Happenings on the Scene – No matter the weather, his smile always brought sunshine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2011 (5593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Certain people that come into your life can be an influence or have a distinct effect. For me, Ron Thompson was one of those people and this is how I’d like to remember him — on a happy note.

Ron was one of the most positive, uplifting individuals you’d ever have the pleasure of meeting.

Sure he had decades of broadcasting experience before most of us started in this market. But he was unassuming and always helpful and co-operative.

For most folks in this region, he was one of the first celebrities you could ever meet; yet amazingly, he never really considered himself one. He was so easily approachable, one of those guys who had a genuine interest in people.

When it comes to on-the-level, down-to-earth people, he truly was the real deal.

For those who knew of his condition (battling systematic cancer), the news of his passing last month may not have been a surprise but it still caused a gloomy feeling.

However, for me, that gloominess didn’t linger like the cloudy Sunday it arrived on, thanks to the many tributes that came flooding in for this kind man.

He had such a natural knack to influence people, whether it was with his crafty storytelling, infectious laughter or the cool and collective ability to just sit and listen whenever you needed someone to lend an ear.

As I sifted through the tributes that came flooding onto his Facebook memoriam page, I quickly recalled all the laughs we shared over the years. The man had a great sense of humour and I consider it an honour and a privilege to have been able to call him a friend and a co-worker.

Most folks gladly allowed Ron into their living rooms, kitchens, shops, offices or wherever a television was handy as he gave his weather forecasts via CKX TV. His jocular yet classy candor came across in his nightly forecasts.

That, coupled with his solid professionalism, gave him a huge following in Westman and eastern Saskatchewan. His name will always be synonymous with the weather. It comes with the territory when you have a solid career in broadcasting that spans more than six decades!

Not to mention his signature sign off: "Easy does it, my friends — that’s the weather!"

Ron began his broadcast career when he was a mere lad of 15. He started out, like most of us in this biz, as an operator, twiddling the dials and controls to make sure the other disc jockeys could do their thing seamlessly.

This was back in the late ’50s for then FM station CJOB. He would work briefly in a couple of other markets (Regina and Yorkton) before arriving here in Westman to plant his roots, start a family and proceed through a solid career that saw him doing many other duties besides the one he’s best known for.

He started at CKX AM as morning man in the fall of 1965, doing fill-in work on TV such as live programming and commercials, and standing in for the weather on evenings and weekends. He did the afternoon drive shift on CKX AM then eased into the CKX FM station CJCM, in about 1969. For years he was the CJCM program director.

Plus he was host of Reach for the Top and in 1970 became Quizmaster — a position he held until Reach for the Top was cancelled in the mid-’80s.

When CJCM became KX96 in 1983 — switching from easy listening to cutting-edge rock, Ron returned to CKX AM on the afternoon drive shift. Somewhere along the way he had become the staff meteorologist.

In 1986 Western Manitoba Broadcasting (the CKX mother company) put their Manitoba Television Network on the air, and Ron moved into television announcing full-time. He did weather for CKX and MTN, and anchored an evening newscast on CKX television.

Ron was with the company for 37 years. He worked in almost every announcing job that the AM, FM and TV stations had to offer. He did it all, including a steady run of hosting the Lion’s Telethons live on CKX TV.

I always took time to chat with Ron and I valued the time he took out of his busy days to chat with me. Whenever you get a chance to chat with a radio/TV veteran of Ron’s stature, you’d be silly not to take it.

Fortunately I had the opportunity to enjoy many a chat with "RT" as his office (known then as "The Storm Centre") was just down the hall from mine throughout the mid-’90s.

In those days while he was the resident "Weather God" of CKX, I was program director/morning show host for 1150 KIX. Whenever KIX would add an artist that caught his ear, he’d inquire of me who this "hot shot" new artist was.

He had a keen ability to pick out the good ones back then and it was usually the tunes that had the best pickers on the lead breaks. Selections from artists such as Diamond Rio, Clint Black, Lee Roy Parnell and Vince Gill would spark a conversation that would have Ron conjuring memories of his early days in radio when he would spin tracks.

It was always a delight discussing music with him. You could instantly tell he was passionate about music, whether he was talking about it or playing it. The man was like a walking encyclopedia when it came to classic country artists or instrumentalists — Don Gibson, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark and The Ventures come to mind.

