MEMORIES

MEMORIES
(Click on a Title)

A collection of memories from Floyd Gillis
Memoirs from a CBC Hockey Team Wannabe by Bill Murray
LAUNCHING CBUT VANCOUVER 68 YEARS AGO!
NEW YEAR REMEMBERANCES  By Chris Paton
REMEMBERING FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES (PT2) Introduced by Chris Paton
MEMORIES OF RAY WAINES BEHIND THE CAMERA 1960-1984
"MEMORIES AND MENAGERIES" by Andy Snider
A NAUTICAL RECKONING as related by JOHN SEALE.
MY DAD – The Eulogy I Meant To Give......by Drew Snider
REMEMBERING DOUG MCKAY  by Chris Paton
REMEMBERED FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES by Chris Paton
REELING IN THE YEARS
THE HOTEL AND THE GARAGE Part 1 & 2
CBC RADIO IN THE 60s and 70s by Don Mowatt
Photos: CBC Studios THEN AND NOW

  Floyd Gillis has been working for some time to write and gather a collection of 
  memories, stories and photos from his time in the CBC Graphics Department at
  CBC Vancouver from 1975 to 1982, and happily the material is now posted on
  his website and can be shared.  Get set to sit down, relax and travel back with
  Floyd to enjoy the memories:  https://www.floydgillis.com/Comm/CBUT/index.html

  No matter what department you were with at CBC Vancouver, Floyd's tales are
  bound to trigger your own memories of people, programs and antics from your
  career days - please share them with Stationbreak.ca. 

 

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  Bill Murray had a 30  year career with CBC Vancouver, stretching from 1968 to 1998. He
   retired from the Human Resources Department as Staffing & Development Officer. Bill is a
   regular participant and photographer at monthly CBC/SRC Association 5-pin bowling and
   has created several trophies for the games, creates the monthly Bingo game card and
   writes the event promos.  He also often provides treats and props to fit any theme
   promoted for the event.  

Memoirs from a CBC Hockey Team Wannabe by Bill Murray

   When CBC Vancouver opened the Regional Broadcast Centre in 1975 it was an occasion
   to finally unite in one place all the various departments that had been spread throughout
   downtown Vancouver. It was here that I first found out that the CBC had a hockey team!

   Despite living 100 steps away from the West Vancouver skating rink in my early years,
   I didn’t put on a pair of skates until my mid 20’s, and of course I was lightyears behind
 in my hockey skills, but with the encouragement of a few fellow employees I ventured out to the Kerrisdale Arena to take part in the weekly pick-up game which took place every Thursday night from 10:30 to midnight. Most nights 15 to 20 guys would show up and divide into two teams to play against each other.

The CBC Vancouver Hockey Team in 1976

Front Row L-R:  Bill Murray (Human Resources), Doug Sjoquist (Cameraman), Mike Modie (Mailroom), Irv Wegwitz (goalie, Master Control), Bob Hepworth (Technical Producer), Pierre ? (French TV), Brad Marshall (TV Tech).

Back Row L-R:  Rick Desaulniers (French TV), Bob Glumac (Mobile Maintenance), Bob Reid (Switcher), Mike Varga (Cameraman), Doug Crone (TV Tech), Gene Baedak (Cameraman).

 

It represented a great opportunity for me to meet people outside the work environment, people like Greg Barnes (Radio Ops)- a big man, even larger when he put on his skates! Doug Sjoquist (EFP Cameraman) – a former football player, another big man, but a gentle giant. I recall one play where Doug fell on my stick and I sort of ripped it out from under him. As soon as I did that, I thought he might get up and rip my head off, but all he did was get up and smile at me, laughing because he had fallen on his own. It was really cool to skate with a couple of the guys from French Services, Pierre Brisson and Alain ?, because they would call for a pass in French like many players did on the Montreal Canadiens (my favorite team at that time) providing a real hockey atmosphere.

We had a few celebrities drop in for a game or two – Alan Thicke and Danny Mann who were working on the Rene Simard show at the time. They brought along our only fan in the stands, Valerie Harper, who stayed for the full 90 minutes in the cold arena. Neil Macrae, the bombastic sports broadcaster from CKNW joined us for a couple of games, and of course the legendary Bill Reiter! There was a rumor that news anchor Mike WInlaw played hockey with the gang before I joined, but had to stop when he got hit in the forehead with a puck. Apparently, the makeup artists had to cover up the injury for several weeks until it healed. I don’t know if all that is true but it makes for a great story.

Speaking of injuries, I only got hurt a couple of times, once, when the aforementioned Bill Reiter and I collided behind the net and he landed on top of me. They say I was out cold for a few seconds, but all I remember was Bill saying “Gee the ice is low tonight!” The other injury occurred when Clive Bottomley (Radio Technician) who was on my team at the time, blasted a clearing shot that hit my shin pad and bounced over the glass. When I took the pad off after the game I had a lump on my shin the size of a golf ball.

We did play against other teams a few times – a group from BCTV visited the arena once or twice, and we played them at the Burnaby Four Rinks once in April. I had a great thrill when the guys that put up and take down the boards and glass for Canucks games challenged us for a game at the Pacific Coliseum! We didn’t get to use the Canucks dressing room, but still, it was awesome to skate out on the ice where the Canucks played. I remember it being very warm on the ice. I can’t imagine how hot it would be to play with 15,000 fans in the stands generating even more heat.

What started all this trip down memory lane was the picture that Bill Reiter sent in of his CBC Hockey jersey. He thought it was the 1975 version, however that version of the uniform didn’t come out until later in the 70’s or early 80’s. When I started playing with the team, some of the players had dark blue jerseys in a sort of New York Rangers style, and they were not in very good shape (the jerseys that is, not the players). In 1975 I proposed that we look into buying something new – a ‘Home’ white jersey ala the Detroit Red Wings with a CBC logo on the chest that included the shape
of a hockey stick at the mid-point, similar to the original Canucks
crest. We organized a 50/50 draw where 50% of the money from ticket
sales would go to one prize winner and the rest would go into a fund to                Bill Murray in the new jersey, 1975            help pay for the jerseys. Anyone on the team that helped sell tickets would receive a percentage based on the number of tickets they sold, and as I recall Chris Robinson ended up getting his jersey almost free, he sold so many tickets! The Regional Director Robert McGall chipped in some extra funds as well and we presented him with his own jersey.

Back Row L-R:  Don Reagh (Radio Technical Manager),  Dave Currie (Regional Engineer), Brad Marshall (Supervisor, Mailroom), Pierre Brisson (French Services), Doug Bain (Mailroom), Tom Bryden (Buyer, Purchasing & Stores).

Front Row L-R:  Robert W. McGall (Regional Director for the Province of B.C.), Bill Murray (Administrative Assistant, Central Registry),  Mike Modie (Mailroom), Alain ? (French Services).

A few years after that I came up with the idea for a red ‘Away’ jersey which was the reverse of the ‘Home’ version. Around that time, we ran the 50/50 draw again, but were told to keep it on the downlow because it was actually a form of gambling.

Bill Murray in the "Away" red jersey.  Erv Wegwitz (goalie) and Danny Mann share the ice with Bill.

The version that Bill Reiter displayed was based on the Edmonton Oilers uniforms and although I didn’t really like them, I believe I ordered them from a sporting goods store in North Vancouver, but my memory is not clear on that. I think Glen Weston (TV Tech – Camera) was involved with the concept. As with all versions of the team jerseys, those players ordering one could request a specific number to be placed on the back of the jersey. I always wanted the number three, which was the number worn by my favorite player J.C. Tremblay, a defenceman with the Canadiens from 1961 to 1972.

                                                      

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LAUNCHING CBUT VANCOUVER 68 YEARS AGO! 

DECEMBER 2003:  As CBUT reaches its 50th Anniversary of its on-air debut (December 16, 1953), some of those who were there at the beginning or soon after share their memories.

From technician BILL SKELCHER:
“The going on-air of CBUT had a major impact on my family. In May 1953, I was one of the five radio technicians who transferred to television and travelled to Toronto for the five months of hands-on training. Toronto had already been on-air for a year. The complication was that our second child was due about the same time.  Sure enough, baby Ann was born on May 21st and I had to leave five days later, leaving Margaret with a new baby and a 13 year old rambunctious little boy named Dan. It was quite a wrench for us but leave I did, joining the other four technicians - Eric Lavell, Lloyd Harrop, Ken Bewley and Dave Liddell - for the long train trip to Toronto. Ross Whiteside had gone ahead sometime earlier. On arrival we were told we weren’t expected for two more weeks! The opening for our first sign-on was rehearsed countless times but memories of the actual event are sketchy. We were each concentrating entirely on what we had to do. I do recall that Eric Lavell stuck very close to the Iconoscope camera, trying to nurse the best possible picture quality out of the equipment. It was the only electronic camera we had and was tied to the film and slide projector. Live studio cameras came later.”

From script assistant MARION JOHNSON:
“In 1953 I was working in Radio Traffic in the Hotel Vancouver offices alongside Alan Chamberlayne and Mary (Grant) Banham and I remember the day I saw Peter McDonald walk into the office. He was newly arrived to become the first Director of Television for CBUT. Soon after I went to work for him and we were given office space across the hall from Regional Director Ken Caple and his secretary Edna Nelson (it was “Mr Caple” and “Miss Nelson” to everyone on those days). Jack Thorne and Peter Elkington were the first I remember being hired for the new TV station. As weeks passed and CBUT’s debut on-air neared, Peter McDonald one day said that I would be their first script assistant and he showed me how to use a stop watch. That was all the training there was! We moved into 1200 West Georgia Street - which had been a car showroom – where only one big room was ready, so we all worked in that room. From December 16th 1953 to about June 1954, we produced a live 15 minute nightly newscast and that was all we did. Peter Elkington (Producer), Lloyd Harrop (Engineer), Harry Hooper (Cameraman), Gordon Inglis (News Reader), Reg Jessup (Script Writer) and I (Script Assistant) were the team and my duties included typing the shot list and timing the show. Production started to expand and I worked on a variety of programs between 1954 and 1957 when I left the Corporation, including a documentary called “The Living Sea” produced by Ken Bray and hosted by Dr. Ian McTaggart-Cowan and the "Mike, Mark and Jack" series with The Rhythm Pals on which I remember Juliette being a featured guest. I worked on the first outdoor sports, broadcast with Bill Good Sr. and later with Ted Reynolds and I was with the first crew covering the first football game at the PNE grounds. I asked producer Ken Bray what a script assistant was needed for when we were simply filming the game (this was before the days of video tape) and he said “Oh you can time the downs.” That left me with no choice but to say, “What’s a down?”  By the time the British Empire Games were televised in the summer of 1954, Vancouver’s station had two mobile units providing backup to network coverage and I was the only woman to work those assignments. Exciting times! We worked hard and we learned as we went along … we had to! There were no manuals to show us the way. By 1957 my salary had risen to the princely sum of $270 per month (working a 42 hour week) while other script assistants were earning $230 and remember, at that time turn around did not exist. When I grumbled one day about this being a very low amount of pay, the response from the manager I was talking to was, “It’s a glamour job, Marion. Lots of women would like it.”  With that statement, my decision was made. I resigned and went back to university.”

