A salute over the airwaves
In the absence of traditional Remembrance Day ceremonies this year, Bob Halsall, with the help of radio personality Daniel Coulombe, decided to prepare a special radio show that will air on QUBE 88.9 (CJMQ) on Nov. 11 dedicated to veterans and Legion members.
“When I heard in September we were going to miss typical services, I thought it would be good to put one together,” Halsall said.
“It’s not the same,” he added, but hopes the broadcast will be another way to remember the sacrifices made by men and women to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today.
The 30-minute show will air twice on QUBE 88.9, Halsall said, once at 10 a.m. and then again at 6 p.m. on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.
“I know through various Legions that a lot of people will be tuning into what’s happening in Ottawa at 11 a.m. so we want people to have the option to listen to either show,” he explained.
No stranger to radio, local Tim Belford will share two stories with listeners. One is about the museum at ANAF Unit 318 (The Hut), and the other is a heart wrenching story about kids going to war, mothers having to see their sons leave and maybe not come back, Halsall said.
The show will also include interviews with ANAF Unit 318 President Peter Goodin and Richard Grey, President of the Legion in Bury.
Music from the WWII era will also be featured, as well as a short service including a reading of In Flanders Fields by John Mccrae.
Like many traditional Remembrance
Day ceremonies, the show will open with O Canada and close with God Save the Queen.
“This is a first for CJMQ (QUBE) doing a program like this in honour of Remembrance Day,” Halsall said, adding that David and Maureen Teasdale, the station manager and programming director at QUBE were immediately receptive to the idea of airing the show.
While he doesn’t have a formal background in broadcasting, Halsall said he was always interested in radio, dating back to when he was a teenager volunteering at CKTS 900.
“Producing a show with Daniel brought be back to the days of CKTS,” Halsall said, “I’ve always had radio in the blood.”
“We had the show finished last week,” Halsall said, to make sure everything was just the way they wanted it.