Thank you. I don’t know what else to say. We got to take the show on the road on friday and dedicate all three hours to the radiothon to raise awareness and funds for Kidsability. I got to meet some great people and awesome kids. Our three Rogers Radio Stations (570 News, CHYM-FM and KIX 106 combined to bring in over 208 thousand dollars.
Awesome!
Tomorrow we are taking the show on the road. Join us at Conestoga Mall between noon-3pm. We’re part of a fundraising radiothon for Kidsability. We took the tour yesterday, they do amazing work and need our help. The gut-wrenching part for me was learning that there are over one thousand kids on a waiting list. That shouldn’t happen in a city, province, country as rich as Canada. Help if you can.
I’ve watched a lot of hockey games since picking this career almost 32 years ago. But last night was a first. My youngest son, Ian, and his three buddies from Bluevale that formed a barbershop quartet this year called the Lazy Boys performed the National Anthem. They were awesome and enjoyed the experience. So did I.
Saturdays’ triple overtime Ranger win in Sarnia was the longest game I’ve ever been a part of. The jury seems to be out on if it is the longest game in the history of the team, but I’m betting it is, because Don Cameron can’t remember a longer one. At times the game seemed to be in slow motion, and when All-World winger Matt Halischuk suffered leg cramps and had trouble getting off the ice (he was crawling), we all shared his pain. The win gives the Rangers the upperhand on the scoreboard and may be too much emotionally for Sarnia to comeback from. We’ll see how everyones’ legs are tomorrow night.
My best friend lost his dad to cancer last month. He was a great guy and a big influence on my teen-aged years. I will miss him. Tomorow will mark the 23rd anniversary of the day my ste-father died. I STILL miss him.
I pause to remember a couple of my favorites from years gone by here at King and Water in downtown Kitchener.
1. My good friend and co-worker George Michaels (sister station) played a recorded announcement years ago from Bell Canada advising listeners to put their phones in a baggie before leaving for work. Bell was blowing out the phone lines as part of a spring cleaning effort and didn’t want dust getting in your house. The phone calls we got from people complaining their baggies were empty of dust and when was Bell going to get on with it were worth the price of admission. We even snagged a staff member in that one.
2. Years ago, after the retirement of Brian Mulroney, I talked former Mayor Dom Cardillo into announcing his intention to run for the Leadership of the Conservatives. Dom was great. He gave me an interview and we played a clip of Dom saying “I’d like a chance to do for the country, what I’ve been able to do for the city.” If that wasn’t funny enough, Dom also let the audience off the hook by announcing “I’m an RC, not a PC.” His secretary was quite ticked with me for the volumn of phone calls at City Hall.
3. The next year, I talked the late Bruce McKenty, an unspoken Waterloo Councillor, into announcing plans for Kitchener-Waterloo to almagamate..He tossed in the annexation of Guelph and the phones went stupid again.
4. We used to run something called the “Today Poll”, where we would ask a new question every morning and announce the results the following day. Our former Music Director Randy Owen came up with the question “Do you participate in polls?” We had a few hundred people phone in to say no.
5. I’ll end with this one…it’s kinda scary. The year after the loonie came in, we asked if you agreed with plans for the “Two-nie” We even spelled it that way. We made it up, had reaction from the vending industry and the racetracks and sold it so good, our own staff was ticked off at me. Five years later……
that was fun