Finally, this is part of an interview DARYL DUKE did for a CBC Vancouver TV series in 1988 titled “Then and Now.”  Here he talks about producing the sign-on ceremonies on Wednesday, December 16th 1953, when a button was pressed and Western Canada’s first Television station went on the air at precisely 6 p.m before 200 civic and provincial guests.

“It was a big party. The mayor was there, the regional head of CBC, Peter McDonald, was on headset, and nobody in the media knew that the button was a fake. The wire just ran under the table to nothing! I was giving him his cue from upstairs in telecine. Everybody got very drunk, big euphoria, and the station was signed on. But we woke up the next morning and realized we had to do it again … and again tomorrow night ... and again. By the time the television studios were ready, I started the CBC’s first 7 o’clock show called Almanac with Bill Bellman, Alan Millar and Bob Fortune.  I did an hour variety show called Parade that was with Eleanor Collins, Thelma Gibson, Don Francks, Barney Potts and a whole gang. I did a folk song special called The Roving Gambler which became the pilot for a long running CBC series that I know some people will remember called Lolly Too Dum, and then I did the first drama which was a Joseph Conrad story called An Outpost of Progress which was in the studio. It was the first drama I’d ever done. It was exhilarating just to create that magic because I’d just come from doing documentaries and information programs. To suddenly be able to get a very good set designer and create illusion and light and shade and motion and within the frame on camera was a very exciting moment in my life. I guess I just think set-ups. I’ve always seen the world with a frame around it. It never seemed a problem for me to stage something and actors are my favourite people. There’s nothing more exciting at the end of the day than to have got a scene on film that has really worked."

CBC Stationbreak website is a feature that exists for one very special reason, and that is to bring and keep CBC friends and colleagues together and connected throughout the years. It is a place where remembering and reminiscing is not only welcome, but encouraged in stories and pictures in each and every edition. To serve that purpose the input and action of our entire CBC Vancouver family is important. So we ask that you dig into your own memory banks and share your recollections and stories.

Design department artists, designers and staff, show producers, directors, writers and PR department colleagues are urged to search not only their photo collections, but to also locate and take photos of any saved and cherished original show graphics, design plans, sketches, and posters from vintage CBC series and productions; all important visual elements that  both revive memories and bring our stories to life....

NEW YEAR REMEMBRANCES ...
by Chris Paton

Funny how the start of a new year transports us all into both the future and the past. With just a couple of choruses of Auld Lang Syne, a little memory jogging by old friends, scenes of our early working days begin to play back in the mind like old movies. 

The late 1950s and 60s were years that marked the infancy of the Canadian Television industry. These were decades that saw people apply for work in a business so new, most applicants had no idea what skills or requirements they would need to qualify for employment. Technicians, engineers, writers, painters, designers, photographers, office workers and brand new school graduates all showed up at CBC production centers all across Canada bringing with them hopes, dreams and boundless enthusiasm for new and exciting career challenges. 

My own dream was to become a television writer. I had no idea what that might entail, or what experience I'd need to successfully make it into the business. But as a first job just after school graduation, I managed to find work as a junior commercial copywriter and quasi ad layout person at an Edmonton Advertising Agency. Not the dream job I envisioned, but a start. 

For the fun of it, I begin scribbling little drawings that glamorized both the office layouts and myself. It was something I continued to do over the years in nearly every job I had along the way. Years later I reworked many of the sketches adding colour and greater detail.

When the time felt right, I applied for a job at CBXT Edmonton. I'd heard the CBC had a job title for something called a “script assistant.” To me that sounded like the perfect opportunity. Being the assistant to an experienced script writer would see me well on the way to the career I wanted. I got the job, but it had a major glitch. The term "script assistant" was a cruelly misleading job title for a position that had absolutely nothing to do with composing and writing scripts - but everything to do with typing the darn things.

Fortunately in real life dreams change, interests shift and so it was that working in control rooms alongside producers and directors, the idea of a career producing and directing TV programs became a new and fascinating possibility. One big plus factor was learning that many of the producers I worked with actually got to write scripts and narration for many of their own productions. 

At that time the accepted rule seemed to be that in order to be considered a candidate for a control room directing job, experience working on the studio floor as a production assistant, a.k.a studio director, was mandatory. Not an easy accomplishment because in those days Floor Directing was not a door easily opened to women candidates.

But after a few years as a Script Assistant, I finally got a studio directors job working the studio 42 floor on news and current affairs shows that featured Harvey Dawes, Ted Reynolds, Mike Winlaw and Bob Fortune. There were also opportunities to work on music and drama productions as well. 

It's difficult to comprehend all these years later, but the job change from Script Assistant to floor director was, at the time, enough of a gender shifting reality in the TV business to warrant a story by a reporter from the Vancouver Province. Even more surprising, the story was then picked up by newspapers all across Canada and run with the sneering and unfortunate headline below ..

Four years later I left my staff Production Assistants job for a short term producer/directors freelance contract. Below is a picture that still comes to mind when I remember my first time in the studio 41 directors chair in the now long gone, but well remembered, 1200 West Georgia Street studio. .. even after all these years, it's still a sweet memory.
 

No doubt we all have stories about how we got into the TV business and where it's taken us. Many of the stories, when patched together, form a fascinating retrospective of the history of Canadian television - something worth keeping in mind when opening old albums that trace in pictures, the productions on which we worked, and the lifelong friendships we found. My album starts with the book of sketches made over many years as a fun visual diary of my own best and worse days in the business. This brand new year 2022 starts with a hope that CBC friends and colleagues might open their own files and albums and share, in words and pictures, their own memories and experiences.  

             

           

REMEMBERING LOST FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES PART 2
introduced by Chris Paton

Through the years a lot of what we discover about the lives and accomplishments of coworkers comes in announcements and remembrances that mark the end of their lives. Often what we read leaves us sadly wishing we had better known many of our colleagues during their lifetimes. That thought played a part in the idea that Stationbreak readers were likely to have personal remembrances of CBC Vancouver friends and colleagues who were lost to us last year, memories that could be gathered and shared. This edition features 2 of the responses received to that open invitation. Both contributions in this issue recognize the work of  Reporter Genevieve Westcott who after a long battle with cancer, passed away July 10, 2020, at age 64. This first remembrance comes from retired CBC Vancouver Film Sound/Audio Technician Mike Oldfield, followed by memories from former CBC Vancouver/Toronto Reporter Sue Stern.
                                                                     Genevieve Westcott

Mike writes ...

Apart from having a great sense of humour and a favourite of the news room crew,  Genevieve Westcott was one of those reporters who would dig in and not give up until all the facts were revealed.   She had come to CBC Vancouver from the Vancouver Sun along with her partner and future husband Ross Kenward.  She had been a newspaper reporter and he had been a photographer.   At CBC, he became a news cameraman.  

In the early 1980’s, she began investigating the large number of young people who had disappeared and were found murdered.    Police later arrested serial killer Clifford Olson.   At first, Olson declared his innocence and, since Genevieve Westcott had been covering the story since Day One, Olson began phoning her at home and insisting that he was not guilty and was being framed. Finally, he was to confess to the murders of 11 young people.  

In 1989, Genevieve and husband Ross moved to his home country of New Zealand and were both employed at TV3.  Shortly after this, Genevieve began doing some very hard-hitting interviews and investigative reporting into criminal activity, biker gangs and the drug trade.   Later, she was one of the hosts of New Zealand’s version of “60 Minutes” and won numerous broadcasting awards.    Everyone who knew her will miss this hard-working lady who had a great sense of humour.

And from Sue Stern ...

To this day no one has ever made me laugh harder than Genevieve Westcott. I would laugh until my stomach ached and the tears flowed, and I couldn’t take anymore. Gleeful Genevieve enjoyed her own spicy remarks as much as we did.  If there is such a thing as golden years, all of us in the CBC Vancouver newsroom in my time, 1978 to 1983, enjoyed a very happy workplace. It was a place that ignited every day when director Rick Chisholm strolled into the newsroom as the production of daily stories began at 3:30. Ricky set the tone -- his wisecracks never stayed on the carpet. When Genevieve arrived, the atmosphere revved up another notch. Our desks faced each other, and she'd wind up as soon as her butt hit the chair. The first thing out of her mouth was 'peckerhead'.  It was always peckerhead and her list of them was endless. Even her beloved ace cameraman/soulmate Ross Kenward was not immune. In fact, he was often at the top of her list. Another favourite in that newsroom was 'Poodle Head' – her term of endearment and target of teasing the curly headed producer David Barker.  I believe he still secretly cherishes the moniker to this day.  Me? I was 'Stu' as it amused her no end when people stuttered over my double-S name and spit out that one. Much to my annoyance she never let go of it, and of course she reveled in that too.  

Every day we went to Mike Oldfield’s sound studio in a dark corner somewhere a few levels below daylight to record our scripts to make for better film editing. Film. Do you believe that? Genevieve would regale Mikey with the details of all the peckerheads she encountered while collecting the day’s events, as did I in my own fashion. He crowned us “The Rock Hard Dumplings” for our aggressive go get ‘em force in the reporting field. But she insisted I was Rock Hard 1 as I was older, and she was content to follow as Rock Hard 11 as she was much younger. We exchanged those names for many years on the phone or when we met up.

Back in the newsroom, we would bitch and complain endlessly and laugh ourselves silly as we wrote and discussed people and everything else and which of us deserved to get assigned to the latest hot story or interview of some sort.  Like the Clifford Olsen murders. We managed to get Olsen’s wife into a coffee shop one day and I had to kick Rock Hard 11 very hard under the table when she dove right in asking for details of what she knew and when she knew it.  The poor woman was so scared there was no confession forthcoming on the spot with strangers. In turn that led to which one of us should do a talkback on The Journal. The one and only Poodle Head said it was up to us to decide. We bickered and argued over this career-making prize while he stood between us looking from one to the other, just like a real referee. Finally, I caved due to her excessive needling and because I had escaped to Tahiti over Christmas while she held the fort in the final days of the biggest story of the time. She did a great job and she gloated of course.

Genevieve Westcott was a joyful original, born to get away with her unique brand of bawdy, naughty humour and I don’t think there was anyone who didn't LOL when she held court. It was all so much fun. Every day. She left me with everlasting happy memories and that's a rare thing. Thank you, dear Genevieve. May God Rest Her Dear Soul.                                   

 

MEMORIES OF RAY WAINES BEHIND THE CAMERA 1960-1984

In tribute to our friend and colleague Ray Waines who passed away on
May 24, 2021, Stationbreak.ca is posting an encore of the very first
photo collection provided by Ray for this section of the website in 2009.
It was repeated in 2015 with an update to bio information from Ray.

