LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Chet Buchanan arrived in Las Vegas in 1999, stepping to the mic on 98.5 KLUC.
A role he expected to be short-lived.
“I wasn’t going to stay. I had worked in Phoenix for a couple of years, a few years before I came here. So I knew what I was getting into living in the desert. I wasn’t crazy about it,” Buchanan said.
He actually left for another position in the early 2000s. However, it wasn’t long before the valley called Buchanan back.
“After a couple of years of that, I was like, no, So we worked things out,” Buchanan said. “Here we are now, what that was 2004. We’re 20 years after that, 21 years after that.”
He has watched the city transform during his time here.
“215 stopped at Decatur. It wasn’t even built yet. It was a two-lane road. There was a highway, and it had stoplights,” Buchanan said. “You know, Downtown Summerlin wasn’t even a thought yet. They hadn’t even cleared out the desert. Just to watch it grow and then to watch sports come here and have this become literally the sports and entertainment capital of the world.”
98.5 KLUC personality has spent 300 days on scaffold raising millions of toys for local families
Every year, Chet Buchanan worries nobody will show up to his annual toy drive. Twenty-five years later, he’s still proven wrong.
“Every year, every single year, I’m convinced that this is the year that nobody’s going to show up,” said Buchanan. “I don’t know. Because you never know.”
The radio personality has spent nearly 300 days of his life, 12 days every year, living on a scaffold during his annual holiday toy drives, a tradition that began in 1999. This year marks his 25th season of the community fundraiser.
“I’ve lived on a scaffold for 288 days of my life. Over nine months of my life, nine and a half,” Buchanan said. “This will be 10 months of my life at the end of this one. 300 days, 25 years, 25 seasons.”
From childhood idea to Vegas tradition
The concept originated from Buchanan’s childhood in Seattle, where he envisioned a fundraising structure near the Space Needle.
“People old enough to know where they had the Kurt Cobain vigil, the candlelight vigil after his suicide,” Buchanan said.
“That grassy area by the International Fountain underneath the Space Needle, I thought would be cool to have a wooden structure. I didn’t know how tall it was, but you would stay on it until you raised $10,000. For whatever reason, that stuck in my head forever, for a long time.”
The first year’s goal was modest compared to what was realized.
“The first year, the idea was we’d get 9,800 toys,” Buchanan said. “That year, I think we estimated it was 250,000 toys.”
The toy drive has collected millions of toys over the years, creating lasting memories for Buchanan and the families it serves.
Personal moments drive continued commitment
Buchanan recalled a particularly moving encounter from around 2007 or 2008 that reinforced his commitment to the cause.
“It was around 2007-08. It was the last night of toy drive. I see what looked to be a family coming in,” Buchanan said. “They had their daughter, who I learned later, her name was Ariana. At the time, she was seven years old.”
“It’s a kid in a wheelchair and she loses it. Like she’s so excited,” Buchanan said. “I thought, oh my God, if this is what this means to a kid that will never ride a bike ever. What’s that going to mean to the kid that thought they would never get one?”
The experience has changed Buchanan personally over the years, forever proud of the work this community has done to care for one another.
“Really, the greatest compliment is it’s this little silly thing, you know, that we started in 1999, just hoping to do a little good in the community,” Buchanan said. “It’s personal for the city. It’s deeply personal for this city. For a lot of people, this is their holiday tradition.”
Despite not growing up in Las Vegas, Buchanan considers it home.
“It’s a special place if you’ll let it be. If you want to find the bad, great, you’ll find the bad anywhere,” Buchanan said. “Las Vegas is home. Is it where I grew up? Nope, it’s not. It’s not. But it’s home.”
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