An award-winning former News Director of Y95-CJLS has passed away.
Gary Nickerson reported at this station for more than 40 years.
With his incredibly deep voice, he delivered and wrote thousands of local news stories, and held a role as the morning news anchor.
Nickerson covered dozens of elections, hundreds of council meetings, and kept the community informed with his incredible storytelling.
Despite health problems after his retirement in 2019, he continued to provide his skills to the ‘Outside My Window’ podcast with his friend, Quinn Taggart.
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood remembers Nickerson as a fair journalist, with a fun personality.
“I feel like this is the end of an era. Gary was my first full interview in 2012 when I was elected mayor, and he taught me the aspect of the position. He was serious about his work, but he had a fun side too. We had a lot of fun. Gary was thorough and thoughtful, his deep and distinctive radio voice will be missed by our council and all in our town and beyond,” said Mayor Mood.
She says he was the Lloyd Robertson of Southwest Nova Scotia.
Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill remembers Nickerson as someone who cared about people.
“Gary was an incredible guy, with a voice and professionalism like no other. My greatest memories of him were doing live call-in shows on ‘The Weekender.’ Spending that hour with him on Sunday mornings and chatting with him and answering calls was always one of my favourite things to do. I’m going to miss him. He cared about local news and people,” said Churchill.
West Nova MP Chris d’Entremont worked with Nickerson on the CJLS Morning Show before he got into politics.
“Gary was a well-integrated person in our community. He understood what was going on, and he reported on things in a very professional manner. He was a gentleman, always asked great questions, and truly cared about the people he interviewed. I’m going to miss him tremendously. Having him with me in the mornings, and seeing how he reported on things, I learned a lot from him,” said d’Entremont.
Current Station Manager Eric Whynot says Nickerson was a consummate professional, and valued his time with his co-workers.
“He took pride in what he did every day in delivering news and information to everyone throughout the Tri-Counties. Gary was also a true gentleman who valued all the relationships that he had through his work, and also around the office. Y95 and the community have lost a great man,” said Whynot.
Gary Nickerson was 64.