Ray’s career started as a job ‘just for the summer’! Doors opened early for Ray and, having played football, he got to work the ‘play camera’ on Football and also on Hockey with HNIC. But it was the teamwork with those crews that Ray enjoyed the most, going back to the first Mobile production in May 1960. He also loved the challenges of camerawork on the many musicals and dramas that CBUT produced for the CBC Network.

While Ray had great memories of the first black and white cameras, it was the new colour cameras that allowed viewers to see beautiful colour images at home.  Other highlights of his were to cover the 1976 Summer Olympics at Montreal, and then there was the challenge of the 1988 Winter Olympics at Kananaskas.  A great crew led by Bob Hepworth, (Technical Producer), raised the bar for Television coverage of Downhill Skiing.

With so many wonderful memories and working with great colleagues, Ray said “Thank God it wasn’t just for that first summer!”.  Ray retired from CBC in 1991 and finally in 2010, retired from working as a freelance cameraman, with fond memories of working with Shari Lewis and with Michael Watt and Ken Gibson on many Television Specials.

After leaving CBC, Ray and Ingrid moved to the Okanagan and he became President of the Southern Interior Chapter of the CBC Pensioners' National Association within the British Columbia and Yukon Region. Ray subsequently served as Vice President and more recently continued as a Director on the Chapter Board.  Ray often commented on how pleased he was with their accomplishments to benefit retired CBC colleagues across the country and he was fully committed to continuing to work with and support the CBC Pensioners’ National Association.by continuing involvement with the Southern Interior Chapter Board.

Ray was also a long-standing member of the CBC/SRC Association (formerly the CBC 20 Year Association) in B.C. and frequently contributed to the Association’s Stationbreak.ca website with photos and articles relating to the career he so loved.  He has left all of us a tangible and wonderful legacy of material to be enjoyed through the years to come and memories of Ray himself will continue to be a cherished memory to all who knew him. 
CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE PICTURES OF RAY:

"MEMORIES AND MENAGERIES" by Andy Snider. (from March 2001)

In June 1954, Dorothy Davies, the future Mrs. Snider, and I were finishing the following stage production at the Avon Theatre. The show was 'Time of the Cuckoo' starring Miriam Hopkins and Sam Payne.  Dorothy was director for the company, I was stage manager and built sets for the productions.  Victor Miles and David Jones designed many of the sets and Gerry O'Connor did lighting.  One day, Dorothy got a call from Cliff Robinson, the Design Director of the new CBC TV station that was about to begin broadcasting their first live programs. Cliff wanted to know if she could recommend anyone with stage experience who would be interested in working in TV. She told him of the crew she had been working with. I went to see what it was all about. I remember the day  I walked into the building at 1200 West Georgia to talk with Cliff. Jim Ellis was Lighting Director and was busy with his crew, among them was Gerry O'Connor. They were setting up lighting equipment. Lloyd Harrop was TP and was busy with his crew testing the technical equipment. Roy Luckow and Dag Overgaard were two of the cameramen. The producers were Daryl Duke, Peter Elkington, Frank Goodship and Mario Prizek. John Thorne joined soon after.

I got the job as Property Master. Pretty fancy title! I was introduced to the two carpenters Ron Whitcomb and Bill Kuchin, and a stagehand, Blake Martin. David Jones became a stagehand and later a designer. Victor Miles joined soon after as a designer. I was the only person doing the job of procuring everything : furniture, set decorations and creating special effects: fog, smoke puffs to make actors disappear in an instant – all sorts of tricks and that took days to prepare, but now are done with the flick of a switch.

That first year, a musical series, ‘Bamboola’ with Eleanor Collins, was set in the Caribbean. We built a set which included palm trees and thatched huts.  To enhance the realism, Mario wanted live pigs and chickens, I got a dozen chickens and a pair of pigs from the children’s zoo in Stanley Park. I asked the zoo people not to feed the animals on the day of the show so I could feed them on set and control them to some extent. All went well except on one occasion a dancer slipped in some chicken poop. The shows were live and there was nothing I could do if a chicken decided to do some clucking and could be heard on mike. Also I didn’t dare pick up a piglet to prevent it from wandering on the set during a production number. The high pitch squeal could knock the station off the air!

Another animal adventure I had was for a Daryl Duke musical. The show was set in Arabia, or some such place, complete with exotic dancers and singers. Daryl thought it would be nice to have a goat herd wander through a scene herding some live goats. I was to be costumed and made-up to play the goat-herd. I got the goats, four, from a farmer in Langley who claimed the animals were ‘quiet and friendly,’ especially Nanny. The route I was to take through the set was carefully laid-out, but I couldn’t escape from the studio after the walk-through. I would have to huddle in the corner behind the scenes with the goats while the show went on. The rehearsal went well. I galumphed through the scene on cue. The goats followed me obediently one behind the other ‘quiet and friendly’ as advertised, though I noticed they were a bit spooked by the orchestra. There was a break before the show. The script assistant checked over the cameraman’s shot list, the props people saw to the set, Phyllis Newman fussed with my beard to make sure it stayed put, the producer gave some last minute instructions to the cast, the cameras took their positions, the studio director called for silence in the studio, then signalled the five second countdown and then signalled the orchestra.  The orchestra crashed out the opening number. The goats panicked and got tangled up in their leashes. I managed to untangle three but was having difficulty getting the lead goat’s hind leg free and my cue was coming up. I had visions of parading through the scene with the goat hobbling like a kangaroo.  Just in time I got her free and trudged through the scene, the goats following obediently but with a difference. Nanny, she who had been doing the ‘quiet and friendly’ bit throughout the rehearsal, began to bleat. That’s a nice touch I thought, makes it more realistic. However she went on bleating, anxious, loud and shrill, when we got to our hidey place, promising to ruin the exotic dancers and songs that followed.  So I had to spend the remainder of the show crouched beside her, clamping my fist round her ‘muzzle’ every time she looked like giving voice. Fortunately, no bleat escaped.  When I mentioned the Nanny episode to her owner, he said “Oh, she’s usually very quiet, but she gave birth three days ago and I guess she began to miss her kid. If I’d only thought I could have given you Button over there, instead. She would have been real quiet and friendly.”

From 1956 when Andy Snider first took on the responsibilities of TV Producer until his departure in 1985, he brought programs of nearly every description to the air. His extensive list of credits included “Country Calendar,” “Gone Fishing,” “B.C. Round Table” (current affairs), “Game Country” with Paul St. Pierre (26 weeks produced in 1959), “Pleasure Boating” with Bob Fortune, “That Young Child” (a Christmas Special written by Benjamin Britten), “Pat and Ernie – Anything Goes” (a musical series with Pat Trudell and Ernie Prentice), “The 7 O’Clock Show” (News and Current Affairs), Sports productions with Ted Reynolds, Track Meets, a Golf Tournament, an afternoon series titled “Be Our Guest” with Ross and Hilda Mortimer which ran for several years, “B.C. Gardener” with David Tarrant (the first gardening show from the outdoor terrace of the new building at 700 Hamilton Street), and 13 years of the very popular “Klahanie” with Bob Fortune from 1965 to 1978.

A NAUTICAL RECKONING
as related by JOHN SEALE.

In November 2000, John Seale chanced upon an article which made him sit bolt upright; it was about an incident in World War II that he had witnessed first hand. It was also an incident that has plagued his memory throughout the succeeding years.

At the time, John was the senior signalman on H.M.C.S. Dunver and, on this occasion, the ship was part of a convoy heading from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to Canada.  Signals began arriving from the Admiralty on a daily basis concerning the route of a Free French submarine, La Perle, which had been ordered to travel on the surface. The daily signals included information on where she was, what speed and direction she was travelling, and identified a “limited bombing area” around the sub. It was John’s duty to provide these signals in book form to the senior officer on the convoy, and following his confirmation of reading them by signature, to convey the book to the Captain and to the First Lieutenant, each of whom were also to sign the book after sending the information.  Only in this case, day after day, the Commander refused to sign the book – a fact duly reported to and acknowledged by the other two officers. John watched the progress of La Perle and since H.M.C.S. Dunver was on a collision course with her, remarked to the Commander on a couple of occasions that they might see her. Then on a fine day with little sea roughness, John again mentioned that they might see the sub. Eventually, two Swordfish aircraft from the attending ships were deployed on a search. Within fifteen minutes, one of the aircraft reported, “Have spotted a submarine. What shall I do?”  As the Commander raced across the bridge, John shouted to him, “Sir, that may be the French submarine.” John’s words were ignored and the Commander gave the order to sink the sub. John was then ordered to send a signal to one of their escorts to pick up survivors.  There was only one. Sixty lives were lost.

About a week after the sinking, which had completely devastated John, he suffered an attack of appendicitis. His Captain received permission to leave the convoy and proceed to Halifax where John could be taken care of. While in hospital there, he was visited several times by the First Lieutenant of H.M.C.S. Dunver, questioning his memory of events, but John was not called to testify at the enquiry in progress at that time.

From that time until last Winter, John has been troubled by his knowledge of the event and the seeming lack of factual information in the historical record. A history of H.M.C.S. Dunver, which John recently accessed, makes no mention of the La Perle incident. Also, John had heard that the Commander was decorated for his services in the largest convoy in the War, which had been his next assignment. The article which appeared in the military magazine Starshell in November, 2000, brought the wartime memory to the forefront of his mind again, and John immediately wrote to the author telling him that he (John) was the signalman directly involved. From there, letters crisscrossed the country, culminating in a meeting of the two men in Toronto. They consulted a military historian and, as a result of that mutual corroboration of details of the La Perle incident, Starshell will feature the full story in its September, 2001 issue and the truth will finally be told after some sixty years of silence.

John Seale joined CBC as a Director of Photography. During his long CBC career, he worked on many award-winning documentary films and was himself the recipient of many awards for his outstanding cinematography. Since retirement, John ran his own film and video production till 1995 when he finally retired.

 

My dad – the eulogy I meant to give
by Drew Snider

June 3, 2021

Today – June 3, 2011 – marks the tenth anniversary of my receiving a phone call from one of the nurses at Glengarry Hospital in Victoria. When the phone rings at 3am, you know it’s not going to be a friend in Australia, calling to say hi. I had no friends in Australia at that point, for one thing.

No, it was a call I’d been expecting: “Mr Snider, your father passed away half an hour ago.”

As the only child, I gave the eulogy at his memorial. I had a hard time writing it – mainly trying to organize my thoughts (I later realized it was a function of grief I’d never gone through before, evidenced by my killing an entire bottle of red wine one evening, alone, at the Harbour Towers Hotel in Victoria): so (my wife) Amelia said, “just speak off-the-cuff”.

I’m told that I rambled for 40 minutes. And I’ve been kicking myself, ever since, for not saying what I meant to say. So, on this anniversary, please excuse me a bit of self-indulgence.*

The thing that sticks out in my mind about Andy Snider is the number of times he re-invented himself over these 88 years. 

