How might a radio sports announcer approach the birth of his child? Does he stand at the head of his wife’s hospital bed and utter small encouraging phrases? “Good, honey. You’re doing great. Good job.” Or does a small portion of his brain slip into play-by-play?

Keep that thought in mind while we tell you a little bit more about that radio announcer. Before joining NPPD, York Human Resources Representative Dallas Beshaler used to be a radio sports play-by-play announcer.

Dallas is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Just out of college, he went to work for a radio station in Broken Bow. He’s also worked for stations in Lexington and West Point.

In the 10 years he’s been behind the mike, Dallas has had many memorable calls, but two examples are etched in his memory. One, was the play-by-play of the game in which the Broken Bow girls won the state basketball championship.

“Broken Bow was a low seed (in the tournament),” Dallas remembers. “They won all the way through and played Norfolk Catholic in the finals. It was a three-pointer at the buzzer. We have the call of the game, and we were just screaming at the end. (Tourney officials) patched in our call at the Devaney Center, and they replayed it over and over during the awards ceremony. That was probably the most fun that we had.”

A second memory illustrates much about Dallas’ character and his approach to his work, both in radio and for NPPD. “I had a woman stop me after a game and tell me that she had a blind husband who wanted her to seek me out. She said I was his favorite broadcaster of all time because I was able to paint a picture (with words) that he was able to see in his head. I thought that was cool.”

Since Dallas began working for NPPD, he hasn’t been able to do much broadcasting. “I’m on-call with the York radio station if the need arises,” he says. “And I’d be willing to step in and start doing (play-by-play) on a part-time basis again. I have provided color commentary when some of the stations I used to work for have had games in this area.

Moving on from radio
“Mainly, I got out of radio because I was going broke,” he comments with a good-natured laugh. “When we started having kids, I knew I had to seek gainful employment.” To take steps in that direction, Dallas started working for Becton-Dickinson in Broken Bow in an HR administrative role in 1999. He began to take additional college courses and earned a master’s degree from Bellevue University in business management.

He says his background in broadcasting has proven to be invaluable. “I think it provides me with many advantages,” he admits. “I don’t have much fear speaking in front of the public and developing a natural communication with people.

Going to work for NPPD and moving to York were good decisions, Dallas says. “I really like York. It was the right-sized community for us and conveniently located. And I have really enjoyed my time here at NPPD. I’m pleased I decided to focus on this aspect of my career. NPPD has taken care of my family, and they’ve taken care of me. They’ve allowed me to do this (radio) part-time. I can’t say enough good things about the District right now.

Dallas and his wife, Shelley, have three sons—Dexter, 10; Alex, 8; and Max, just a few weeks old; and a four-year-old daughter, Roxanne.

Now, back to that delivery scenario from the beginning of this article. On March 12, Dallas found himself in a unique situation. The soon-to-be-Dad for the fourth time would help deliver his son, Max. Here ’s his play-by-play of the special event.

Dallas delivers play-by-play
“The delivery was a bit hectic,” reported Dallas. “Another couple came in a couple hours before we did, but my wife is such a competitor, she couldn’t let someone else beat her to delivery. We lost, but only by four minutes. The nurse was in our room telling my wife to hold on for the doctor until she was finished in the other room. We heard a baby cry in the other room at 2:35. Our baby arrived at 2:39. The doctor came in our room at 2:41. Since it was just myself and the nurse in the room, she pulled me into the process. She had to catch, so I had to move equipment around. Just call me Dr. Dallas.”

“I’ve requested that the hospital pay me a fair wage for my services, as well as provide me a significant reduction in Doctor’s fees,” Dallas joked. “I have been rejected on both counts.”

Congratulations on your growing family, Dallas!