![\"capt.](\"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/files\/2014\/02\/capt.-lange-in-tux-host.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNo what initially popped into my head was..had it not been for Jim Lange, there wouldn\u2019t have been a Captain 11.<\/p>\n
Back in the early 50\u2019s when television was just getting off the ground, local stations, including WMIN Channel 11 in Minneapolis, were scrambling to find programming to fill all the air time not covered by the networks..which included time in the afternoon when kids got home from school. That gave birth to all kinds of local characters to host kids\u2019 TV shows. They varied from clowns and cowboys to rail engineers and rocket rangers; the latter being the concept for Captain 11. \u00a0Young Jim Lange was selected to portray the Captain in 1954 \u00a0a \u00a0uniform was designed and taylor made and a special set constructed with all types of electronic gadgetry surrounding a captain\u2019s chair from which Captain 11 would direct the audience into the past or future with the push of a button and sell Bosco chocolate syrup during the commercials.<\/p>\n
<\/a>That’s Lange as the Captain who apparently sat at his time controls rather than stand in front of them.<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Here’s Lange again as the Captain along with Steve Cannon (Longtime grouchy radio host of the Cannon Mess on WCCO) who was Wranger Steve on WMIN and Roger Awsumb was Casey Jones<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>They did some personal appearances too but nothing like Dedrick ended up doing.<\/p><\/div>\n
By 1955, it was clear that WMIN\u2019s sister station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; KELO Channel 11, should have a Captain 11 of its own.\u00a0 It was \u201cliterally\u201d a toss-up between Murray Stewart and Dave Dedrick as to who would fill those Wellingtons. Company president, Joe Floyd, tossed a coin and Dedrick wound up on his way to Minneapolis to be fitted for his first uniform and to undergo basic training with the \u201cother\u201d Captain, Jim Lange.<\/p>\n
In all our years on the golf course or just sitting around talking, I don\u2019t recall Dave saying very much at all about that meeting with Lange other than he wasn\u2019t sure the show would last long under the format they were using. And he was right, within a couple years, Jim Lange had moved on to Hollywood and two other guys who were assigned to wear the uniform for WMIN didn\u2019t work out. So that was it.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Chris Wedes replaced Lange<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Jack Rebney replaced Wedes<\/p><\/div>\n
Dedrick was determined to give his Captain 11 staying power and realized the best way to do that was to have an audience in the studio; a \u201ccrew\u201d as he called it. How do you do that? Why not invite kids to celebrate their birthday party with Captain 11 on live TV?<\/p>\n