May 14, 2025 — Paul Richards
The Welcome Sound from Huronia
There will be no announcement. No fanfare. Yes, a few telephone calls and a text or two between former co-workers will take place and some of the old stories will be dusted off and appropriately embellished, but otherwise the 48th birthday of the former “Welcome Sound from Huronia” version of CHAY Stereo FM 93.1 will pass unnoticed.
Canadian radio broadcasting was shaking itself up in the late 1970’s. It wasn’t so much a change as it was a progression of sorts. AM stations had ruled the airwaves since radio first signed on for real in the 1920’s. FM stations hit the air a decade later but at the time were not seen (or heard) as having the potential to rival AM stations for audience and advertising dollars.
And then everything changed.
A group of Simcoe County entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to do something that had not been done before in Canadian broadcasting.
CHAY-FM, Canada’s first 100,000-watt stand-alone FM radio station was about to hit the airwaves to serve a massive broadcast area bordered by Huntsville to the north, Owen Sound to the west, Peterborough to the east and Toronto/York Region to the south. Stand-alone meant the FM operation did not have an AM sister station to pay the bills. In the late 1970’s, going it alone on the FM dial was a financial gamble … short-lived as it turned out to be.
Huronia’s Welcome Sound
“What follows here are the guidelines of programming techniques that we use at CHAY. They are designed to work in the type of operation we are, a live independent FM Radio Station, and we feel they will work for our station for many years” was the opening paragraph of the CHAY-FM stylebook, presented to every employee prior to the station signing on. We were expected to follow it to the letter!
“Our appeal is to adults. One of the keys to our success in reaching this adult target audience is an on-air sound that appears casual and friendly, but springs from a carefully structured and disciplined presentation.”
Off-air rehearsals and dry runs of both music and news programming continued in a construction zone, daily, for weeks, before the station went live.
And then the big day arrived. We were more than ready. On May 20th, 1977, CHAY 93.1 FM went “live” from well equipped new studios located in Midhurst, with a crystal clear, powerful 100,000-watt stereo FM signal delivered from the top of the 1,000-foot CKVR television tower in Barrie. A signal this strong had not been heard before throughout Central Ontario and the phone lines started ringing immediately. Callers from as far away as the Lake Huron shoreline, Manitoulin Island, downtown Toronto, Muskoka, Lindsay and the Kawarthas wanted to know who we were and where was this land called “Huronia” that were referenced in our programming. That first antenna was a magnificent piece of over-performing technology, only to soon be destroyed along with the entire CKVR-TV tower in a tragic plane crash on September 7th, 1977.
From day one, CHAY was off to the races as a regional radio force. The operation survived being wiped off the air by the destruction of the CKVR broadcast tower, returning soon after and broadcasting at greatly reduced power from a backup antenna attached to a temporary structure on the television station’s property. Highlighting the quality of ownership and dedication to the well-being of the recently hired staff, there were no layoffs as the new station struggled to stay on its feet following the tragic plane crash. Despite this major setback, the new FM radio station quickly became one of the highest rated stations in Canada.
You no doubt remember the large CHAY-FM billboard on the east side of highway 400 as you headed north from Toronto. Once you saw that sign you knew you had arrived in “Huronia.”
At the beginning in 1977 CHAY offered a beautiful music format with a strong news and information component. Three times a day, CHAY listeners tuned to “Huronia Magazine,” a one-hour regional comprehensive digest of the day’s events beginning with a major newscast followed by multiple produced feature interviews delivered by CHAY news staff members and regional correspondents. These well produced reports introduced listeners to Central Ontario residents and community leaders and highlighted matters of importance in agriculture, business, special interest, sports, politics, traffic and weather along with letters to the editor and commentaries.
“The Huron Word of Welcome is CHAY. We say it with Music every day!”
Over the years, CHAY stuck to its winning programming formula, continued to grow, and always worked hard to constantly “change to stay the same,” consistently broadcasting to a weekly audience of a quarter-million or more. Over time, the original beautiful music library was gently replaced with a more modern soft adult contemporary presentation. Ronnie Aldrich, Anita Kerr, Ray Conniff, the Laurie Bower Singers, Percy Faith and other similar artists had served the listeners well and were eventually replaced by the Eagles, Dan Hill, Carly Simon, Shania Twain, Madonna, Elton John, Celine Dione, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Phil Collins, the Little River Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, David Foster and other more contemporary artists that appealed to the adult audience CHAY was licenced to serve.
L-R: CHAY-FM’s Paul Richards, Ken Day, George Jonescu and Bill Cosworth, taking a lunch break at our home away from home, Franky’s Diner in Barrie!
The only portion of the CHAY-FM broadcast week that was off limits to change was Big Bands Saturday Night. Host George Jonescu continued his good ride of owning Saturday nights on the radio with his weekly trip down music’s memory lane. George’s unique presentation of big band favourites never lost its luster with a massive audience across the province.
The original CHAY-FM’s delivery and mandate to provide regional news, weather, traffic and music programming to all of Central Ontario remained the same, always.
CHAY went on to win regional and national awards for the Development of Canadian Talent, producing and financing CD’s featuring Canadian musicians and producers with a five year – $500,000 initiative known as “Project Easy.” These music selections were shared with radio stations across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia giving up-and-coming Canadian musicians excellent exposure to markets that otherwise would have been difficult to break in to. And CHAY hit the headlines again with Shaw Communications by building new state-of-the-art broadcast studios and becoming Canada’s first all digital radio station.
