EP 89 ─Television Star and Local Minnesota Legend Ron Schara

Show will premiere live on June 1st, at 7:00 PM (CST)

Ron Schara’s story proves dreams do come true. In 1987, Ron, an outdoor beat writer for the Minneapolis Tribune, and newbie producer Doug Hajicek got together by coincidence.

They came up with Ron Schara’s Outdoor news on a napkin together. The star was a Black Lab named Kiela. Soon the name changed to NorthCountry This rebranded show ran for 7 years in 15 markets in the Midwest. It also had a spin-off show, Call of the Wild, in 1991. Again the same show just tweaked.

Then in 1995, the show moved to a Local NBC affiliate Kare 11, and changed the name once again to focus on Minnesota stories... and Minnesota Bound was born… same show basically with tweaks and a new title. Hajicek knew 100 percent that Ron’s love of outdoor storytelling could be turned into a television success story.

One of the stars of the show Minnesota Bound was once again a black lab name Raven, a relative of the original black lab. All of it was inspired by news programs such as 20/20 and 60 minutes. The show is really about people. They just happen to love the outdoors. 1987-2022 - 35 years and still going strong.