When CHOM was Home - Some Highs & Lows

Working at CHOM-CKGM for seventeen years was great fun, professionally.

I lived close to the station when I worked there. Every now and then, I would stop in at the Greene Avenue studios late at night and ask the DJ’s who were on-air which records or CD’s I could borrow, and then I would go into the production studio and make cassettes of all my favorite songs.

Big time awesome!

For me, that was one of the many amazing perks that came with working there. I would play the cassettes in my car and crank them! I still have a lot of the cassettes, but I guess they’re of not much practical use now.

As with all jobs, there were plenty of ups and downs - fast times and funks. In 1987, I was demoted, my pay rolled back, with my boss at the time telling me my voice wasn’t deep enough to do news.

I was shocked and staggered, but not for long. Undeterred, or stubbornly, I stuck it out.

By September 1988, I had a new boss in Steve Kowch, who raised my annual salary by 35 percent when he was hired. He made sure I was able to do the things I enjoyed doing with fair compensation. His approach to the newsroom restored my focus and zeal.

Bosses came and went.

I stayed at CHOM-CKGM until I was laid off in February 2002, along the way, garnering two nominations for ACTRA National Radio Awards in the Best Opinion/Commentary category.

What can I say? You do what you love for as long as you can, which is just what I did when CHOM was home.