Travelling back in time

Doing the rooftop campout with Ron Truswell from the Heartland Youth Center in 1993

In the early 1990s, I had an awesome gig as program director/morning show host of a little radio station called Q14 in Stettler, Alberta.  I had a box of dusty cassette tapes of airchecks of shows done with amazing co-hosts Steve Rennick and Dan Chabot up until quite recently.  I finally got rid of them as we haven't had a cassette player in a long time.  While very difficult personally - I went through a separation and divorce  - my time in Stettler was the most rewarding and fun, professionally.

With my co-host Dan Chabot, two stalwart Montreal Canadians fans

I loved the community and the opportunity to build relationships with listeners by being that voice that helped them get up in the morning.  We had great contributors like Riley Workman (weatherman) and Katy B (Nashville Newsline).  We tried wild and crazy things, took lots of phone calls, and genuinely had fun.

Hanging out at my neighbour Sonja's place

Stettler was also the place where I began to volunteer in the community.  I acted and directed with Gilbert and Sullivan players.  Plus, I served on the board of directors for the Heartland Youth Center.  I am excited to head back to that community on Friday to do a workshop with some kids at the Center and to do a live painting at their major fundraising banquet on Saturday night.

I breezed through the community last year with my older son Dylan.  We were swinging over to Red Deer after having travelled to Kamsack, Saskatchewan, to pick up Ben at Artstrek in Red Deer. Stettler seemed like the perfect place to stop for the night.  Very little looked familiar, and I didn't have the energy to reacquaint myself.  I've built in a lot of time to do that this time around.

I want to walk the streets, visit stores, and immerse myself as much as is possible in the two days that I'm going to be there.  I'm hoping to run into some familiar faces, though pulling out names from my brain after over 20 years might be a challenge.