July 22, 1958: Nation wakes up to the Aquatennial

In town for the Aquatennial, Dave Garroway, Helen O'Connell and the rest of NBC's "Today" crew had to get up pretty early in the morning to broadcast the show live from the east side of Lake Calhoun on July 22, 1958.

July 20, 2011 at 4:18AM
July 1958: 'Today' show at Lake Calhoun
(Ben Welter — Minneapolis Star/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Here's a portion of the original Minneapolis Star caption published on July 22, 1958:

Dave Garroway was up with the chiggers on Lake Calhoun this morning. So were a lot of other people. These erstwhile slugabeds were out before sun-up to see "Today" – live and in person – from a point just south of the 32nd street beach on E. Lake Calhoun Blvd. Garroway looked healthy. Minnesota's Bronko Nagurski, a guest on the TV show, looked healthier. Singer Helen O'Connell [above, with Garroway], curlers in her blonde hair, looked sleepy-eyed and pretty. Newsman Frank Blair was as dapper as if he were on New York's E. 49th street. And Jack Lescoulie was grinning cheerfully – even without breakfast.

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