There was Andy Snider, the farm boy: living much of his childhood on a farm near Belcarres, Saskatchewan, right at the time of the Dust Bowl of the 30s. He told me of seeing his father break down in tears when he’d see the big black cloud moving towards them — the excellent topsoil, being picked up by the prairie wind and carried away.

l-r My grandmother Hannah, Robbie (who died this past March at 103),
grandfather Tom, dad, Alice, Danny

Then there was Andy the musician, a teenager who took up the clarinet and piano and helped start the Chilliwack Boys Band. Then came Andy the RCAF officer, although he never saw action in WW2 — he was still in training when the war ended, and his older brother, Lloyd was killed, which took away some of the glamour of war. (Interestingly, he rarely talked about his time in the Air Force: perhaps he felt he wasn’t “qualified” to have anecdotes, since he hadn’t been in battle.)

My dad was a boat-builder, main support for his mother after the other Snider kids got married and went about their own thing; even my grandfather, who had left the family in Saskatchewan to ride the rails and look for work, went off in a different direction. Dad was even an aspiring actor, which led to his meeting my mother, seeing her for the first time when she was a guest speaker at the University of Washington theater program.

The aspiring actor, leaning on his left elbow as he and others (including Bruno Gerussi, front and centre) discover what’s under a Scotsman’s kilt (the Scotsman was Doug Haskins, later a CBC Radio drama producer).

In fact, I was surprised to see that the marriage notice in the papers referred to mom and dad as “two noted theatre personalities” (my emphasis). Dad’s lack of success as an actor was a constant source of kidding between mom and dad as I was growing up. Mom was directing a play where dad was a spear-carrier (literally – I think it was set in ancient Rome) and she had to shift him to the back because he couldn’t keep the grin off his face at the antics of another actor (whom mom referred to so often as “that ass, Jack Ammon” (in the kindest possible way, of course). that I thought “Thatass” was his first name). On another occasion, mom and Bruno Gerussi were doing an intense scene and dad was supposed to burst in on them at some point. The two of them reached dad’s cue, and nothing happened. They improvised their way back to the cue — still no Andy. Finally, Bruno went to one of the doors, opened it and shouted, “Larry! (Dad’s character’s name) Where the hell are you?!” Turned out, dad had been having a quiet beer backstage with the lighting designer. That pretty much kippered dad’s acting career.

But it led to dad’s next re-invention: “Mr Dorothy Davies”. He quite revelled in being the Man Behind The Woman — the support for the woman who would be named Best Director at the 1955 Dominion Drama Festival and later receive the first Jessie Richardson Award (lifetime achievement in Vancouver theatre), the Sam Payne Award (supporting young talent) and be part of the first “class” of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.

My mother, in the dark dress, next to musical director Harry Pryce, being presented
to Queen Elizabeth II after a special performance of “The Chocolate Soldier”,
which she had directed, at Malkin Bowl, 1958

Not that dad faded into oblivion at that point. He became Andy Snider the CBC TV producer, a position he truly loved.

 

He produced news and public affairs shows, and being assigned to sports, he was one of the very few in Canada in the 60s to realize that the USSR hockey team was not to be trifled-with, even if Canada was “only” represented by a group of elite amateur players — Father Bauer’s Canadian National Team. Unlike most of the country, he was not surprised that Team Canada’s “victory” in the 1972 Summit Series was a skin-of-the-teeth affair.

And then there was his “signature” show, KLAHANIE – The Great Outdoors.

KLAHANIE re-invented the “outdoors” show, which had been mostly “huntin’-shootin’-n-fishin'”, and dad had produced enough of those: but this one was not about “humans battling nature”, but “humans living with nature”. Not a novel concept today, but it broke new ground and ran for 13 seasons.

Even after KLAHANIE went off the air in 1977, dad re-invented himself, with an idea for the gardening show he had been assigned. CBC had moved into a brand-new studio with a huge, flat, unused space on the roof of one of the TV studio areas. Dad pushed through an idea to build garden beds, and those became both an outdoor studio for the show and some much-needed relaxation for others at CBC Vancouver.

Eventually, he re-invented himself as a unit manager, handling the business end of the productions, until he finally left CBC in 1984, and re-invented himself yet again, this time, raising bees and growing vegetables in the back yard of his and mom’s house in Oak Bay. The bees were actually in violation of zoning bylaws, but he managed to bribe his neighbours with at least a pound of honey a year not to rat him out. That worked until a couple of years before his passing, when a new neighbour, with a major chip on his shoulder, moved in next door. Even so, the bylaw officer helped dad move the hive boxes to a more “legal” location in the back yard.

He also took on a new identity: Doting Grandfather to Aidan and Hannah Rose. Always there for a ride, or baby-sitting, or dinners …

 

Some might say dad had also re-invented himself as the “crazy old fool next door”. He refused to “be a burden” or reach out to anyone for help, which led to his falling off the roof one day when he climbed up to check for wind damage after a storm. Another neighbour’s dog heard the crash and put up a racket that attracted attention – and the ambulance. This neighbour happened to be a retired Air Force doctor, who looked out for dad as the father she didn’t have — and kept me posted. He didn’t have a subscription to one of those “home alert” systems, and when he fell and broke his hip again and no one knew where he was, it took my mother-in-law, reading the Riot Act to him in hospital, to get him to start using one.

With Daughter-in-Law Amelia, ca 2009

And guess what he wasn’t wearing when he had the heart attack?

In the movie, “Field of Dreams”, Kevin Costner’s character says, “I never forgave my father for getting old.” I think that’s what happened to me. When he went into Glengarry Hospital, I had this image — fantasy, I guess — that he would re-invent himself again, and that his positive spirit, mental energy, and incessant curiosity, would infect and inspire the people around him, giving others hope in their final years — or months. But that didn’t happen. He knew his body was shutting down and he would not see the house and garden he and mom had worked on again, wouldn’t sit on his lounge chair outside and let his bees lull him to sleep. And why bother eating, when the best one could hope for was tuna between slides of bread — the tuna, practically puréed, so he wouldn’t accidentally aspirate it?

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

— Dylan Thomas 1914-1953

*Said the guy who writes a blog.

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REMEMBERING DOUG MCKAY 

On December 20, 2020, Cinematographer Doug McKay passed away in Vancouver. Readers who knew and worked with Doug will appreciate the problem involved in writing a tribute to the man. For openers Doug preferred the job title "cameraman," and just the use of the word "tribute" would be enough to put him off the entire process. When wrapping a film shoot, offering up something like "thanks Doug, that worked well," would be right at the line of Doug's acceptable accolade limit. Praise that attempted to go beyond an acknowledgment that his film came back from the lab in good order would fall into the category of what Doug called "show-business hooey." Doug once said about his own work that he was just somebody lucky enough to get the opportunity to turn ideas into images. And now in looking back over his life, what wonderful images they were..

  
Doug’s work was easily recognizable. His gift was an indescribable mix of all the elements that go into great picture making, composition, framing and style. But the telltale giveaway was always Doug's use of natural light, a signature so distinct it was as if his pictures bypassed the camera lens and came directly from his mind's eye. Perhaps part of that was that growing up in Vancouver, Doug formed a love for the range of atmospheric light and colours intrinsic to the west coast of British Columbia. Where others saw gray Vancouver days, Doug saw glowing luminosity and soft pastel colors. The quality of light influenced not only his work, but the way in which he experienced almost everything in his life. 

Lisa Kolisnyk, who along with Doug Solquist, form a terrific professional video production team, wrote about working with Doug. "We were doing a 'Just Say No' anti-drugs video in Victoria for a couple of weeks, and Doug was there as our DP. One evening, we were out and about looking for a restaurant for dinner after a long day of shooting, and we bumped into Doug. He gave us some advice that we never forgot...”Look at the lighting inside the restaurant, if the lighting is good, the food will be good." And you know, he was absolutely right!"

Seen through Doug's eyes, ordinary and even downright ugly objects were transformed. An example of this sorcerer-like talent is captured in a story told by Producer Al Vitols. It involves former City Alderman Warnett Kennedy and a film documentary titled “Entrails of the City.” The title was in reference to what the Alderman saw as the ugly drooping webs of wires and cables that at that time, stretched out for miles above the City of Vancouver. Doug was asked to go out and shoot visual coverage to depict that theme. What Doug came back with was useless in terms of that story but later, set to music, the images became a mesmerizing pictorial essay which celebrated the beauty of the wires, cables, poles and all. 

Screening Doug's film when it came back from the lab was always a little like opening gifts at Christmas. No matter what you thought you were getting, there was always the surprise of a sequence of shots, or just a moment that only Doug had seen and managed to capture. Not always relevant as useable visual cover, those moments were still always fascinating and often fun. For instance once while on location in Stanley park, we were filming an interview with a prominent visiting entomologist. The man was in Vancouver on a mission advocating a more cautious use of pesticides on behalf of all the insect species known to be helpful to the environment. After we finished the interview, the man stayed and chatted awhile. I noticed what I thought was Doug, Bolex in hand, getting cutaway shots. When he stopped filming, Doug said to the man, "I should tell you that you have an ant in your pants." The man laughed and said something like “well, I'd never advocate anyone going that far for the cause ...”Doug said “no, seriously. It just climbed up your leg and, ah... disappeared.” When the film came back, included in the footage was a beautifully focused closeup cutaway of a little ant's arduous journey up a khaki trouser leg, a journey that ended when it made a quick right turn and escaped into the flap of the man's fly. 

Along with his Bolex, Doug always carried a still camera. Over the years he accumulated an enormous archive of stills going back to the time when, as a youngster, he got a Brownie camera as a birthday gift. There were also stills from a strange time in his life after he discovered Polaroid cameras. It wasn't the instant picture feature of the Polaroid that enticed Doug, it was the discovery of a trick that changed the picture colors in shades ranging from wild hot splashes of colour, to antique ambers and browns. He did it by tampering with the temperature, and either warming or cooling the picture immediately after it popped out of the camera. One day during a coffee break, Doug raised his Polaroid camera and took a picture of me. When the thing popped out of the camera, he opened his jacket and tucked the picture under his left armpit. It was a weird thing to do, and I took note of it, but wasn't sure how to ask why he'd done that. We continued chatting and a couple of minutes later, he retrieved the photo and handed it to me. 

I remember that moment as the beginning of Doug's "Polaroid Period." For weeks after, he would take Polaroid pictures of everything and everyone, putting the pictures into a warm oven, a refrigerator, a radiator vent, and the highly favored armpit position or any handy place that gave off extreme temperatures. I even remember opening the CBC refrigerator in the old Hourglass office one day, only to discover the shelves lined with metamorphosing polaroid pictures of the colleagues that Doug, with Polaroid in hand, had accosted earlier that morning. When Doug noticed friends and coworkers had begun to turn and run in the opposite direction when they saw him coming, he finally put the Polaroid away. To my knowledge it was never seen again. But the technique produced some fascinating little works of art, some of which I framed and kept.  

