Weatherman Tony Perkins said goodbye to Good Morning America this morning. ABC looked back at Tony’s seven years on GMA, and and all of the anchors gave him a parting gift.
From Diane: matching recliner chairs for Tony and his young son Connor so they can watch TV together; from Robin, a DVD of all the times Tony mentioned The Beatles on GMA; and from Charlie, a key to his apartment so if Tony, his wife Rhonda and son Connor want to come back and visit NYC, they have a place to stay.
After the show, staffers gathered on the set for a champagne toast and cake. After the jump, David Westin‘s goodbye message…
Tomorrow marks the last day our friend and colleague, Tony Perkins, will be with us on “Good Morning America.†He is returning to live full-time in his beloved Washington, D.C., and to serve as the morning weatherman for WTTG-TV, his old station.
During his time with GMA, Tony covered no fewer than 19 hurricanes. Time and again, Tony and his team brought viewers up-to-the-minute reports on some of nature’s worst disasters, putting themselves in harm’s way to bring ABC News viewers the story.
In addition to expert weather coverage, Tony did many memorable interviews, including his pal Ringo Starr and other music icons like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Stevie Wonder.
And, of course, with his partner, Gary Stein, Tony created and starred in our ABC News Now hit program, “Stealing Scenes.â€
Much more than all of this, Tony became a part of the GMA family and, by extension, of the larger family of ABC News. All of us owe him a large debt of gratitude for his hard work, his good cheer, and his great enthusiasm. We will miss him.
Please join me in congratulating Tony on this new chapter in his career.