His affinity for the top-notch players obviously rubbed off on his ability as a guitarist. Ron was an accomplished acoustic guitarist in the finger-picking style of Chet Atkins or Tommy Emmanuel.

Incidently, over the past half year or so while in the hospital, Ron regurlarly received inspirational phone calls from his "guitar buddies" — Emmanuel among them! Ron had the privilege of sharing the bill with Tommy a few years back during a show in the Seattle area (if memory serves). I recall him gushing when he told me about that one, as he knew I too am a big Tommy Emmanuel fan.

In fact, some of my more recent favourite memories of Ron were the times he would literally be glowing after returning home to Brandon from one if his many vacations afar. Whether it was the Nashville or Franklin Tennessee area or a few other spots in North America or Europe, his favourite trips were the ones during which he had the opportunity to perform.

He once said to me that being able to play his guitar more regularly was one the most enjoyable things about retirement along withhaving the luxury of time to travel with his lovely wife Heather.

One anecdote of Ron that I’ll always fondly recall is from just prior to the first Ridgefest, the local music festival. It was the first week of summer 2004 and the weather had been cool and wet for most of the spring — not exactly the most conducive conditions for an outdoor concert. When organizing any outdoor music based event, the last thing you need is rain and cold temps.

The day before the festival I’ll never forget bumping into Ron as I was out and about getting some last minute supplies. As always he took the time to stop and catch up. We were both thrilled to see each other as it had been a while.

During that chance conversation, I mentioned I was the co-founder of a local band-based music festival (Ridgefest). It was our first festival and it was also the first time anyone on our planning committee had anything to do with organizing an outdoor festival.

I half joked that we were all praying to the rock gods for decent weather as it had been raining quite a bit during the week leading up to the event.

Without missing a beat, that unmistakable smile appeared across his face as he piped up with that booming voice that so many folks in this area know and love and said, "Not to worry, Frankie! I can almost guarantee that you’ll have perfect weather for your festival."

As soon as he said that, I remember my stress just coming to an abrupt end. For the first time in weeks, I was feeling completely at ease because once I had heard it from the "Weather God" himself, all was well.

Festival day arrived and wouldn’t you know it? His forecast was bang on! That day wound up being one of the nicest, sunniest days of that entire summer!

Easy does it indeed.

May that sunny forecast follow you wherever you go, my friend.

You will be missed.

 

 

Indie-punker taps into his inner poet for fab EP

Rob Moir is not a new face on Canadian music scene. With a heart filled with passion and a head full of stories, he delivers his most unique music to date.

After five years of fronting the Toronto indie-punk band Dead Letter Dept. (Underground Operations/Universal Music), Rob embarks on his first solo venture as a performer.

In the vein of timeless artists like Springsteen and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Moir’s songs are painstakingly personal and honest. With past solo performances at NXNE 2010 and club dates throughout Toronto, he has silenced rowdy audiences with his intimate performances, witty humour, and captivating stage presence.

With the upcoming release of his debut solo record, "This is the Lie," Moir prepares to perform his songs across Canada, Europe and everywhere in between.

His ambitious 40-date tour makes a stop here in B-Town this Friday night at Lady of the lake. While he’s often found onstage with just a guitar, his Toronto dates will see him backed by his all-star band The Great Lates, taking his melodic folk to new rock-and-rolling heights.

Often compared to The Weakerthans’ John K. Sampson, Jason Collett, or The Wooden Sky, Moir has taken his punk background and used it to craft warm and candid folk music. He has continued to turn raw aggression into stunningly honest songs that sting and cut through, just like a good punk song would.

It’s his sincerity that is hard to overlook. Moir has silenced rowdy audiences with his intimate performances, witty humour, and captivating stage presence, often leaving jaws dropped.

His creative blend of poetic imagery atop subtly catchy alt folk-rock is soothing yet provoking, in a way you probably haven’t heard before. His debut EP "This is the Lie"shows that Moir has a lot to say and isn’t going to be yelling about it this time around.

Lucky for us, it’s hard not to fall in love with these organic tunes.

"This is the Lie" is available digitally and off-stage before or after his show tomorrow night (Friday) at Lady of the Lake.

Frank McGwire is a radio personality and booster of the music scene in Brandon and Westman.
» franko1@mts.net