In his professional working life, Doug maintained a long relationship with two things - one was his trusty hand-winding Bolex - the other was his old VW bus. Over the years he gathered more than one Bolex. In terms of his VW, he bought three of them, all from the same era to ensure what he hoped would be a lifetime supply of spare parts. As years went by he slowed down, stopped taking on a lot of film work, and put his Bolex cameras aside. Then in 2010, Doug found out that Jack, the grandson of his dear friend, the late CBC Producer Neil Sutherland, was going off to the U.S. to study film making. Doug selected one of his Bolex cameras as a gift for Jack. As it was a special occasion for Doug and the family, I went along to take pictures on the day he delivered the camera.

Throughout his lifetime, Doug shot hundreds of films and movies for both theatre and television release. In his early career he worked and travelled for the National Film Board in Ottawa. His resumé was long and impressive. Yet some years back, when I asked him what he enjoyed the most, he was clear that the times in his life that he dearly loved were the times he spent, and the work he did with Vancouver writer, historian, philosopher and film maker David Brock. 

For almost 3 decades the two collaborated on a series of stories about Vancouver and about the history of the west coast of B.C. all of which were telecast on CBC current affairs programs on which I worked. 

David Brock died in 1978 and as a cherished friend and colleague, Dave's death left a big empty place in Doug's life. It was around then that from time to time, Doug would visit friends at the CBC, sometimes extending an invitation to spend a few hours exploring and taking still pictures. Another of Doug's friends, and a favorite Film Editor, Ray Hall, wrote in much the same way, saying that just when he began to wonder about Doug, he'd look up and there he'd be, coming up the garden and asking "where the hell have you been?" 

It's still impossible to believe Doug is gone, but there is some comfort in knowing that his work lives on in the CBC film library and other archives all across Canada. It also helps to remember way back in time and realize that at the end of his life, he'd done what he so wanted to do and turned a library full of wonderful ideas into unforgettable images. 

Because of concerns with posting a larger display of Doug's still photographs on the internet, there is an attempt underway to put the collection together as an Art Gallery presentation, so that in the future it might be available for public viewing.

Below is a small assortment of pictures from his work and life.

Portrait of Yousuf Karsh, one of the great portrait        Tulips
photographers of the 20th Century

East End back yard                                                      Neil on the set of Red Serge

Pond Silk                                                                      Doug's friend CBC Producer,
                                                                                     Neil Sutherland at his Piano

 

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REMEMBERED FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES (Part One) by Chris Paton (Posted February 21, 2021)

When I think back about friends and colleagues lost over the years, they still appear in all the old familiar places - in the studios, offices, sets, all the places where once we worked together and shared some of the most productive, creative, and just plain best years of our lives. 

It takes only the mention of the old 1200 West Georgia studios, or the building on Hamilton Street, and the brain hits instant replay. Images stored over years of working and walking the halls inside both those buildings, plays back like an old movie. In reading the names and career details of all the associates we lost in 2020, the movie became the background against which old friends and colleagues came back to life. While I didn't work with and know well all the people on the 2020 list, I remember many of them. In fact some memories go back to the times when as a new script assistant, I started with CBC in the old and long gone 1192 Alberni Street CBC Production office. 

The front door of 1192 opened to a flight of stairs that led up to a long narrow office space, painted wall to wall in a flat and depressingly worn out shade of blue. On either side of the space small office cubicles, barely able to accommodate a desk, were assigned to the producer/directors of that era. That old office space came to mind with news of the 2020 deaths of two colleagues who once worked there. 

In those early 1192 Alberni days, Len Lauk was a producer whose office was at the very back of that second floor space. Len was the only producer who had a window, envied by all, even though it only looked out at the alley and the back of an old service station that sat on what is now super prime real estate at the corner of Robson and Bute. Len had come to the CBC as a production assistant in the 1950s, but as a producer, went on to establish and direct a long list of Vancouver shows and series. Among them the student quiz show, Reach for the Top, the cooking series Cuisine, and a number of drama specials and series such as The Manipulators. On the Scene was another of Len's series, this one produced out of the Cruiser, an old delivery truck sized vehicle, equipped with one camera and an enormous B&W VTR machine. The truck was an early response to the need to get outside of the studios and into the community. In its own blunderbuss kind of way, it did the job and is still affectionately remembered by some of us as the great granddaddy of todays totally self-contained ENG cameras. 

In 1968 as executive producer of Current Affairs, Len oversaw the marriage of two nightly half hour shows, the local news show then titled Home Edition, and the current affairs production The 7 O'Clock Show. The combined hour became the supper hour program, Hourglass. A few years later, Len went on to follow a career path that took him from Vancouver to Halifax as Director of TV and Radio. Still later another move took him to Toronto as Director of English language Radio and TV.  When Len finally returned to Vancouver it was as Regional Director for the Province of B.C., rounding out a lifetime of hands-on experience in both the administration and creation of television programming. 

In the 1960s, and within the Western Regions of CBC Television, women producers and directors were a rarity. Len never had a problem recognizing intelligence and ability as genderless, and wholeheartedly supported women in areas of responsibility that the Corporation had previously widely disallowed. With his passing, those of us who had the opportunity to realize our dreams and potential, remember Len with respect and gratitude. Len passed October 30, 2020.

Another colleague from the 1192 Alberni days was Paul Deyong, who in the 1960s was the assistant to the Production Manager, Bill Inglis. Paul worked at CBC for only a few years before moving on to a successful career in the mining and stock business. Paul passed December 19th, 2020. 

The Alberni Street production office sat kitty-corner across Bute Street from the rear door of the CBC Studios. The back and forth across Bute Street took place dozens of times a day as producers and production assistants headed out to videotape editing sessions or show recording days in the studios. Large productions, like drama or music specials, meant lugging loads of scripts, show formats, sheet music and other assorted necessities through the back door of the1200 West studio building. As a special memory all on its own, that old back door speaks volumes about Vancouver in those days. In striking contrast to present day CBC building security, the unattended back door of 1200 West was never locked during the day, only at night did a security guard wander by and lock it up. 

Entering that door and heading down the stairs just inside, took us past the old Switchboard room where Jean Danbert could be found handling incoming phone calls for the entire 1200 West Georgia office conglomerate. Jean also shared duties and was a familiar friendly face at the Georgia Street front entrance reception desk. Jean passed March 21, 2020. 

Past the switchboard room and directly ahead was the door to the studio 41 Control Room. Studio 41 was the largest in the Vancouver CBC operation. In the 1960s it was usually 41, or in the smaller studio 42, where we were most likely find Technical Producer David Liddell. In 1970 David joined Rogers Cablesystems as Program Manager, pioneering and installing Community Television in Western Canada and in later years, became Rogers VP of Programming. David passed May 24, 2020  

One of the studio 41 productions on which I worked with David took place during the early days of the music series Let's Go. As a script assistant alongside Producer/Director Ain Soodor, the show introduced the talented musician and singer Miles Ramsay. Later in his career, Miles had his own CBC radio series backed by the Dave Robbins Big Band. In 1972 Miles, together with a popular and talented group of Vancouver musicians, got together and created Vancouver's Little Mountain Sound Company Recording studios. Miles passed June 19th, 2020. 

Miles' very first appearance on Let's Go might well have been on a production day that found cameraman Doug Franks manning one of the studio 41 cameras. Doug passed April 27, 2020.

Walking through old studio 41, an exit door opened up to the front lobby of the 1200 West building. A sharp left turn at the reception desk led down a hallway that ran the entire length of the front of the building. It went past the makeup room, the costumes cutting room, graphics department and finally arrived at the TV Traffic offices. Long before the advent of computers that digitally sorted and kept track of all the CBC studio production bookings, this was the place that the Manager of the department, Alan Gadsby, and his team of Fred Boyer and Audrey Brock booked and managed to keep straight studio requirements for every Vancouver TV series and program. Alan passed March 16th, 2020.

Continuing down that hall we arrive at the foot of a splintered and disintegrating wooden staircase leftover from the days when 1200 West was a Packard car dealership. Very likely the upstairs office was where salesmen made deals with car buying customers. The staircase continued to take years of crushingly heavy foot traffic to and from that office space when decades later, it became the CBC television newsroom. 

Hard to imagine the time when one person assembled, and sometimes even edited, the reels of film that made up most of the local nightly newscast. In the 60s, well before ENG cameras, local news stories were shot, processed in a lab and edited on film. National stories came via feeds from the east, and were recorded on videotape, but local stories were almost always on film.

In the final hour before air time all the film stories had to be assembled in playback order on a reel to reel film deck. The deck was located in a dark little screening room at the back of the old 1200 West newsroom. One of the many editors who did that final assembly, and often even edited actual news stories, was Danny Tanaka. All these years later, I remember Danny as one of those editors, who in the midst of the ruckus and commotion that is always a TV newsroom in the hour before air time, stood in the newsroom calmly splicing together end to end and in order, all the day's film stories. When Danny finished the assembly, he like other film editors in the newsroom, would take hold of the reels and begin a race against time to get the film stories down the stairs, up the hall to the other side of the building, up a second set of stairs and into the Telecine projection suite. Danny went on to the quieter and slightly less time restricted editing days of the Beachcombers and other drama series production. Some years later Danny would start his own Editing company, receiving two Anik Awards for his work on outstanding docu-drama features. Danny passed on October 6th, 2020.

When the rest of us left the newsroom to get to studio 42 it was more often by the infamous and perilous backroom passageway - a route taken by crew and on camera people desperate to make it to the studio floor before the on-air deadline. The passageway started at the back of the usually darkened news screening room. It was there that a smaller than normal size door opened up to an immediate and frightening highway of plumbing pipes, all of them in circumferences that ranged from extra large to very thin. Underneath that pipe cluster existed a crawl space of a height no more than 4 feet. Only with body bent deeply from the knees and waist, face eye to eye with the cement floor, could a person avoid serious head injury or just plain decapitation. This was the route that was nightly navigated by tall newsreader Harvey Dawes, sportscasters  Bill Good, Steve Armitage, Ted Reynolds and right along with the rest of us, weatherman, Bob Fortune after checking news teletype machines for last minute updates. 

If you came into the back entrance to 1200 West Georgia and took the staircase up to the second floor, you'd find the TV Technical Maintenance Department. 2020 brought loses there of colleagues invaluable at keeping the station functioning and on the air. One of those was Senior Broadcast Technologist Ray Wittrock. More times than I can recount, while producers panicked in studios and control rooms about equipment breakdowns and lost time, Ray, the calm voice of logic and reason would come to the rescue, quietly diagnosing technical problems and doing everything he could to get the show back on the road. With an amazingly successful batting average in that department, Ray will be missed and remembered by so many of us.  Ray passed on February 7, 2020.  

Peter Puttonen is remembered as a Vancouver Maintenance Technician in old Studio 2 at 1200 West. Later he was on the job, but seldom seen around the building as his responsibility was as Supervising Technician of the Mt. Seymour Transmitter. Friends were glad to see Peter in person once again when he came off the mountain and back to work in the 700 Hamilton Street building as the ENG Technologist. Peter passed February 13, 2020.

