Here at KSBY, we are saying goodbye and congratulations to a very special member of our team. Operations Director Kelly Teel is retiring after more than 40 years at the station.
While you are most familiar with those you see on camera, Kelly works behind the scenes. He's the station's chief videographer and in charge of the crew you don't see that brings you the news every day. He works with new reporters teaching them the ropes of videography and maintains the video gear.
Over the past 40 years, Kelly has often had a front-row seat to the area's biggest stories, working with reporters to bring you the pictures you see on your screens.
In 1999, the high-profile murder trial of Rex Krebs was moved to Monterey County because of pre-trial publicity. Kelly and reporter John Meyers headed north to make sure Central Coast residents were kept informed. In a bit of history repeating itself, nearly 20 years later, Kelly and Richard Gearhart headed north once again for another high-profile murder case — this time, the Paul Flores trial.
He's worked with countless reporters on thousands of stories. Allen Schauffler and Lynn Diehl were familiar faces in Central Coast living rooms working as anchors/reporters at KSBY. Both spent time here early in their careers and both moved on to larger cities and have since retired from the news business, but like so many others, they have remained lifelong friends with Kelly and his family.
"He would show up every single day to work with a good attitude," Diehl said. "He had a good sense of humor. He was always prepared — the camera worked, the lights were there, there were batteries in the microphone. It just all got done without a big sense of drama."
Schauffler, meanwhile, shared a bit of advice for Kelly as he has a chance to spend more time on the golf course: "Remember the six most important words in retirement: hit it, find it, hit it."
While TV has changed, Kelly has changed right along with it. He's worked in two different buildings with multiple station owners and countless managers.
He's covered court cases, earthquakes, major fires, flooding, plane crashes, car accidents, elections, and even retirements — this time, it's his turn.
It's going to be hard to imagine life at KSBY without Kelly Teel. While he will be missed, all of us at KSBY wish Kelly the best in his retirement.
Congratulations, Kelly!
