The Good Life – July-August 2017
Featuring WDAY Reporter Kevin Wallevand - Fargo's most famous storyteller. Local Hero - Navy Veteran, Shane Tibiatowski. Having a Beer with Dilworth Mayor - Chad Olson and more in Fargo Moorhead's only men's magazine. Featuring WDAY Reporter Kevin Wallevand - Fargo's most famous storyteller. Local Hero - Navy Veteran, Shane Tibiatowski. Having a Beer with Dilworth Mayor - Chad Olson and more in Fargo Moorhead's only men's magazine.
PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: KEVIN WALLEVAND related to me. I worked at my dad's gas station, so I had to develop good people skills." In high school, Wallevand reveled in current events. Each morning, his teacher would record the news on his way to work and play it back for students in his class. After taking notes throughout the week, Wallevand and his classmates were tested on Friday to reveal how much they had retained about the world around them. Wallevand looked forward to it every week. As a high schooler, he went on air for the first time. "I did the news for our little town on a radio station out of Wadena,” he said. “At 11 o’clock in the morning I would call in and give the basketball score from the night before, the school lunch menu and what was going on in town that day for basketball, football or whatever." After graduating from high school in 1980, Wallevand set off to college at Minnesota State University Moorhead, where he wrote for the MSUM Advocate student newspaper. "Then we launched Campus News at MSUM ... we were in that first class that started the weekly TV show,” he said, laughing and recalling the days. “We were horrible — we were so bad. It was like Saturday Night Live on steroids." At the same time, Wallevand was 20 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com interning with WDAY-TV four days a week. In spring of 1984, he received his degree in Mass Communications/ Broadcast Journalism. His college internship turned into a full-time offer at WDAY where he remains today as the station's senior reporter. Chasing Down Leads With journalism under increasing public scrutiny, Wallevand feels the role of a journalist today is “more important than ever. I'm really proud of the profession,” he said. “I think it takes a lot of heat — and there are bad apples — but I think it's a great profession." As a reporter, Wallevand loves the job of relaying information and sharing stories of unsung heroes. "Journalism's role has always been to help inform, educate and hold public officials accountable but also be there to report and bring stories home to viewers that they may not otherwise know about,” he said. And that’s just what he’s done. Having traveled twice to Africa, Vietnam, Haiti, Kosovo, South America, Mongolia and the Middle East for his documentary work, Wallevand has found himself immersed in stories that are difficult to put into words. "Families are inviting you into their lives at crazy times,” he said. “Their kid is battling cancer at the age of 4, their son just overdosed two days before on fentanyl, someone lost their husband in a farm accident and now neighbors are coming to help them harvest. It’s these super ‘life moments’ and people are willing share them — and not all the time. But there's a lot of people that are willing to do it and I admire that." You’d think as a frequent flyer, Wallevand might claim traveling as the highlight of his career. But he begs to differ. "When it comes down to memorable things, it always comes back to people's stories,” he said. "It's not like interviewing Obama — it's not fancy stuff. Even with some of the global stuff we've done — documentaries and such — the travel is great, but it still comes down to stories. Moments." National Recognition Though Wallevand has a won a number of awards over the years, he’s hesitant to talk about them. In TV news, the work is a team effort. There’s a lot that happens behind the camera. “The photographer is usually the unsung hero,” he said. Among his most notable awards are two Emmys and two national Edward R. Murrow awards. Wallevand won an Emmy for writing “The Quilt: Hope from the Heartland” where he and his team followed a church quilt on its journey
urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 21
- Page 2 and 3: CELEBRATING FOUR YEARS OF THE GOOD
- Page 4 and 5: 06 NOT IN MY FAMILY - PART ONE OPIA
- Page 6 and 7: BY: BRITTNEY GOODMAN “Dead Overdo
- Page 8 and 9: 18 months they “have really seen
- Page 10 and 11: MR. FULL-TIME DAD The Toddler Diet
- Page 12 and 13: BY: MEGHAN FEIR • PHOTOS BY: URBA
- Page 14 and 15: are thriving. Thirty days later, th
- Page 16 and 17: 16 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia
- Page 18 and 19: BY: ALEXANDRA FLOERSCH • PHOTOS B
- Page 22 and 23: to a refugee camp in Angola, Africa
- Page 24 and 25: BY: MATT LACHOWITZER PURCHASING A U
- Page 26 and 27: 26 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia
- Page 28 and 29: CO: “Legally Blonde.” I don’t
- Page 30 and 31: BY: BRITTNEY GOODMAN Shane Tibiatow
- Page 32 and 33: were brought aboard our ship and sp
- Page 34 and 35: His Navy friendships are valued:
urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 21
Change language