Down the hall from Maintenance and through the first door on the left, would find Erv Wegwitz, a Master Control Operator with a wide and extensive broadcast knowledge that, over the years, he unselfishly and wholeheartedly shared with many a new co-worker. Master Control operators are responsible for all programming that both comes into and leaves CBC Vancouver, and it is on their skilled eyes and ears that the final stage telecast quality of on-air presentation always depends. There was no one more skillful or reliable at the job than Erv Wegwitz. 

In 1994 when the CBC obtained host broadcaster rights for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, it was a months long event that put all areas of CBC's technical proficiency front and centre on a world stage. Erv was the supervisor/master control on those games. Over the course of his long career, Erv worked many such events, including the Olympic Games in Australia, Japan and Atlanta. As a lifelong sports fan with a special love of baseball, he both coached and played the game until he was well into his 60's. Erv retired in 2002, but remains fondly remembered for his talent, dedication, wonderful sense of humor and friendly good nature.  Erv passed on December 13, 2020.

This column comes with gratitude for the kind assistance and input of Bob Glumac, Rick Beal and Peggy Oldfield. The list of those lost to us in 2020 includes friends from the Newsroom, TV Finance, Accounting, Design and Production. Remembrances of those colleagues will be shared here in future Stationbreak articles.  

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REELING IN THE YEARS

REELING IN THE YEARS was the title of ten of lunchtime screenings of CBC Vancouver’s television firsts from 1954 up to now (2003). Each show was tied to someone who was part of the action. Ted Reynolds, host of the 1954 British Commonwealth Games, took a look at the daily coverage (60 minutes with no satellites, no microwave no betacams) of an International Sports Special. Musician/producer Claire Lawrence talked about 'Let’s Go,' R & R, the discovery of new talent and eccentric first producer Ain Sooder.  Len Lauk showed special coverage of Princess Anne dedicating the corner of CBC’s new production centre, and footage of the new Production Centre. Rob Chesterman talked and showed the work of writer, director, producer Neil Sutherland, involved with serious music, variety, drama and documentaries. Stan Fox was a creator of the unique late night program 'The Enterprize.' Producer and outdoors enthusiast Andy Snider’s subject was his popular series 'Klahanie.' Ted Reynolds introduced Ripple Rock, the largest man-made explosion ever made. George Robertson and Philip Keatley talked about CBC’s awkward coming-to-terms with our Red Brothers. Chris Paton and Bill Dobson remembered the adventure of very basic News production (our feature story). Musician Doug Parker has played with the very best including Eleanor Collins, Fraser McPherson, Juliette and Shirley Harmer. Just watch and listen!
                          
                  
                         Excerpts from IT WAS NEWS TO US by Chris Paton.

When Colin Preston asked me to participate in the lunchtime screenings, so many memories about the old CBC newsroom came to mind. Long ago, I started as a Script Assistant and shared news duties with other scripts in the old 1200 West Georgia St. newsroom. The half hour included news, weather and sports and was called 'Home Edition,' going on the air at 6:30. A current affairs program called 'The Seven O’Clock Show' followed it at what else, 7 o’clock. Later, in 1967, those two shows would be joined together and run for the next 12 years under the title 'Hourglass.'

But for today, I’d like you to imagine it’s the mid 60’s, and you’ve just walked through the front door of the old building at the corner of Georgia and Bute Streets. No security people stop you as you enter and you wave to the receptionist. You immediately turn right, go through a door, down two steps and begin to follow a wide linoleum highway that runs the entire length of the building, parallel to Georgia Street. First you’ll go past on the left the men’s dressing room  and past the women’s dressing room - there was only one of each. Now feel free to glance into the Makeup room and say hello to Phyllis Newman. On the left hand walls were Alvin Armstrong’s framed black and white photos of scenes from Vancouver productions. At the end of the hall there’s a closet-sized room full of ironing boards, mirrors and always yards and yards of fabric. It’s in this room that Brigitte Schweickhardt and Pat Abercrombie, assistants to costume designers Josephine Boss and Charlotte Trende, could most often be found sewing up a storm for shows like Neil Sutherland’s Some of Those Days or for one of Philip Keatley’s television dramas.

The hall takes a dogleg left. We keep on going past the cubicles that belong to the Graphics department. This was the place where artists such as Kris Krismanson, Gerry McLaughlin, Jeff Pritchard and Dennis Badgely worked on hand-made graphics, hot-pressed all the super name cards and closing credit roles. No such things as electric fonts in those days. A little further down the hall we go past the TV Traffic Department, home to Alan Gadsby, Audrey Brock and Fred Boyer. At the very end of the corridor, you’ll find the Set Designers’ offices. There, no matter what time of the day or night, it wasn’t unusual to meet up with David Jones, Victor Miles or Murray Devlin or Director John Williams’ secretary Ebba McRoberts, before she became Ebba Reiter.

Right at this point, you’ll veer left and go up a narrow old wooden staircase. At the top, if you were over five-foot-five, you’d have to duck to get through the doorway. But ducking was good practice for the last phase of your adventure. In fact, I came to believe that short people got hiring preference, so crawling under the vents and pipes to get from the newsroom to Studio 42 was a life-threatening experience for tall people. The entire space, the one and only edit room included, wasn’t much bigger than today’s Screening Theatre on C floor of 700 Hamilton Street. At any given time, between 15 and 20 very busy people did a kind of dance, trying to move around each other. There was one TV set – black and white of course, for this was before the advent of colour – and that one TV set sat on a low shelf, usually obscured by newspapers, a cabinet full of telecine slides, piles of files and of course coats and lunch bags. A green chalkboard displayed the day’s lineup.

At the far end, above Georgia Street, one large arch-shaped window looked out over Maynard’s Auction House and beyond to the North Shore mountains. On the window ledge there was a large, butt-shaped, red cardboard cutout, and underneath it read, ‘The Myron Lacka Memorial Seat,’ so named for a notorious but well loved reporter who was very much alive at the time, but who always started and ended his day by sitting on his memorial valentine, whilst reading the Vancouver Sun.

I’m sad to say that the 1960’s newsroom was still many years away from hiring women reporters. At that time, the women of the newsroom were the bright and patient Production Assistants, Edna Schmidt and Pat Macdonald (not to be confused with Script Assistant Patsy MacDonald). They had desk space, along with the reporters and the Assignment and Lineup Editors. The desks were squashed together, back to back, side to side, like domino blocks.

The old black phones had dials and three digit locals and all the dials came through a real live operator who worked in a bunker down beside old Studio 41. Neckties were loosened but never taken off. Everybody smoked. Some of the chaps even smoked cigars. By five in the afternoon the smoke got thicker and the adrenaline started to flow. The real heady rush began about five-thirty and, from then on, the air grew heavy and the mood serious. The sound of the typewriters increased, bouncing off the cement floor and finally building to an eye-crossing cacophony. Bells clanged as Reporters and Editors slapped the return handles in their old carriage typewriters.

So it was that into this noisy, stinky, chaotic and claustrophobic place, I came on my first day of employment of the CBC, On my second day, the veteran Script Assistant who was training me must have figured I was a quick study because she didn’t show up. By the time I figured out that she wasn’t coming, it was too late to get help and I was doomed. George McLean was the News Announcer – there was no such thing as anchormen in the early ‘60s. George sat hunched over a tiny table in one corner of the room. Eros Pasutti, the Assignment and Lineup Editor, bobbed up and down every few minutes, dropping thick five-part green scripts on George’s desk. We actually called the scripts 're-cues' – they were the pieces of on-camera copy that would link the tape and film inserts.  Anyway, George would calmly pull the scripts over until they were right under his mustache. Then he’d reach over and start a big stopwatch that was bolted down to his table, and he’d quietly read and time each of the script bits. When he was done, he would pass those times onto the Script Assistant, that would be me. The idea was that when George’s times were added to Danny Tanaka’s – Danny was one of the News Editors - he’d know the length of the entire newscast.

That first night on my own, I remember being so nervous my knees were knocking together. To steady myself I perched on the side of a desk near George and his pile of green scripts. There I practiced flicking my ancient stopwatch on and off and worked at finding the quickest way to clear the thing. More nervous as the minutes ticked away, I reached into my purse for a cigarette – I smoked in those days. I put the cigarette into my mouth and started to light it. Realizing what a dumb, embarrassing and, worst of all, uncool thing I’d done, I looked around to see if anybody was watching. Thankfully all the people in the room were too busy to notice. I substituted my lighter for the stopwatch, gratefully took a long drag on my cigarette and tried to relax. I remember glancing over at George McLean who, without taking his eyes off the 're-cue' copy in front of him, spoke in the incredibly mellow voice of his, “If that’s how you light a cigarette, lady, you’re going to burn down the entire control room trying to time this newscast.”  It was the start of a beautiful – and as it turned out - lifetime friendship with George McLean and with the newsroom.

There are a million other stories of things that went bump in the evening newscasts. Now that I think of it, it seems to me that only the names of the perpetrators have changed over the years. For the most part, the dangers of newscasts that turn out to be on-air shambles have stayed pretty much constant. My early news days happened at a time when television was barely a decade old. What now seems so outdated and in some cases comical, was in fact the hard work of people inventing and shaping the use of a whole new technology. They were exciting times, not unlike these days when television Journalists and Producers face the challenges of news gathering and reporting in the computer age. I’m just not sure the future generations will ever enjoy the freedom or have the fun that we did. Then again, they may. We’ll just have to wait another 30 or 40 years to find out.

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THE HOTEL AND THE GARAGE Part 1  
 by Jim Nelson. (originally posted in Sept 2001)

There are a few of us left on staff who will remember either "the hotel” or “the garage.” But it appears I’m in the unique position of remembering both. Most knew me as a “radio guy” but actually I started my career with CBC Vancouver in the TV world.

“The Garage,” better known as 1200 West Georgia, was where CBC and I first got acquainted. Fresh out of BCIT in the summer of 1970, I joined CBC-TV as a “Vacation Relief” operator (a special wage scale lower than anyone else). It was an interesting time, the-times-they-were-a-changing, to borrow a familiar phrase. This was the time of the social revolution, marches, long hair, free sex and be-ins. There was a major technological revolution underway. Transistors were now replacing tubes and the first integrated circuits (ICs) were now appearing. There was also a new way of listening to the radio called FM. Colour had just taken hold in CBC Vancouver. The new 3 colour Mobile had just arrived along with the revolutionary Cruiser, bringing the region’s compliment of colour cameras to an amazing total of 7. NBC had its Peacock as its logo but we had the Butterfly. Colour wasn’t everywhere yet. Control rooms had only one or two colour monitors and they needed constant calibration. The old B&W monitors had the interesting brand name of Private Eye. We still shot the 11 O’clock News and occasionally the 6 O’clock in black and white.

VTRs were now finally reliable enough as high band colour was introduced, the Ampex VR2000 machine was la-crème-de-la-crème. VTR was a key department in all productions. Led by Cliff Gilfillan as the Group 111 (the equivalent of today’s group 8), Gordie Gill, Perry Eaton and Archie Reid were always on the job and in demand. But final copies were not yet kept on tape. Tape was too easily damaged and would not keep, so final copies were archived onto film via a system known as kine.