However, the original “Huronia’s Welcome Sound” CHAY-FM success story would come to a crashing end early in the new millennium when new ownership and management abandoned the soft rock format, closed the newsroom, dismissed the on-air staff and thought simulcasting a hard-edged hip-hop ENERGY music format originating from a radio station in Burlington would better serve the needs of CHAY’s regional listeners. It didn’t.
While our decades-long great run of success ended abruptly, the memories of good times with great people lived on, and that is what we fondly remember and celebrate every year on the May long weekend. It was a good time to be in radio broadcasting!
Cheers to the professional colleagues, good friends, advertisers and a wonderful audience. Thank you, and of course, Cheers to CHAY!
CHAY-FM Morning Show Host Ted Telford
CHAY-FM’s Paul Richards, World Curling Champion Russ Howard, CHAY-FM’s John Crawley and Ken Trew
CHAY-FM’s Milt Conway preparing to interview Canadian Music Hall of Fame member and multi-Juno Award winning recording artist Dan Hill at our open house
Dan Hill’s publicist Linda with Paul Richards and Dan Hill
Advertising campaign in the late 1990’s
CHAY-FM’s Ken Trew interviews former Barrie Mayor Dorian Parker
CTV National News Anchor Harvey Kirck with CHAY-FM’s Bill Cosworth speaks to a guest at our Open House
CHAY-FM Program Manager Paul Richards, Canadian National Ski Team Member Kellie Casey, Ontario Travel Centre General Manager Jack Lynch, CHAY-FM Sports Director John Crawley
CHAY-FM’s Ken Trew interviews MCA Narada’s number one selling recording artist, Orillia’s Michael Jones
CHAY-FM’S host of Big Bands Saturday Night George Jonescu is interviewed by Ken Trew
Canadian curler and Olympic Champion Russ Howard with CHAY-FM Sports Director John Crawley
CHAY-FM’S Milt Conway speaks to a guest at our open house. (Barrie Canadian Tire owner and CHAY shareholder Arch Brown is in the background!)
CHAY-FM’s George Jonescu … being George!
“Captain Bob” CHAY-FM’s Bob Rice delivered up-to-the-minute traffic reports every weekday morning and afternoon.
Jack Lynch, former defenceman for the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings, former member of the Owen Sound Junior “B” Greys and the voice of skiing and all year-round activities as the General manager of the Barrie Travel Centre. Great guy!!!
Paul Richards and CTV National News Anchor Harvey Kirck at work in the production room
CHAY-FM’s Ken Day with CTV National News Anchor Harvey Kirck
CHAY-FM’s George Jonescu and Doug Moorhouse meet in the main control room with guests at a CHAY-FM Open House
Three time World Champion figure skater Elvis Stojko and CHAY-FM Sports Director John Crawley prepare for an on-air interview
Georgian Pontiac Buick’s Jamie Massie, former owner of the Barrie Colts, with one of his players, being interviewed by CHAY-FM’s George Jonescu.
Former CHAY shareholder Wayne Noble, CHAY’S Ken Trew, Paul Richards, former shareholders Barry Loft and Arch Brown.
Canadian curler and Olympic Champion Russ Howard with CHAY-FM Sports Director John Crawley and News Director Martin Vanderwoude.
John Henderson (top left) came to CHAY from Barrie Broadcasting’s CKBB 950/CKVR-TV. Vin Dittmer (top right) was CHAY-FM’s General Manager and the consulting architect of the station’s CRTC application. Having spent time at CKNX Television and Radio, Dittmer returned to Ontario from working at CFCF in Montreal.
The “BlueCHAY’s” baseball team!
Top Row: Cecelia Wilson, Carmelita Scambia
Middle Row: Karen Wright, ??, Bob Bowland
Front Row: John Crawley, Bruce Smith, Douglas Johnson, Paul Richards
Absent from the photo: Any person who could actually play baseball!
2025 Reunion: Bob Bowland on the left, Paul Richards on the right
Bob Bowland left the CKVR-TV news desk to hire the inaugural CHAY-FM staff. Bob was the engine of the place. He put together the CHAY news and daily programming components for launch day. He drove the bus! After many years with CHAY, his entrepreneurial ambitions took him to Parry Sound where he purchased a struggling AM station and turned it into the very successful CKLP-FM. Bob was my mentor. He left me and others with the knowledge to carry on his good work. One day while we were having lunch in the basement he told me that the first time you didn’t run up the stairs will be the first day you got old. I still run up the stairs! Cheers to Bob and cheers to the original CHAY-FM and the many fine broadcasters that worked so hard to make it the success that is was. This year would have been our 48th birthday on the May long holiday weekend.
Cheers to “Huronia’s Welcome Sound” … Cheers to CHAY … and thanks for the ride!
CHAY-FM 93.1 Inaugural Staff, May 20, 1977:
General Manager: Vin Dittmer
Office Staff:
Phyllis Moran – Commercial Inventory Scheduling (we call it traffic in the radio biz)
Jennifer Bishop – Reception – General Secretary
Sales Department:
John Henderson – Sales Manager
Ken Charles, Sherman Fysh, Ron Gilbert
Caron Wright – Creative Services
Programming:
News Director: Bob Bowland
News Staff: John Crawley, Paul Richards, Barry Kentner, Jim Park, Kathi Perras.
Announcers: Chris Russell, Tony Pearce, Dawson Scotney, Martin Stewart, Paul Richards
For many years we had the only highway sign allowed along highway 400 just north of Toronto. It served us well!
Writer’s note: The CHAY-FM referred to in the above article is the original CHAY that was owned and operated by a group of Ontario Simcoe County business people and then Alberta’s Shaw Communications. The time period referenced is 1977-2000.
