Chattanoogans might believe that the long-time morning anchor of our NBC news affiliate must spend his hours off the air in a spacious, sunny office overlooking the mountains and landmarks of our beautiful city. If this is what you imagine, think again! Jed Mescon, the famous WRCB-TV early morning persona who graces our weekdays with information both local and farther afield, spends his hours off the air in a windowless cubicle shared with evening anchor Bill Markham. Fortunately, Jed enjoys Bill’s great stories, as well as Markham’s sixty neatly folded ties lined up attractively that grace their shared space.
Jed keeps his chair set low to the ground. He claims that being seated in a small chair allows him to feel like a tall person! He also hopes that a chair that is deliberately set in an odd way serves as a deterrent to others who might otherwise enjoy lounging at his desk when he is away from the office. Still, on plenty of those pre-dawn weekdays, Jed arrives to a desk laden with coffee rings, ketchup smears and teriyaki stains. He might even discover onions in his trash can, and Jed wants to thank those kind fellow employees who enjoy making themselves at home in his office while he sleeps!
A former typewriter fiend, he has learned to love his computer, arriving in the newsroom each weekday morning at 3:30 a.m. to peruse around ninety emails. Jed loves those emails and answers every one of them. He finds that he uses the telephone less and less as the years progress. Upon examination of Jed’s desk, one notices the prominent spot that his desk calendar enjoys. Here, he records his guest lineup for the month, phone numbers, and appointments. Jed wants to deliver a special “thank you” to the inventor of the desk calendar, without which he could not survive.
Mescon is an organized newsman. He organizes his file folders by the day, where they rest in the same drawer that he has used for many years. Gracing the office walls are fifteen plaques from community organizations showing their gratitude to Jed for his volunteer work. Jed spends about six hours a day in his office, and he walks around a lot in his tiny space as he works and thinks. There is plenty of activity to distract him in the newsroom: yelling, paper being printed, fire and police scanner activity. Yet, in the midst of chaos, Jed can focus on the photo of teenage daughter Caroline with her horse, or the picture of their six pets, or his nostalgic photo of Caroline and his wife Phyllis taken when Caroline was only three-years-old.
Jed is constantly losing pens and coffee mugs. He keeps apples under his desk, a constant energy source for snacking, and admits to apple cider episodes and hot chocolate addictions at various time periods. Jed loves those little plastic alligators; they grace his office with prehistoric style. He dreams of some day visiting the Okeefenokee Swamp to see the real creatures up close!
Jed Mescon’s office and desk become a clean slate of tidiness as of January 1 each year. He claims that by January 15, it is a mess again. Viewers might find that hard to believe. We all know, of course, that early each weekday morning, rain sun, or snow, we can tune our televisions to Jed’s steady, familiar cheery voice. Jed Mescon is always eager to catch us up on the latest news.