The first FRED (Frigging Ridiculous Electronic Device) appeared. This was the first computer to be introduced to MCR. It wasn’t overly reliable but it sure mad every show start and end on time. FRED was merciless.

A lot of my assignments were in Studio 42. Like today’s Studio 42 it was also the News studio. The News hour was called Hourglass, the host was Mike Winlaw, Harvey Dawes read the news, and weather was done by the one and only Bob Fortune. He would go over the maps of BC and Canada writing down in chalk all those temperatures that he seemed to know intuitively. Want to know his secret? Fifteen minutes before air he would take his chalk and write in very small lettering all those temps. The cameras could not see this and so it appeared as if he just knew what happened everywhere all the time.

Getting the news to air was a major undertaking. Any actuality was shot on film that had to be rushed to the lab for developing, and then edited by hand.  All scripts were done on typewriters (no spell check here). To play back the film clip it came from telecine at the other side of the building which might involve rolling up to three reels at once. When a picture appeared behind the newsreader, it really was being projected from behind him by a rear screen projector. Now the newsroom was located right next to Studio 42, all you had to do was crawl under the heating ducts. Yes, all CBC buildings are labyrinths, I believe it is part of the CBC charter somewhere. But News wasn’t the only diet for 42; we also shot commercials, did auditions and any other quick item that could be fit in. I was there the day a Russian freighter sliced into a BC ferry.  There were no professional films of the incident but there was an 8mm of it shot by an Island resident. We obtained it and set up a screen and projector in 42 and shot it with a studio camera.

Studio 42 had a lot of people coming and going through it. I can’t remember them all but here is a bit of a snapshot. Ralph Parker and Marv Coulthard did audio, Bob Black and Toby Reddecop were switchers, Jerry Williamson, Carl Pedersen and Gunter Mende did video, Andrea Maitland was script assistant, and just starting out in the director’s chair was a young PA named Chris Paton. There were a number of cameramen working the floor, among them were Bill Lawton, Des Saumer, Jack Bell and Neil Trainer. Neil was studying for his commercial pilot’s license at that time and the first to wear running shes in the studio. … blue and white Adidas. Quite a rebel Neil!

On the other side of the building was the other production studio 41.  This was the home to the then new but already very popular Irish Rovers show, produced/directed by the ever energetic Ken Gibson. I got to pull camera cable on this show, a low job but I was proud to be a part of it. This series was not only popular but ground breaking . Studio 41 had a ceiling not much more than 10 or 11 feet high and it wasn’t all that big either. Yet despite all of this, the Rovers were shot with a live audience with guest stars. Annie Murray was the first, singing barefoot of course. Chroma-keying was new but nowhere near perfected.  It was on this series with the leprechauns that many people came together to take it from a black art to a predictable tool. The Irish Rovers show success was the result of many people and some that come immediately to mind are Patsy MacDonald as script assistant, Roger Packer as the ever-in-control PA (floor director), Ray Waines, Bruce McDonald and Gene Baedak or Jack Bell as the cameramen, John Crawford handled audio on the three-tiered Northern Electric board, Ali Beheshti switched, and Andy Martens was the technical producer.

The term “media” had not even been coined but we were on our way. I was part of the first EFP/ENG crew. The cameraman had a B&W camera and I got to carry the “portable” VTR. It weighed 55 lbs, used 20 minute 2” wide tape and lead acid batteries. The VR3000 was our passport to many sports events, games, luncheons, press conferences, etc. I got to meet a lot of people in the sporting business but none nicer than Jack Short, The Voice of the Races. There was guaranteed excitement, as Chuck Lere would race back to the station at speeds of 80+mph on city streets in order to make the Late Night Sports often read by Bruno Cimoli. Equally up there in the hair-raising department was the week after the Gastown riot. We were sent in to cover the party put on by the Gastown merchants, and our CBC bosses issued us with bright blue hardhats equipped with face shields. We left them in the car! One more incident comes to mind. While covering a track and field event, my assignment was to stand at the end of the field where … the javelins were landing!

THE HOTEL AND THE GARAGE…. Part 2.
 by Jim Nelson.
Originally posted Jan.2002.

I must admit that I have been both plagued and richly rewarded by my memory since writing part 1 of this little collection. The more I work on this the more old memories percolate to the surface. I suppose I could write chapters, DON’T WORRY  … I won’t. But I do apologize in advance if I do miss someone or a program. 

I made the jump from TV to Radio on January 3rd, 1972. Or as it was called back then the Junior Service to the Senior Service. With the intention that she would be a short diversion and I would be back in TV in maybe 6 months … 2 years max!  I guess I’m a bit off in my estimate, right? 

About a month later I found myself and the rest of my union brethren locked out and walking the street in NABET’s first ever national strike.lockout. Fortunately it only lasted three weeks and it was very civilized. Many times Flora Campbell, our departmental secretary, would lower an envelope out of a window just above our picket line. We would drop in money and a few minutes  later she would appear at the door with coffee. This was very much appreciated in a cold winter’s day along with a heat lamp installed in the entrance way. That was my introduction to the Hotel Vancouver!

After all the silliness was over, I started to get accustomed to the Radio way of life. I soon realized I had joined a family of sorts and a fairly tight-knit one at that. I was warmly welcomed by all. New hires were a rarity and a bit of curiosity. Once you joined Radio you stayed until you retired or died. This was an institution that had pre-dated the hotel itself. The Hotel Van had opened in 1938 but we started broadcasting in '37. And the history goes further back yet. There was an amazing amount of loyalty to staff, to the company and to each other.

One of the key elements that made this such as family were the many social occasions such as birthdays, the annual Shop Party and even funerals. The most notable were the Studio “A” parties.  Wine and cheese parties were new and very in then and Studio A was the forum for them. Tom Robinson would often chose the wines and people like Pat Kirk, Gwyn Gunn, Bobby Gibson, Sally and Flora Campbell would organize them. The parties were a great forum for conversations, sipping, eating and just having a good time. Some took to sharing on a more romantic basis, with other consulting adults  … after all it was the early 70s. Not all parties were planned. It only took a snowfall to send someone out for “supplies" and the party was on.

Of all the parties, the last party was the best. Packed to overflowing with current and retired staff, the party spilled out into the lobby and up the stairs to Master Control, Studio C, and surrounding offices. Lasting late into the night, I believe it was a fitting farewell to a memorable old home.  Now … if you look closely at the back wall of the studio (above) you will see a mural of a Greek god. After that last party was over, the wall panel with his derriere so nicely portrayed on was missing! Do the initials JK ring a bell with anyone?

We had our own entrance: 701 West Hornby. As you walk in a couple of stairs, you might hear Judy Piercy typing scripts for Fred Laight, producer of The Schools Broadcast, or Doug Haskins, drama producer. Judy went on later to become a staff announcer and host. The three of them occupied the only office space on the lobby level. Studio A hosted programs such as The Happy Gang and Café Continental with performers the likes of Juliette, Lorraine McAllister, Dal Richards, Lance Harrison, The Rhythm Pals and Cleo Lane. This was the home for drama, jazz, pop and classical music.

If you leave the studio and head up the stairs, you come to the Main Mezzanine. Here you will find Studio A’s control room. You would often find people like Don Hardisty, Bill Seeback, Gerry Stanley and Gene Laverock recording away with producers such as George Laverock, John Merritt, Don Kowalchuk, Don Mowatt and Norman Newton. Of course if you look under something you might find Dave Newbury tinkering away on some detail. Dave had only a few years of experience then but was able to transform the control room to a state of the art multi-track-studio. It was amazing! 

If you went outside and turned the corner, you would be in Master Control, no automation here but an awful lot of tubes. Some of the residents would be Danny Vieira, ever vigilant and always fixing something, or a younger Eric Anderson (though he still hasn’t aged) who was a fresh face from the transmitter and UBC, also Russ Brownlow, Rick Matthews, Clare Purvis who a had crusty outside but a deep passion for Radio.

Walking through Master would take you into a large closet known as Studio C. The control room was cozy to say the least and the studio was not much bigger. Mostly this was the domain of the current affairs department which was only the 4-6  time slot.  Harold Gray would be producing there later, succeeded by Kim Whale and Volkmar Richter.  Patrick Munroe and Anne Petrie hosted the show then known as 3’s Company. Wreck Beach was a new phenomenon back then so one of Patrick’s assignments for this cutting edge show was to go and interview the inhabitants, wearing only a tape recorder. (Not sure how he placed his mic).  A year or so later Kim left and was replaced by the very talented and hardworking Anne Penman who came to us from Ottawa

If we come out of Studio C and Master, we could turn left pass the lounge and drop in at the Technical Office.  Florence Campbell would be often typing the schedules but always had time for anyone who came by. Bob Gray (not TV's Bob Gray) was the departmental supervisor and Don Horne was the Director of Technical Operations, aka my boss! You won’t meet a kinder or more genuine boss as Don.

After you had left their offices, you could walk past the 4-6 office and into the music library. Karen Wilson had joined us as the music librarian. I think she was all of 30 at the time but to us younger ones we were so impressed as to how much spirit and energy a person had and be so old!  Remember the phrase Never trust anyone over 30? Karen proved us very wrong and still continues to impress.

We have now done the circle of the Main Mezzanine with only one more stop: sound effects and the home of the ever amazing Lars Eastholm. From here we head out to the service elevator and up two floors. Working at the hotel placed us alongside the hotel staff. They became an extension of us and vice versa. Often we would ride with trolleys of fabulous food and there might be a free sample or at least a joke to be shared.

Two floors up was the First Mezzanine, the new part of Radio. Formerly the maids’ quarters, we had moved in here in the early 60s. To the west were French Services and our Shop. Located at the farthest distance from any studio, it was not as spacious as today’s. It was always neat and organized. Don Reagh always saw to that. He had another trait. He liked gold. So he had the Shop door painted gold, but it didn’t stop there. The wastebasket was gold and yes, even the phone was, you guessed it, gold. Jay Moore, the remarkable Dave Newbury and myself were shop members. A few years later long haired hippie John Henderson joined.

Next to us was Jacques Laudry, the Director of Radio for CBUF. He was very popular and greatly appreciated by all. Christian Bernard was a staff announcer for CBUF but was also the first to cross over to English and then bilingual shows. A few others I remember from this side are Annick Resag, Jacques’ secretary, and Nicole Moore, PA and Jay’s wife.

