Chelan's Jerry Isenhart talks about his life and times now that he's in 'the Hall'

CHELAN -- Jerry Isenhart sat down with NCW Media Managing Editor Gary Bégin on his back porch overlooking the beautiful southernmost part of Lake Chelan for three hours of history lessons and days gone Q&A discussion.
This is a shortened version of a much longer article to be found in the September Wenatchee Business journal:
"I remain humbled and honored, to say the least. It is  the most meaningful professional honor I have ever received in my entire career," said Jerry Isenhart, a local journalism and civic leader icon about his recent induction into the Edward R. Murrow Journalism Hall of Fame last May.
Isenhart grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Wenatchee and eventually came to Chelan as a 24-year-old and immediately made an impact on the life of this tiny resort village. He was to be the new owner/operator of KOZI. He literally reinvented and reinvigorated the tiny rural radio station in the 1960s making it a "must listen" for the residents of Chelan and Manson.
It was especially important back then as a way of tracking wild fires.
From the day he took control of KOZI, time flew by. By the mid 1970's KOZI had become a solid member of the Lake Chelan Community. "I was 25-years-old when the purchase was approved.  I was told that I was the youngest owner of any broadcast station in the U.S. at that time," Isenhart said.
About the Hall of Fame award, Isenhart said, "It is especially meaningful because Murrow College has produced an incredible list of highly respected graduates over the years."
KOZI went on to be named the best small market radio station in the state by the Associated Press in the early 1980s.
Well before that, around 1972, Isenhart invented a new interactive talk show -- 2nd Cup of Coffee, which he calls, "an early form of Social Media."
Isenhart had a radical idea and it worked. "We turned the tables on our listeners and said we wanted to make the them (listeners and callers) the stars of the show and their calls and comments the highlight of the day. Our staff were just the moderators. It worked. Within six months of launch we had gathered an impressive following that never stopped growing," Isenhart recounted.
Isenhart sold the station to Harriet Bullitt of Leavenworth in 1999 for $2 million. Isenhart then went on to invent another new concept - GoLakeChelan.com, which he ran from 2001 to 2018 before selling it.
"I called GoLakeChelan an experiment in technology, which indeed it was. The vision was an on-line newspaper and radio station combined, with unlimited space for photos and videos, he said.
"I felt it would be truly successful if it could be interactive with those who patronized the web site. GoLakeChelan was ahead of it's time. It was six more years before Apple released the IPhone, and three more years before Google, Gmail, Word Press, amd MySpace were launched. 
The biggest challenges to GoLakeChelan were that there was no model to copy, no book to read on how to do it."
Isenhart found a way to make things work despite the "ancient" technology prevalent back then.
"I have come to believe that nothing is by accident.
The pathway of my journey has had far too many very identifiable landmarks to believe it was all just by chance. To wake up every morning and look forward to going to work is the best way to describe the daily routine. In the world of news, there was never two days the same, and that would keep the energy flowing," Isenhart said.
He concluded about his journalism adventures, "Exciting would be an understatement."
For the entire exclusive NCW Media story with Isenhart, including his stint as Mayor and city councilman and more exclusive photos, be sure to read the September Wenatchee Business Journal.