March 11, 1981. I remember it well. It was a Wednesday, the weather was kind of gray, and it was the first time I went on the radio and did a full shift here at CJLS.
Three weeks before I had bravely marched down to CJLS after school, walked into the place and told the receptionist there that I was looking for a job. I was young, 15 years old, in grade 10 at Yarmouth High School. I filled out an application (I lied and told him I was 16 because I thought a 15-year-old couldn’t get the job). I was told to wait, and in a few moments for the first time ever I met Chris Perry and Gerry Boudreau.
I was brought into a small studio, given a bunch of paper that had been torn off the teletype machine and asked to read it. I did that, and for some strange reason they liked it enough that they decided that they were training me. Every night for three straight weeks I went into the radio station, training, working and building up to the time when I could do a shift on my own.
I went to the radio station because it has been a dream of mine to become a radio announcer. I spent nights in my room listening to different radio stations all over the US. In those days it was AM radio and you could get amazing stations in the evenings. I was captivated by the music and the voices that came out of that little box and I had decided that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. A teacher of mine at the time, Burns Thompson encouraged me to go and try to get a job there.
Was I any good at night? Heck no! I’m sure I was lousy. But I was hooked.
Later that week on the Saturday I would come in by myself and do the Saturday night shift which would become my regular shift through my high school years.
Here are some names you might remember, or might not: the late Wayne Norman did mornings. He was followed by Ross Burchell who did the midday show that I currently do. He was also Music Director.
Steen Lovitt did the afternoon show, and Paul Surette did the evening show. Paul was there with me on March 11, 1981 watching as I did my first shift.
In 1981 the radio station was located at 222 Main Street In Yarmouth. If you go there currently you’ll find Gaia restaurant there. It was a small space, and the studio was filled with turntables and reel- to-reel machines and cart machines playing ads. Carts are what was used to play ads. It looked an awful lot like an eight track.
I remember the smell of smoke in the studio. There was an ashtray there of course. Ross Burchill smoked cigarettes and a pipe. Steen Lovitt in the afternoon smoked cigars.
In the ensuing years I grew up at the radio station. Chris Perry, Ray Zinck, and Gerry Boudreau became mentors to me. Particularly Chris and Ray. They are powerhouses in radio – in my mind at least – and shaped me into who I am today, for better or for worse if it’s better I credit them, If it’s worse I blame myself.
March 11, 1981 began a love affair that continues for me to this day. I believe in radio, I believe that radio is a vital lifeline. It links people to their community, it makes you smile, it makes you think and hopefully for the most part it makes you happy.
I hope that in my 40 years doing this I’ve caused many of those smiles, more than a few chuckles and have in some instances made people think.
I want to thank you for listening and for showing support to this radio station over the years. I believe in honouring those who came before, whose shoes I have tried to fill as best to the best of my ability. In the past year we have lost a couple of my mentors, Ray Zinck and Gerry Boudreau. Chris Perry and I talk often, and I consider him a second father to me.
To this day I have no idea why those three guys decided to take a chance on me. I’m not sure what they saw me. Maybe they just desperately needed a body to fill the space and it just happened to work out. But I will be forever grateful.
And I will be forever grateful to you for listening. It’s a magical thing, radio, and I am so fortunate to have been able to spend a lifetime in it.
Thank you.