If we walk back to the opposite side of the floor, we find ourselves in the main production area. There were 5 more studios, a couple of editing areas and two listening booths. Unlike today, every station had a dedicated studio that was live from sign on to sign-off. Studio D was the one for CBU (AM). You could find Bev Small and maybe John Hireen, Bob Spence, Larry Hartman, Joe Silva, Eric Batut or even Ian Stephens at the controls. Bert Nelson, Bruno Cimolai and Dan McAfee were among the many others on the other side of the glass. To one side of D was Studio F. This one was the on-air studio for CBUF-FM.  Peter Schell would be one of many keeping it running. To the other side was Studio E running CBC-FM. Rusty Hopper was at the controls every morning. If you got him talking you could hear a lot about the Avro Arrow, the Spitfire and other planes.  Studio E was also the home of Bob Kerr and Off The Record which ran for 35 years.   If you turned up the hall you would pass the Recording Room, hearing sounds of many programs being recorded, like the new morning show The Country in the Morning. Manned by the likes of Dennis Mackie, another crusty one with a marshmallow inside, or Les Hansen, who seemed to be always smiling or laughing. This, a vital area, was named the Wheelhouse.

Directly across was Richard Woo’s domain, the tape library. Richard loved photography and every month he would have a new 11x14 portrait of a staff member on his wall. I guess it was his enthusiasm that got me into photography in such a serious way. Next to Richard was Studio J, the only stereo packaging studio we had. Rob Chesterman would piece together his masterpieces here. Across the hall in Studio H a different sort of masterpiece was taking place. A young long-haired rocker named Claire Lawrence (from the rock group The Collectors) had somehow got in the door and started the program Gold Rush. He was joined by a PA who you may know, Susan Englebert. She would often work late in the evenings, editing away in a very smoky listening room. I used to lecture Susan on smoking and she would give me a very polite yes and continue editing. Then as today they were a catalyst for change.

Up the hall were the rest of the offices. Traffic housed the ever likeable Colin Astle. Howard Rose was also there. Radio News was headed up by Jim Baugh and joined by Jim Kearney (doing sports, what else), Brian Kelleher, Dick Elson, Barry Bell and a very new Eve Savory. Telford Oliver, the small fellow with the huge voice, read the news along with others like the always cheerful Stan Peters. Next door was the GMR (Good Morning Radio) aka the morning show with its new 10 speed riding, very trendy Bob Sharples. This was a radical move from a mostly music format to information radio. There was still some music but it was a start into the format we have all come to know as CBC Radio.  Bill Terry was the producer along with Johanna.

Radio Noon, the 12-2 show, was a resources show coming from the old Farms Broadcast. Gordon Inglis produced and led the show with Alf Spence operating the show. The rest of the team consisted of Ron Travis, Evelyn Harper and Norm Griffin. Up in the Music Library,  Ruth Levy lead the way. The team consisted of Judy Knox, Berry Austin, Neil Ritchie, Elizabeth (Ibby) Wilson and Pat Van Horne. Across the hall in the Record Library overflow was someone just starting out in the public relations field, John Lysaght. Do you remember the day when a whole case containing over a thousand 45s tipped over next to your desk?  I do because I had to right it again. A few more inches and we would have had a John pancake! Rounding out the English crew we had Keith Barry as Program Director and Ken Davey as Director of Radio. Oh, I almost forgot the tall slim mail boy who had just started … Tod Elvidge. Still remember you trying to steal my beer!

I would like to end with a few acknowledgements. Thanks to Catherine Morrin and Peggy Oldfield for the spell check on all those names. To  Dave Newbury, Neil Ritchie, and Eric Anderson for help in the recall department. To Ray Adams and Don Horne for your photos. And especially to all that have shown me just how special Radio can be.

CBC RADIO IN THE ‘60s and 70s
by Don Mowatt. posted in 1999.

In 1964 when I joined the CBC in Vancouver as a fledgling “variety” producer in radio, we were housed in the sixteenth floor of the Hotel Vancouver above the Panorama Roof.

The location gave a kind of lofty elegance to our work, appropriate for the world I had imagined the CBC should always occupy. In my parents’ home the radio was receiving Music Diary, Saturday Night at the Opera, Clyde Gilmour’s Review of the Movies, concerts of the CBC’s Chamber Orchestra, plays directed by Andrew Allan, and, just for fun, Max Ferguson’s Rawhide from Halifax.

When I was eight years old, I remember listening to Ray Whitehouse’s production of King Solomon’s Mines broadcast over several weeks on our radio station in Shearwater, Nova Scotia. Twelve years later, on my first day at the CBC, I was introduced to the cast of another radio series being directed in the old two storey Studio A of the ground floor of the Hotel Vancouver off the entrance at 701 Hornby Street. In only a matter of seconds I recognized the voice of Alan Quartermain in that old 1950’s production I heard as an eight year old as belonging to Sam Payne. I was at home at once. In those days, CBC Radio was distinctive, polished, educational as well as highly entertaining in a wide range of fields. It gave me a feeling of the great breadth of the country and its colourful components were well represented. It had developed a special balance between the CBC’s upper class accent and the drawl and folkiness of our neighbours to the south.

In 1964 some radio drama was still being broadcast live  - not the longer works but the daily serials on the Schools broadcast and occasionally on the Farm broadcasts at noon.

There were ten radio producers then and, of those, only one woman, compared to almost thirty five producers in radio when I left in 1997 with more than fifty percent being women. It seemed to me that we had a great deal more of autonomy in our production output then with most of our work being approved by our local Director of Radio rather than by executives in Toronto.

The work was handled in a much different way. For one thing, portable recording machines did not appear till the seventies and all recording of music and sound had to be made and later edited exclusively by NABET technicians. In fact all scripted voice recordings also had to be made and later edited by NABET members. I remember much of our day was spent in tiny editing booths instructing technicians, who may or may not have made the original recording, where to make the cuts. In a thirty minute drama there could be over a hundred edits, and in a documentary several times that many.

In the drama studio things were different too. The producer and the technician were located in a glass booth one storey above the studio where the actors and the sound man waited for their cues. And the sound man stood at the side of the studio behind a “cocktail bar” of three or four enormous record players and a unit that could play several cartridges at once. The record players played LPs of sounds or music, but in 1964 most of the records were actually 78s recorded up to twenty five or thirty years previously for the BBC radio drama unit. Realism in sound affects was not a factor till the appearance of stereo FM, and horses’ hooves were still being made by coconut halves. The sound man also had a complex unit that contained windows, screen doors and solid doors, and another machine with a rotating steel  ball that smashed panes of glass when that was required.  All of this was recorded not in the glass booth where the producer and technician sat but two floors above them in the recording room where you played your stops and starts by telephone, when you could get through.

Despite the cumbersome portable recording equipment in the ‘60s, Imbert Orchard made a specialty of going into the province’s smaller communities and interviewing the old pioneers. He made a harness out of an old coat hanger with a hook bent to hold a microphone perfectly in place below the interviewer’s mouth. This oral history of the province provided a decade or more of weekly radio programs and the tapes are now in the provincial archives of Victoria.

Robert Chesterman continued the Music Diary program begun by Director of Radio Peter Garvie and with Peter Haworth and Hugh McLean, oversaw a series of art, music and literature programs on the new FM service.

Gerald Newman directed radio plays in Studio A, and the case that weren’t need for a particular scene were sprawled out on the padded benches outside the studio with recording sessions that often lasted into the early morning hours. Robert Wagstaff used the same studio to produce big band and variety shows with dozens of musicians, singers and actors crowding the performing space. In the summer, he would strip to the waist, throwing cues from the cigarette smoked glass booth one floor up.

Across the street on Howe below Georgia and next to the old Cave Dinner Theatre was Studio G where the CBC Radio Orchestra founded by John Avison were rehearsing under producer-composer Robert Turner. Now thre last radio orchestra in this hemisphere, it was only only one of dozens on this continent. It was also the core performing group for our annual Fall Music Festival given free in the Playhouse, Ryerson United Church and the ballroom of the Hotel Vancouver. Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, Anne Murray, Alan Hovhaness, Cathy Berberian, Ned Rorem, Marni Nixon and Harry Newston were some of the international personalities who performed in the Festival over two decades.

As well as the small pool of radio producers who all worked on a great variety of programs from Dal Richards Live from the Panorama Roof, “The Carsons” daily farm serial, current affairs series, and very many live musical series , classical, pop and jazz, there were a number of production specialty units: Outside broadcasts led by Bill Herbert and including Len Chapple and Diana Filer, covered events outside the studios: Royal visits, ceremonies and a Prix Italia prize-winning documentary on the sinking of the Luisitania. The Farm broadcasts under Norm Hansen represented a different era in Canadian history when rural economics played a much larger role. Hog prices, cattle auctions and information on wheat growing were available during the noon period from Monday to Friday, highlighted by the farm family serial “The Carsons” and its successor “51 St North” which, between the two of them, ran for over thirty-three years. School broadcasts, led by Marg Musselman and Fred Laight, were piped live into all Canadian classrooms following the noon hour farm broadcasts and included songs, games, short talks and dramatizations.   

All of these units flourished until they were gone by the mid-seventies to be succeeded by a stronger diet of current affairs programming on AM radio and disc shows on FM. The Meggs-Ward report of the late sixties, which emphasised the need for more focusing on a more popular, more news and current issues style of broadcasting, was slowly pushing the arts oriented BBC pattern into FM and eventually much of it out altogether

In 1975, in our last year at the Hotel Vancouver, a number of important developments occurred that particularly affected the Radio Arts and Music in B.C.  Robert Chesterman managed to persuade management to let him take an unpaid sabbatical in Europe to study new directions and approaches to music and drama productions. On his return he brought with him stories and tapes that forever changed the way a number of us saw our craft. Bold experiments in sound and form that had become standard in Europe and even in PBS in the States was very exciting.  

When the move to our new building at 700 Hamilton Street occurred in 1976, it was significant that the “state of the art” drama for radio was designed after pop-music studios in Los Angeles and not on the European models in England, Germany and Scandinavia. Fifteen years later, at great cost, the radio drama studio studio was completely altered to the European pattern, allowing for different acoustic spaces for the actors and sound effects crew to approximate living situations for a wider range of dramatic expression. Staff announcers including Bert Nelson, Stan Peters, Telford Oliver, Bob Sharples and Gordon Hunt, who had hosted almost all radio series, gradually became replaced in the seventies by a new breed of personality hosts under contract.  Otto Lowy and Bob Kerr, who had been around for years, continued to host programs but an increasing number of outside voices led by Vicki Gabereau began to replace the old institutional hosts. The assignment of technicians to strictly technical functions also began to relax a little before the end of the seventies as producers and freelancers began recording more with the new portable walkman-style recorders and editing in their offices where they couldn’t be monitored as closely. Technicians actually became more involved in other production responsibilities but this was still at its very earliest stage in the late seventies. Today of course technicians produce a number of programs, voice weather reports and perform many other activities that they never dreamed of even a dozen years earlier.

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60th ANNIVERSARY OF CBUT part 1 and part 2
1200 W Georgia St - December 16, 1953

Part 1 click on: http://vanalogue.wordpress.com/2013/12/15/60th-anniversary-of-cbut-part-one/
Part 2: http://vanalogue.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/60th-anniversary-of-cbut-part-2-all-that-jazz/

 

CBC Vancouver Studios THEN AND NOW