CJAY 92 morning host Forbes announces retirement
One of the longest-running voices of Calgary morning radio is hanging up the microphone.
CJAY 92’s Gerry Forbes announced his retirement Thursday morning after 25 years on air at the station.
“I’m 61. I want to at least stay up past 10 p.m. one night and not get up at quarter to 4,” Forbes said of the reason he decided now was the right time to call it quits.
Forbes said he never imagined having the long career that is about to end.
In all, he worked 43 years in radio, starting in 1975 at a station in Kamloops, B.C.
But he got a head start in the business, as his father ran 630 CHED in Edmonton, where Forbes was born before moving to Toronto at the age of three.
“I actually really started when I was 13,” he said. “I worked around the radio station there.”
Forbes eventually got a job at CHUM in Toronto where he cut his teeth in the business. After moving to Kamloops for eight months — a shock for someone coming from the big city — he’d spend some time at radio stations in Hamilton and Toronto again.
Not knowing whether radio was for him, Forbes went on to work at IBM in Toronto for a few months.
“I thought this would be an experience but I hated it. I didn’t like a regular job,” he said. “So I honed my skills again and got a job at CHUM.”
Forbes eventually worked his way up to being on air middays and then mornings at CHUM, which launched his morning show career before moving to Calgary.
He said the achievement he’s most proud of in 25 years at CJAY 92 is the legacy of the radio station’s Kids Fund, which has helped raise money for families that have been victims of house fires, domestic violence, car crashes, sudden deaths and more.
With one month left before his retirement, he said fans can expect to hear highlights from the past 25 years on the air before he steps away.
“There’s stuff that’s so wild and crazy that you probably couldn’t do it today but we’re going to play it anyway,” he said.