Local radio station CHAB 800 celebrates 95 years of broadcasting
Not many people live to be 95 years old, but a business that reaches 95 is even rarer.
They had a party for CHAB radio’s 95th year, going from one of the first radio stations in Canada to one of the most listened to in Saskatchewan.
“Ninety-five years is a long time for any business but when you get into the media, how fast things change, it’s an accomplishment for CHAB to have been around as long as it has…,” Program Manager Barrie Vice told 200 guests.
“The radio station is really all of you; all of the people in this room are what CHAB is all about. At the end of the day all the radio station does — its highest calling — is to connect people to people.”
Telling the story of Moose Jaw for 95 years could not have happened without “your support.”
Guests at the evening won their invitation by sharing memories on a listener line. A compilation of those memories was played.
Memories ranged from dancing in the kitchen to radio tunes, family listening to winning prizes on contests to Sunspot contests to sportscaster Pallie Pascoe’s unique style to singing performances on the radio.
The long-running afternoon Mailbag program with personality Cy Knight was remembered often: his messages on family events, people telling folks back home they were okay, his guests and homespun humour.
An April Fool’s joke memory had the crowd in stitches. It was the year when CHAB announcers told listeners to take their phone off the hook and put it in a bag so SaskTel could blow the lines clean. The response was so great the city phone system was tied up.
The frequent Sunspot promotion – decals on cars -— that earned the wearing car owner a prize was a memory. One listener has four Sunspots on an old vehicle he still uses. Marg Springett brought an unused decal.
Craik Farmer Kim Bossenberry met the morning man Jack Ross, who in 1985 awarded him a prize for phoning into the station in eight minutes.
The Uncoolas with vocalist Aaron Ruston and their old hits rounded out the party. An oldtime photo booth was set up and Sunspot cookies were served.
CHAB personality Rob Carnie recalled when, in 1986, technician Paul Mason was co-designer of the best ever hockey radio broadcast booth at the Civic Centre. NHL teams came to take ideas back home.
A spokesman for CHAB’s owner, Golden West Radio, said on air much of the station’s success was from hiring and developing local talent.
CHAB began in 1922 as 10AB. When the amateur radio club found the startup cost too high, the Kiwanis Club of Moose Jaw ran operations until 1924 when the amateur group took it over.
After several ownership changes, the Moffat family acquired CHAB around 1958. The Moffats added a TV station, which was bought by the CBC and moved to Regina. Golden West added the radio station to its stable in 1992, since adding two FM stations and an online portal. Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net