1. Ben Aycrigg
He's been called the "Walter Cronkite of Orlando." And for 35 years, that's the way it was. Ben Aycrigg was the face Channel 6 news for many Central Floridians. He reported with authority and knowledge as someone who grew up in the region. After graduating from Winter Park High School in 1944, Aycrigg began work at WDBO-AM as a radio announcer. He went on to attend Rollins College, and after graduation he landed at job at WLOF-Channel 9 as a reporter in 1959. He worked there two years before jumping across town to the more popular WDBO-Channel 6 -- the start of a long and distinguished career. He became the station's first reporter for its four-person news department, one which he would head as news director from 1968-76. After anchoring solo most of his career, he began to be paired with co-anchors in 1976, eventually teaming with Annetta Wilson -- the area's first African-American anchor. In a period when Channel 6 lacked direction from its owner and was sliding in the ratings, Aycrigg was taken off the anchor desk in 1981. He was given the title of special projects director, but he didn't keep that title long. After Carole Nelson left Channel 6 in the late '80s, he was put back in the anchor seat for the station's noon show, and then its new 5:30 p.m. news. For a short while, he even returned to the 6 p.m. show with Glenn Rinker -- and ratings went up! When he retired in 1996 at age 70, he was still anchoring the noon show -- paired again with Wilson, who had returned to Channel 6. A thoughtful journalist who worried about the influence of consultants and the lack of local ownership of TV stations, Aycrigg is remembered as a nice guy who was both well-respected and well-liked. Last I heard, he was enjoying retirement in Maitland.
TV Trivia: Aycrigg is an author. Before he retired from Channel 6, he wrote three fiction books -- aimed at young people -- that dealt with environmental issues and his passion for horses.

He is Mr. Super Doppler. For more than 33 years, Dave Marsh has been the steady voice of weather reason at WESH. One of my first Central Florida TV memories is of Dave standing in front of his black and white "Radar Weather" screen in WESH's Daytona Beach studios in the 1970s. Weather technology has changed a lot since then, and so has Marsh. He was one of the first weathercasters in the nation to use computer graphics for his forecasts. Yeah, they looked pretty primitive, but you've got to love the way he and WESH embraced technology. Marsh and WESH were the first in Central Florida to get their own Doppler system -- the huge Super Doppler 2 dish that sits atop the Channel 2 tower along I-4. Beyond the technology, Marsh has earned a reputation as a trusted weather expert. When Danny Treanor at WFTV was easily the most popular weather person on TV in the early '80s, research supposedly showed that viewers clicked off Danny and turned on Dave whenever severe weather approached. When hurricanes threatened Central Florida, Marsh received high marks for not over-hyping the situation and keeping viewers up to date.
TV Trivia: He's a Hatter! After leaving the Navy, Marsh attended Stetson University in DeLand.

There was no one more popular in Central Florida television in the 1980s than weatherman Danny Treanor. It's the truth -- WFTV had actual research to back it up. He joined WFTV in 1978 -- part of the crew that Bob Jordan put together that took Channel 9 to the top. At one point, Treanor worked five shows at day -- noon, 5, 5:30, 6 and 11. Behind the scenes, the pressures took their toll -- Treanor had a drinking problem. He went into rehab and said he emerged sober. He stuck by that claim in 1995 when WFTV abruptly took him off the air. The station wanted to go in another direction, he was told. Out of the TV biz for years, he finally got back on the air a year ago when he began working as a part-time fill-in at Central Florida News 13. Now he's a full-time member of the station's weather staff.
TV Trivia: Danny did a lot of voice work around Central Florida. You can hear his voice in many places, including the automated phone system at West Oaks Mall and on the boats that shuttle hotel guests at Universal Orlando.

If Ben Aycrigg is the Walter Cronkite of Orlando, then Bob Opsahl is the Tom Brokaw. As part of Central Florida TV's second generation of anchors, Opsahl has been reporting the news for the past 25 years. He joined WFTV in 1978 when Bob Jordan saw him covering a school board meeting on WMFE-Channel 24. The UCF grad joined Channel 9 first as a general assignment reporter, but moved quickly to the anchor desk. He teamed with Carole Nelson on 5:30 p.m. Eyewitness News before moving to the main spot when Bob Jordan left (the first time). In the mid to late 1980s, WFTV brought in Bud Hedinger to replace Opsahl as the main anchor. Opsahl remained with the station, back on the 5:30 news, but within a few years reclaimed his main anchor role. It was then that he was teamed with Marla Weech, creating Central Florida's formidable anchor duo.
TV Trivia: Since 1982, Opsahl has hosted the "Wednesday's Child" segments on WFTV, trying to adoptive homes for special needs children. His work has helped place more than 500 children in new homes.

Marla Weech and Bob Opsahl teamed to form one of the most successful anchor duos in the nation. At one point during their paring, I think I remember reading they anchored the highest-rated local newscast in America. Not bad for a hometown duo. Weech, a native Floridian, attended UCF, like Opsahl. She's been on the air in Central Florida for more than 20 years. She was a weekend anchor at WCPX-Channel 6 in the early 1980s before moving over to WFTV as a general assignment reporter, then weekend anchor and finally weeknight anchor. Her co-anchors have included Opsahl, Bud Hedinger and even Barbara West for short time when WFTV experimented with the two women helming the 11 p.m. newscast. Marla is one of those anchors that folks either really love or really love to bash. When Bob Jordan returned in 2002 to halt WFTV's sliding ratings, he needed to make some big changes. Perhaps his toughest decision was moving Weech off the Channel 9 news desk. Because of her popularity, however, she was retained by WFTV to anchor its 10 p.m. news on sister station WRDQ-Channel 27. Since Weech began anchoring only on Channel 27, ratings for that station's newscasts have increased dramatically to the point of making the 10 p.m. competition a real dogfight with Fox O&O WOFL-Channel 35.
TV Trivia: When I was at UCF -- well after Weech left -- the rumor in the journalism department was that one of our professors was dating Weech. But, we heard, she dumped him for a helicopter pilot.

While Carole Nelson broke down one barrier in Central Florida television, Wilson broke another. She was the first African-American anchor, working at WCPX-Channel 6. She was initially teamed with Ben Aycrigg on the news in 1980, then later with Wayne Bennett and Steve Wolford. She left Channel 6, worked for a while at WOFL-Channel 35 anchoring brief news updates during prime-time (before 35 had a news department), then returned to Channel 6 again. She's now at Central Florida News 13.