Copyright 2018 Greenstone Media Consulting, LLC
The program was quickly conceived as a mythical "lodge" because the planners felt it would stimulate "attendance" (i.e., listening in). Taking a cue from the Oregonian's tower, from which the program originated, the program took the names of birds, including owls, and gave outlandish titles to the cast members. But fairly quickly, the original names used morphed into the Keep Growing Wiser Order of Hoot Owls and fanciful titles given to the cast. Berg, the principal figure, became the Grand Screetch. Cartoonist Tige Reynolds became the Grand Sketch. Bishop Sumner was the Grand Sermon. Frank Sardam was Grand Scream. George Hotchkiss Street was Grand Uproar. Bill Strandborg was Grand Talon. Others (not pictured) soon joined the cast including Dean Collins, a writer for the Portland Telegram newspaper. Collins, who wrote also poetry, became Grand Sonnet Bill Hoffman, manager of the Multnomah Hotel, became Grand Silence. Alex Riley, a musician employed by the Sherman-Clay music store, was Grand Piano. After listeners began to question whether the program's hilarity was being artificially stimluated with alcohol, Ron Callvert was dragged into the task of assuring that not be the case and generally overseeing decorum. That earned him the title of Grand Skidoo.
