Ham radio operators come through in the clutch page 4
page 16 Volume 27 Issue 11
SPACE COAST RESOURCE MAG
myseniorlife.com
2025 EDITION • N0. 19
AZINE
THE BEAT GOES ON
Aging my way Active Healthy Thriving
TRUCK
Weathergirl wowed troops in Vietnam New book features letters sent to TV icon
BY MIKE GAFFEY From 1967 to 1969, Barbara “Bobbie” Keith lifted spirits of homesick American troops in Vietnam during her nightly TV weather shows as “Bobbie the Weathergirl.” Servicemen would send Keith sacks of mail, asking her for photographs, weather reports from their hometowns, or visits to their bases. Some of those letters are featured in “Bobbie the Weathergirl,” a 200-page, photo-filled paperback book by New Smyrna Beach author and longtime friend Pia Bows that pays tribute to Keith, now retired and a Suntree resident. When Keith was moving from Satellite Beach to Suntree in 2015 after her parents passed, Bows offered to place Keith’s Vietnam memorabilia in a binder. The letters and photos inspired Bows in 2018 to write a book, Keith said. “I am in awe of how she did it,” Keith said of Bows’ book, which debuted in early March. “She did a great job. If she hadn’t put that together, I wouldn’t have all those beautiful memories. I wouldn’t have a collection of myself, or what I did.” A globe-trotting daughter of two World War II veterans, Keith was 19 when she took a clerical job with the United States Agency for International
Relics
MUSEUM
thrills
History on Wheels
Constitution
Winds will hold 25th Anniversary Concert
April 2025
CES Essential RESOUR & Meetings
Sports & Activities I Clubs Resources Senior Living Tour I Veterans & Helplines Support Groups I Hotlines
The Boomer Guide is here!
The free, award-winning Boomer Guide magazine is available at more than 100 locations throughout Brevard County. This is the 19th edition of the popular publication. The premier information source for Brevard County residents is a go-to magazine to find clubs, organizations, resources, support groups, meetings, senior centers, hurricane emergency information, sports, veterans resources and much more. “We found some really interesting people to write about,” said Jill Blue, the publisher of Senior Life and Boomer Guide. “I loved using the new Relics Museum as our photo location. There were so many neat and eclectic items on display. The owner, Edward Rensing, was so gracious in letting us in before they opened. We like featuring local models. The models are so excited to share the magazine with their friends and family.”
FIND YOUR COPY, See page 9
SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of Barbara ‘Bobbie’ Keith
Barbara ‘Bobbie’ Keith was a popular TV weathergirl for Armed Forces Vietnam Network’s evening news broadcast from 1967 to 1969.
Suntree Internal Medicine
Continued on page 12
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