Cliff Mitchell

Inducted 2002

When Cliff Mitchell took his first radio job at KASM Albany in 1952, he may not have known how long he would stay at the station. But fifty years later, he was still there, and still going strong.

He grew up on a farm in North Dakota, attended Brown Institute, and was hired by KASM, which then was less than two years old. As farm director, Mitchell helped the station develop an identity and programming to serve farm audiences in central Minnesota. He and KASM soon became a part of the family for area listeners. For fifty years, he was up by 2:00 a.m., at the station by 3:30, and on the air at 6:00, with news, farm markets, and weather on his two-hour morning show, followed by "Party Line," "Dairyland Quiz," and noontime news, and then afternoon appearances at meetings and fairs. He also ran an auction business and worked on his family's Minnesota farm. He has been named North Central Region Farm Broadcaster of the Year by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters and Non-Metro Broadcast Personality of the Year by the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, and was widely recognized as one of the nation's premier farm broadcasters.

Cliff Mitchell passed away March 30, 2017, at the age of 89.