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Chehalem Business Connection September 2013 Page 8
Get ready for your close-up, Mr.
Bert.
Richard Bert and his Bert’s Chuck-
wagon barbecue restaurant in Dundee
were featured as part of the season fi-
nale of a new A&E reality show,
“Rodeo Girls,” which is scheduled to
air in the fall.
The show is an original series that
follows professional barrel racers on
the national circuit. Among those fea-
tured is Darcy LaPier, an award-win-
ning racer who lives near Newberg
and also serves as one of the show’s
executive producers.
Bert, originally unfamiliar with the
show, said an associate of LaPier’s
contacted him about him catering her
birthday party. He was later contacted
by two producers for A&E. He said
the show had found him through Yelp,
an Internet business review website,
and had selected him because his
“chuckwagon” had the highest ratings
of any barbecue restaurant in the area.
His company catered the event for
more than 150 people at LaPier’s
house on Wilsonville Road, he said,
and both him and his daughter, Kristi-
na Bert, are expected to be featured
on-screen during the finale episode.
“I’m not one to put myself in the
spotlight,” he said. “I find you have
more success by being humble. But
this was pretty neat. I enjoyed the ex-
perience.”
Bert said he hopes the break will
bring further exposure to his restau-
rant, which has found unprecedented
success since moving to Dundee in
March 2012, including tripling sales
this year. He is leasing the adjacent
building at 875 Highway 99W and,
having repainted it to match the
Chuckwagon’s candy-apple red, plans
to reopen it as early as next month as
Bert’s first brick-and-mortar barbecue
restaurant.
He’ll also soon be installing a mas-
sive, 12-foot-long, custom-built
smoker, which he said is capable of
cooking 140 racks of ribs at one time.
He admitted it is an effort to “make a
statement.”
“Things have been great,” he said.
“It’s just getting busier and busier.”
Warm up your radio dials,
because Yamhill County’s
beloved local radio sta-
tion, KLYC 1260 AM, is back. The
McMinnville-based station signed off
for good March 22 after more than 60
years in business, but just three months
later, it was welcomed back to the
broadcast business during a “Turn It
Back On” party in June at the Granary
District.
The station — mostly known for its
oldies-centered music mix, on-air
radio talent and coverage of local
events — was first established under
the call sign KMCM by brothers Jack
and Phil Bladine, also the owners of
the News-Register newspaper (which
was then known as the Telephone-
Register).
In 1990, the station was purchased
by Stella and the late Larry Bohnsack,
of Bohnsack Strategies Inc., and redes-
ignated KLYC (for “Leading Yamhill
County”). The business shut down ear-
lier this year as a result of economic
conditions and a failed attempt to sell
the station to Dick Mason, a broadcast
media executive from California.
The story of KLYC’s triumphant re-
turn to the airwaves centers on radio
veteran Dave Adams and his wife,
Norma. He said they had been looking
to purchase a station, and had recently
pursued a deal that ultimately fell
through, when a friend suggested they
take a look at KLYC.
With KLYC off the air, the only sal-
KLYC tuned
up, back on
the air
Under new ownership,
Yamhill County’s
AM frequency station
returns to the airwaves
Bert’s Chuckwagon makes season finale of A&E reality show, thanks to Yelp reviews
Please read more about KLYC on page nine
Dundee eatery will get camera time
Richard Bert, owner/operator of Bert’s Chuckwagon, shows off some of the fine smoked meats he sells out of his Dundee-based food cart.
“I’m not one to put myself in the spotlight.
I find you have more success by being
humble. But this was pretty neat.
I enjoyed the experience.”
Please read more about Bert’s on page nine