Lewisville — I attended the annual Summer Bash thrown by KTCK Radio (The Ticket) Friday at Sneaky Pete’s on the shore of Lake Lewisville.

The party gives listeners of the radio station a chance to kick back, relax, mingle, eat, drink, swim, listen to live music and meet the on-air personalities that they hear every day on the station.

Some of the Register’s readers will remember The Ticket from their live appearance at Hunter’s Oil Depot in Gainesville two years ago when a former Register reporter took exception with some of the on-air subject matter during a remote broadcast by the station’s afternoon drive show, “The Hardline.”

I have been a listener and fan of The Ticket since it went on the air in 1994. I like the station because the guys not only talk sports, but they keep me entertained with their humor as well. Does their humor sometime cross the line for some people’s tastes? Of course. But those listeners are free to spin that radio dial until they find another station they like. Goodness knows there are plenty of radio signals to choose from.

When The Ticket had their live remote broadcast at Hunter’s Oil Depot, I was living and working in Lubbock. I will never forget getting a call from Stephen Monahan, the current Register sports editor.

“You’ve got to get online and listen to what The Ticket is talking about right now,” Monahan told me. Luckily I was home and near my computer so I could stream the station’s audio. I guess word had gotten back to the Hardline crew that the former Register reporter had written some not-so-flattering comments about the radio broadcast. So for two full segments in the middle of afternoon drive on one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s most listened-to radio stations, Mike Rhyner, Corby Davidson and the rest of the Hardline crew proceeded to rip into the former reporter and the newspaper.

Soon after, I heard that the reporter’s MySpace page was inundated with mean and nasty comments from Ticket listeners. Eventually, things settled down and the Hardline stopped talking about the Register and instead turned their attention to more pressing issues, like whether Rhyner’s elderly mother was aware that “Fat Joe left Atlantic” or asking the all-important question, “is that blood?”

Not everyone, including the former reporter, is a fan of the Ticket, but I am. I love that I can hear a 10-minute segment about the Dallas Cowboys playoff chances, followed by a 10-minute breakdown of Breaking Bad, my favorite TV show. I also enjoy hearing from the Fake Tiger Woods, the Fake Wade Phillips and the Fake Nolan Ryan.

The station is catering to its core audience, which is men ages 25-54 and they are very successful at it. They regularly dominate the other sports talk stations in DFW in just about every time slot.

They started with just an AM signal (1310) and have added an FM signal (104.1 which is licensed to Sanger). They have also added thousands and thousands of fans who, like me, enjoy the station’s unique programming.

So to all those I had a chance to see Friday and all of my fellow Ticket listeners, I say “Have a Happy Summer.”

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Another thing I enjoyed at Friday’s Summer Bash was running into the Ticket’s program director Rich Phillips (which is his radio name…Ticket listeners will no doubt know his real name).

Phillips was once-upon-a-time a disc jockey right here in Gainesville at KXGM-FM. I worked with Rich and even broadcasted Gainesville Leopards football games for a season with him. He was quick to ask how Charley and Pam Henderson, the former KXGM owners, were doing, as well as checking up on current KGAF program director Dee Blanton, who also worked at KXGM with the rest of us.

Not only is Phillips the PD for the Ticket, he also does “Ticket tickers” four times an hour on the award-winning Dunham and Miller morning show, as well as hosts an auto racing show called “Race Week” each Saturday for the station.

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 Speaking of parties on the shore of a lake, I had a good time Sunday at the “Tropical Cruise on Noah’s Ark” at Lake Kiowa.

The event is a major fundraiser for the Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter and around 300 people attended the party, which included food, beverages, raffle drawings and some great music from Ben Smith and Kelly McGuire.

The board of directors did a great job putting together a fun fundraiser to benefit the shelter.

They raise money thanks to donations from local businesses, ticket sales for the party, and the sale of raffle tickets at the event. The most sought-after raffle item was a margarita machine, which was won by Bob and Beverly Smith, who along with some of their friends, purchased more than $300 worth of tickets for an item that probably cost around $150.

Here’s hoping the Smiths can write-off the donation on their next tax return. Do you think “margarita machine” would set off any red flags with the IRS?