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DAVIDSON - Radio listeners in Moose Jaw and the surrounding area were treated to a three-hour live broadcast from Toppers Bar and Grill in Davidson on Wednesday morning, as part of 800 CHAB's Ten Town Tour. From 6 to 9 a.m., on-air hosts Rob Carnie and Craig Hemingway broadcast their morning show from a booth in Toppers' newly-renovated family restaurant section, interviewing local residents and politicians, and even featuring a couple of accordion performances by Maurice Merkosky. Toppers opened five hours early on Wednesday to welcome the radio crew. Free doughnuts and coffee were offered, and many of the folks who dropped in stayed to enjoy the restaurant's breakfast special. Although the hosts normally use an Internet connection to hook up remotely to the station's headquarters in Moose Jaw, technical problems caused by an apparent hacker attack to their website forced them to use their backup system: running their microphones through a cellphone and dialing the station's phone number. "We can tap right into our control room anywhere we have the Internet," explained Carnie, adding, "Doesn't always work." The two hosts said they'd enjoyed the tour so far. It is the first time they have attempted a promotion like this. "The goal is just to get out in communities and meet some people and highlight some of the businesses, established and new, in each community," said Carnie. He said he has had fun meeting the people that "keep small-town Saskatchewan alive." While co-owner Danielle Schneider said it was tough to predict how many people would turn out for the event, the restaurant saw a steady stream of customers during the broadcast. Co-owner Krista Allan said the restaurant learned about the tour through advertising sales representative Tim Wonsiak, who accompanied the hosts on Wednesday morning. "Tim comes in quite often, and he phoned up and asked if they could do the morning show here," she said. The broadcast kicked off just after 6 a.m. after a series of ads - including local spots for Cliff Shaw Agencies and Greg Brkich - and two songs, Roy Orbison's "You Got It" and The Powder Blues Band's "Thirsty Ears." Throughout the show, Carnie and Hemingway reminded their listeners about the tour and invited them to join the crew at Toppers that morning, "where it's happy hour if you like coffee and doughnuts," as Carnie frequently noted. The first interview, around 6:45, was with Mayor Mary Jane Morrison. She talked about Davidson's various attractions and facilities, and about the growth of community and businesses. "There's always lots of exciting things happening in our town," she told the radio audience. Other guests included Don Wilkins, who spoke about some of the nearby roadside attractions he designed and built. Wilkins is responsible for the coffee cup that sits beside Davidson's famous giant coffee pot, as well as the iron sculptures that adorn several stops along Highway 11. Greg Brkich also spoke with the hosts, discussing his work as MLA for Arm River-Watrous and as deputy speaker. The CHAB staff - which also included advertising sales representative Tim Wonsiak - took a short break for breakfast at 8:15. Maurice Merkosky stopped by around 8:40 to play a couple of songs on his Excelsior Model 20 accordion. He performed "Just Because" and then played "Happy Birthday" as the two hosts read their daily list of birthday announcements. The broadcast ended around 9 o'clock, with Allan and Carnie reading a list of prize winners just before signing off. Davidson was the eighth stop on the tour, following Assiniboia, Central Butte, Lumsden, Caronport, Avonlea, Gravelbourg and Indian Head. The tour wrapped up on Thursday and Friday with visits to Elbow and Watrous. The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada. |
