Ray Szmanda

Ray Szmanda
Born	June 22, 1926 (1926-06-22) (age 85)
Occupation	Free-Lance Announcer
Years active	1951-1999
Spouse	Maxine Szmanda
Website
http://menardsguy.com

Raymond Jack Szmanda, Sr. (born June 22, 1926) is a radio and television announcer who became well-known across the midwestern United States for his "Menards Guy," who has advertised for the home improvement store for more than two decades. He continues to periodically make new ads, and a comic likeness of himself remains in most of Menards' print and in-store advertising. Szmanda currently lives in Antigo, Wisconsin. His family includes four sons and three daughters. His wife, Maxine, died in 1999.

Szmanda learned his trade at the American Institute of the Air, and took writing courses from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

He worked for radio and television stations as a staff announcer from 1951 to 1958, when he began to freelance. From 1959 until 1978, he operated the Trans-American School of Broadcasting in his hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin. His career with Menards began in 1976, and he was a fixture of the ads until 1998 when he retired. However, he partially returned to the job in 1999, making occasional ads since that time.

In addition to his announcing work, Szmanda has other hobbies, including drumming and collecting antique cars. He enjoyed operating Amateur Radio from 1995–2005, under the now expired callsign KB9JPB. Szmanda also started taking piano lessons in 2001.

Szmanda once appeared in a 1970s science fiction movie, The Alpha Incident [1]. He also hosted the Wausau version of High Quiz Bowl. His great-nephew Eric Szmanda is also known in television, primarily for playing Greg on CSI.

External links

• Ray Szmanda's Website
• Interview: The Menards Guy, Volume One Magazine
• Seasoned Menards guy is hard to wear out, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel^{[dead link]}
• Ray Szmanda at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Szmanda, Ray
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 22, 1926
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