Gary Henley: Everyday People: Bowler is a full-time volunteer

Nov. 29—Two years without an Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival? Forgive the Scandinavian residents on the North Coast if they're experiencing any lefse and rice pudding withdrawal symptoms.

Festival organizers managed to stage a drive-by Midsummer Optog parade as opposed to the normal parade and a festival court was selected for 2020 and 2021.

But what about the ever-popular music that comes with the festival? Well, that's where Lloyd Bowler comes in.

Bowler co-hosts the "Scandinavian Hour" and "Celtic Aire" every other Saturday — spinning three straight hours of Scandinavian and Celtic music beginning at 2 p.m. for two of the more popular shows on KMUN, Astoria's public radio station.

Bowler and his wife, Janet, also answer the call whenever and wherever volunteers are needed.

In addition to the hours he gives to KMUN, Bowler has worked for the Obon Society and volunteers at the Columbia River Maritime Museum and most things Scandinavian.

"I like to think I help out here and there," said Bowler, who retired after spending 30 years as a special education teacher for the Knappa School District. "Since I'm retired, I like to do other volunteer stuff around town."

The couple, who have been married almost 40 years, has joined the Finnish Brotherhood. Janet Bowler is involved with the Cultural Coalition, serves as the entertainment director for the Scandinavian Festival, plays flute in local music groups and is one of the chief fundraisers for the Astoria Nordic Heritage Park project off Marine Drive downtown.

"That's kept her really busy," Bowler said.

One thing that has kept Bowler busy is hosting radio programs, which he had never done until after retiring from teaching.

Shortly after arriving in Clatsop County from Washington state in 1978, Bowler became interested in programming for the local public radio station.

"I started listening to KMUN right from the beginning," he said. "They put out a call for people to come down and preview program proposals. That was really how I got my foot in the door," to broadcasting.

"I knew there was a Celtic program, and I really wanted to do Celtic, so that's what got me into it."

Bowler had no radio broadcasting experience, so "I decided to take the radio class, and 32 years later, here I am. I'm a lot like the other programmers (at KMUN) — most of us had never had radio exposure, as far as being a broadcaster. We have something we want to share, and we go down there and share it."

And Bowler apparently knows what he's doing, since he recently received the station's "Programmer of the Year" award "in recognition of exemplary volunteer service to the Tillicum Foundation and the Lower Columbia Pacific Region ..."

On their Facebook page, KMUN stated "Lloyd has, like Richard (Dawson, another KMUN host), been covering a large swath of programming throughout the pandemic, and has been an integral part of the lineup."

Bowler can be heard hosting "Morning Classics" on Wednesdays, in addition to the Scandinavian Hour and Celtic Aire.

He's also in the rotation for "Bedtime Stories," which can be heard Sundays through Thursdays at 8 p.m.

At the same time he started hosting the Scandinavian Hour, "I started with Bedtime Stories, so I've been a 'Bedtimer' for the last 32 years," he said. "About 10 years ago, I started doing classical music in the morning."

While the Saturday music shows are back to airing live and in-studio, Bowler prerecords the Morning Classics.

"I told the folks at KMUN that getting up at 5 o'clock on Wednesday morning and going down to the station ... I grew to not like doing that during COVID, so I'm prerecording those."

The "same thing with the Bedtime Stories," he said. "It's just a lot easier to do them online."

The COVID pandemic changed the media industry, with many employees reporting and working remotely.

"When COVID hit, the station was basically empty of people for a year and a half," Bowler said. "The folks who work at KMUN were extremely busy, keeping everything going.

"At first it was kind of weird, especially ironing out the technical problems. But those times are long past, and it's real easy to do. I feel comfortable broadcasting from home, recording then uploading."

The Saturday music shows are where Bowler shines. He loves the Celtic music.

Always the host of Celtic Aire, Bowler "made a deal with the station, when we came back live, I said I'd like to do the Scandinavian Hour, too. Lyle Haataja was host before COVID hit, and just did his first program last week."

Personally, "I started listening to Celtic music after I moved to Astoria," he said. "The public library had a bunch of LPs by The Chieftains, and that was my 'gateway drug' into Celtic music. 'Thistle and Shamrock' is another great Celtic program (airs Fridays, 1 to 2 p.m.). I started listening to Fiona Ritchie when she started.

"I'm mostly Irish," Bowler said. "According to 23andMe, I'm about three-quarters Irish, and I've also been named as an 'honorary Norwegian.'"