It was the summer I turned 10 years old. I was visiting my older cousin who lived on 149th Street on the west end. The land across the street had been the town of Jasper Place but on this day in August it was being annexed by the city of Edmonton.
     Across the street from my cousin's house, a strip mall was hosting an event to commemorate the occasion and we wandered over to check it out. One of the first booths we came upon belonged to 630 CHED. They were hosting a remote broadcast and passing out souvenir key chains. We eagerly got in line behind the other fans and eventually worked our way to the front. My older cousin was in front of me and was handed a key chain when he got to the booth. I moved up as he stepped aside and held out my hand for the coveted treasure.
     I still remember what happened next as if it happened last week.
     "Sorry kid," the disc jockey said. "That was the last one."
     I stared at him in disbelief but he had already turned away.
     There is a particularly bitter sting to disappointment when it follows the absolute belief you are going to succeed.

Flash forward fifteen years.
     Twenty five years old and I'd already been working at CHED full time for six years. My 8 week practicum with the Advertising and Public Relations had turned into a full time job and the old building downtown felt like my second home. On this particular day I was in a storeroom on the rarely-visited third floor looking for an envelope. I reached to the top of a shelf and accidentally knocked over a small box. When it hit the floor, a familiar looking key chain rolled out.
     I stood there looking at it as the memories raced back. The logo was now out of date and the original key-chain promotion was long forgotten, but to me it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
     Over the years, I've lost and re-found that keychain a hundred times. And it always seems to show up at some significant time when I need a reminder such as; never give up on your dreams, or some things are just destined to happen. So many years have passed and CHED is still a huge part of my life.
     On Friday morning I wrote a heart felt tribute to people I met through CHED. On Saturday I found the keychain in some obscure bowl tucked away in a cupboard. Perfect timing and perhaps a reminder to always keep your eyes open for the next keychain and the next opportunity.
     Like happiness and love, sometimes opportunity is not where it' looked for but where it's found.

Thank you

I was honoured last night for 40 years in radio and when it was my turn to speak I found myself overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment. If I could go back in time and have a ‘do-over’ on my thank you speech, it may have sounded like this:

First off, let me just say thank you to every one of you for taking time out of your busy lives to be here tonight. A number of you this evening have told me that I was an influence in your life, which is both surprising and gratifying. It may also be a surprise for you to know you were also an influence in my life. There is an interesting lesson I’ve learned in life, and I hope I’ve passed this on to my kids: everyone you meet has something to share with you. When you meet someone, try to make the most of the engagement.

I was fortunate enough to work in an environment that encouraged this. Under the mentorship of Jerry Forbes, 630 CHED was truly a family of people who genuinely cared about and engaged with each other. People were encouraged to explore new opportunities and were embraced for their strengths. Jerry cultivated an atmosphere in which people wanted to perform because they didn’t want to let down their leader or their coworkers.

Marty, thank you for your kind words tonight. You embody all the best qualities of your dad and have felt like a brother to me for four decades… whether your damn brothers vote to accept me or not ;) You have a passion for excellence and continue to amaze me with your drive and insight. It’s an honour to be worthy of your friendship.

Tamara, thank you for your continued friendship and thoughtfulness. The book you and Jen put together is brilliant. I’ve never been good at archiving memories but you’ve managed to capture my career perfectly. I can’t imagine how much work must have gone into that project but I appreciate it more than I can express.

Gord, thanks for your friendship. When I was a new Program Director moving upstairs to guide the juggernaut known as 630 CHED, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. You were always willing to spend time with me, share your insight and offer support when I needed it most. I always value the times we get to chat because I know it will be interesting and often lead to an exchange of stories and laughs.

Doug, thanks for your comments tonight and for being another valued mentor. It was an honour to serve on your senior management team. Under your leadership the team always felt comfortable sharing their opinions, knowing that our ideas would be well received and carefully considered. There was often passionate and heated debate and always with the best outcome for the collective staff as our objective.

To my wonderful family… where do I start? My time at work often meant that you were making a sacrifice so I could be there. I am so proud of all of you. Ben, you are pursuing your dreams with passion and showing everyone what you can do. You’ve always walked to your own beat and I love watching the journey. Alexa, you’ve always been an insightful, mature soul and now you’ve become an amazing mother. Both of you kids are the kind of people I would want as friends if we weren’t related. Jill, you are the best thing to come out of my years at CHED. We were great friends at the station for years before we fell in love. I still remember the day I was pulled into the Program Director’s office and given a raise unexpectedly. When I left his office I walked directly to your desk to tell you about it until I remembered that you had left the station a week earlier. I turned around, disappointed and realized that events in my life didn’t mean as much when I couldn’t share them with you. Thanks for being my wife. I’m proud of you and I love you.

To everyone I’ve worked with – thanks for allowing me to contribute and to be a small part of the magic. It really was magic… teamwork, passion, commitment and decades of memories. I treasure every day spent with you.  Carry on.

And as for me… stay tuned. The best is yet to come!