[ This lunch really is a good deal ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 14, 2002 by Capital-Journal

This lunch really is a good deal

Topeka's most popular luncheon companion barely had time to eat her $1.07 special Wednesday.

Washburn Rural Middle School students on a field trip to the West Ridge Mall swelled the size of the crowd having Lunch with Rose. In between joking with students and teachers, talking to a reporter and chatting with people signing up for a drawing to win mall gift certificates, the radio/luncheon hostess had to hurry just to get on the air, let alone dig into a luncheon special, such as Kwan Wah's Teriyaki Chicken with Chicken Fried Rice. For $1.07. KMAJ Majic 107.7. Get it?

Topeka has been getting it for 15 years. That's how long Rose has been inviting us to lunch. What began as a promotion by the radio station's sales department has evolved into a midweek tradition, a tradition steeped in the small-town values Rose so treasures and not unlike the old TV show Cheers where everybody knows everyone else. And, of course, their name.

At least, everybody knows her name. Her first name. Rose.

That's how she's identified on the radio, where she's Majic's midday (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) host, and it's how she's serves lunch. Her full name is Rose Diehl. Nothing wrong with that. But she started using only her first name when she got into radio 22 years ago because she didn't think her maiden name, Rose Rues, sounded good on the air. She's been Rose to listeners and lunch-goers ever since.

It's been a great relationship, both for people looking for a good lunch deal and for the Kansas State University political science major who came to Topeka with plans to enter law school before changing her mind and taking a 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. radio gig with KTOP- AM back when it had a solid-gold format.

"It's fun, fun, fun," Rose says. "I love music. It's a hobby for me, and to get paid for a hobby --- it's amazing."

So, too, has been the reception to Lunch with Rose. She has a regular group of fans who are "like family," families who in many cases she has watched grow up at lunch. The suggestion that she has a fan club embarrasses her.

"The only reason is that I've been at the station so long, believe me," Rose said.

That's probably part of it. But just as important to the success of this long-running lunch date is the ease at which she deals with her guests, both friend and stranger. For that, she credits her roots in the small western Kansas town of McCracken.

"I had great training for that growing up in a small town," she said, explaining how people in small towns grow up talking to everyone else.

She's an advocate for small towns, putting her money where her mouth is. She owns a home in McCracken and recently bought a store that has been turned into an antique business. The venture is reminiscent of what another Topeka broadcaster, Bill Kurtis, has done in the southeast Kansas town of Sedan.

"The only difference," Rose said, "is that he has money."

Yeah, but he doesn't have as many lunch guests. And you wonder whether he could possibly be having as much fun.

Ask her how long she hopes to keep serving lunch and talking about it, and she says, "I would love to keep doing it as long as I possibly can, but I know that eventually it will all end."

With that, she paused, oh, so briefly before hurrying back to the mike to announce the names of the gift certificate winners.

"We're always running," she said, laughing. "But this is the fun part."

Read Pete Goering's columns on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and listen to his sports commentary on Radio 580 WIBW at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at (785) 295-5659 or goering@cjonline.com.