Sometimes good things come out of really bad things.
Just ask Ron and Jake Williams. Some of you will remember the father and son for their work with such bands as Wanton Dynamos and Crank Sanatra. Jake played bass in both and his father was an ardent supporter who also performed locally.
Two years ago, Jake moved to Austin, Texas, to get away from some troubles he’d managed to find here. On Aug. 26, while crossing a street in a crosswalk near his new home, he was hit by a car.
“That was the worst phone call ever, to be told your son would likely die,” Ron said. “Then it was the worst two months trying to find help for him.”
They did find help, thanks to a couple of agencies in Texas. Wednesday, Jake was honored by the city of Austin as the 2010 Employee of the Year. He will represent the city as its nominee for state honors as well.
Jake works with severely handicapped adults through the Mary Lee Foundation in Austin. Ron said getting into the foundation’s post-traumatic brain injury rehab program and getting some financial assistance through the Texas Crime Victims Fund proved life-saving for his son.
“He’s doing well now,” Ron said, “but it has been a tough road, and he has gotten a lot of help. All of these folks that we did not know have been wonderful.
“Jake has discovered a meaning for his life. It really has been miraculous the help that he has gotten.”
* Flash, flash, flash. “Shock Theatre” is back, at least for a trial run on Saturday, according to WTVC-TV 9’s Bob Nolan.
Local musician and otherwise good guy Jack Gray is reprising the role of Dr. Shock. He will be joined by Nurse Goodbody (Constance Haynes) and Dingbat, who is being voiced and operated by Eric Scealf. Scealf will also play the role of Dirge, a new character. John Stockman is producing.
Gray also handmade Dingbat.
“We are doing this from memory,” Gray said. “We are trying to pick up where the old one left off.”
For you newcomers to town, “Shock Theatre” was a popular Saturday night staple that was locally produced. It starred the late Tommy Reynolds as the host, with Dan East voicing Dingbat. It was camp at its best.
Saturday’s edition will run from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m on WTVC subchannel ThisTV, whch can be found over the air at 9.2, on Comcast 208, EPB 169, Charter 174 and Dalton Utility 157.
If people like it, the station could pick it up for more editions, Nolan said.
* WTVC will also re-air the second part of its look at how Chattanooga rebuilt itself over the last two and half decades over the coming weeks on ThisTV.
“Chattanooga’s Heroic Drive: The History of a Renaissance” premiered Wednesday. It is an hourlong special created by reporters and producers at the station and features interviews and discussions with city and industry leaders. It also includes file video and photos detailing what the city was like in the early 1980s.
A 300-page book written by Robert Towery under the same title will be released in late November or early December, according to WTVC general manager Mike Costa.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354