News

Parsons, Gustafson meet, introduce Toby Keith

By Tyler Ohmann

08/06/2013

Two Bottineau radio personalities were afforded a great opportunity at the state fair in Minot recently. Shane Parsons and Rick Gustafson and their families were fortunate enough to be able to meet Toby Keith before he played on July 26.

It was even more special for Parsons, who got to introduce Keith in front of a crowd of more than 14,000 before he took the stage.

“It’s just a sea of people, and you really can’t concentrate on one face, because they all blend together,” Parsons said. “Toby had a stage out beyond the stage, so I went out there and everybody had their hands raised out, so I ran out there and was smacking hands.”

“It was kind of like a rock star thing, I’ve always wanted to do,” Parsons added.

Before that though, Parsons and Gustafson were able to meet with Keith for about a minute or 90 seconds by Parsons’ estimation.

“I brought along my Red Solo Cup,” Parsons said. “He just asked if we were looking forward to the show and having a good time.”

After the meet and greet, Parsons took the stage, and he said it was quite the experience to introduce this year’s fair’s biggest country act.

“I asked them to raise their Red Solo Cup, and there were a bunch of them there,” Parsons said. “It was a pretty cool rush when you get out there with that many people.”

The pair work at KBTO or Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau, which Parsons said is afforded the opportunity to introduce an act at the state fair every year. In years past they have introduced Chris Young, The Band Perry, Rodney Atkins and even Reba McEntire.