telephone, at 5 AM Honolulu time.

Lyle opted out of this wakeup call a few years ago, and we've had a couple of other cast changes--most notably the liberation of Craig from the alarm clock, while my pal Bruce Murdock hopped aboard, soon followed by my friend the J-Train, Janine Wolf. And we've had wonderful teammates over the years--John Windus, Karen Tracy, Dana Jeffries, and Tom Parker. So, this coalition of willing singers and ukulele artists--led, in recent years, by our friend Jeannie Ceceliani--has soldiered on. This has evolved into a little radio family reunion, with as many of our friends and past colleagues as we can round up.

So...one more time...it's now our 35th year in a row...we sing Merry Christmas....a very Merry Christmas...to youuuuu!