Ann Varnum never dreamed of having a television career. Even after almost 50 years at WTVY, she didn’t think of herself as a broadcaster. So why would we give this honor to someone who didn’t live and breathe broadcasting? Because Ann Varnum lived and breathed Dothan, Alabama and the entire Wiregrass area … and she used television to show her dedication to that audience. Whether she knew it or not, Varnum was a broadcaster like no other and is more than deserving to be included in the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
“She never really intended to be a broadcaster. She was a person that just wound up in broadcasting, “ says Ken Curtis, WTVY news director. “ She wanted to share positive news and give people a platform to talk. She wanted to be involved deeply and to be rooted in her community.”
“She didn’t have any experience. She’d never been on the radio, never been on TV,” says her son Trant Bullard. “She got her master’s at Auburn – a double major in English and Theater. If I remember correctly, she even got accepted at Julliard.”
But then there was marriage – a family – and Varnum started teaching. It was during this time that she moved into broadcasting.
“She had a great personality and had that theater background,” explains Bullard. “Someone recommended her for the television job. She went, was interviewed for the job and that’s when she started working full-time for the TV station.”
It wasn’t long before it became clear that Varnum was the right person for the job.
“Ann probably would not have worked out anywhere else. But in Dothan, Alabama, she was a perfect fit,” says Curtis. “She had a lot of guests and many of them would be CBS stars … and the program they wanted to be on was Ann’s.”
She soon became a fixture on morning TV.
“People woke up to her and her morning program for years. They started their day with Ann Varnum,” smiles Curtis. “The thing about Anne, what you saw on TV is exactly what you got when she was away from the camera.”
“She was just easy to talk to,” says Darcy Butterfield whose father, Jerry Vann also worked at WTVY. She got to know Varnum when she visited her dad at the station.
“I would see Miss Ann running into people – she didn’t know them, but they acted like they knew her. She would give them just as much attention as somebody who was a friend”.
“Ann remembered everyone’s birthday,” says Reginald Jones, former WTVY anchor now retired. “Not only did she remember, you would come into work that day and you would see a birthday card on your desk. And she’d have a little goody inside the envelope, too.”
“Mother has shared with me that Miss Ann gave a scrapbook to my daddy when he retired,” says Butterfield. “I think she kept scrapbooks on a lot of the older WTVY people.”
Jones says she was tremendously supportive of the news staff.
“She would watch the newscasts”, he says. “And afterwards she would text us or email us complimenting something she saw.”
Faith was a major part of Varnum’s life.
“We were in church every time the doors were open,” laughs Bullard.
“She lived her Christian life. And this day and time, you know, sometimes it’s not popular to talk about that, but Ann never backed down from her beliefs,” says Curtis.
“She’d sit and pray with people in the newsroom,” he continues. “She always had time to guide them professionally. There are broadcasters all over this country that are looking back today saying that Ann Varnum had an influence, a positive influence on their lives.”
Varnum’s legacy remains strong. Butterfield says, “I think Ann was the TV station.”
Jones agrees. “She’s pretty much synonymous with WTVY.”
“She’s been gone now for almost six years,” says Curtis. “But if you went around and said, ‘Ann’, people would still say ‘Varnum!”.
