By Joel van der Veen
June 7, 2010

KENASTON - As news anchor Rob MacDonald stood outside Snowman Park, preparing for the evening news, he repeatedly glanced at the threatening sky overhead.

"Live TV is wonderful," he said, adding, "We're not prepared for everything."

MacDonald and Chantel Huber, hosts of CTV Saskatoon's supper hour news, were getting ready to broadcast live from the middle of Front Avenue in Kenaston as part of their "Home Town Tour" promotion, with the affiliate's satellite truck parked across the road at the Co-Op.

Earlier in the week the news crew visited Rosetown, Blaine Lake and Shellbrook, with plans to wrap up the week with a trip to Biggar. On June 3, they came to Kenaston, the province's "Blizzard Capital."

While there was no snow, the weather did its best to live up to its reputation, pelting the anchors with rain, hail and wind while they extolled the virtues of such local landmarks as the water tower and the town's 18-foot fibreglass snowman.

Crew members held up umbrellas to protect the hosts and camera equipment, but there was no stopping the wind. Fortunately, the crowd in Kenaston - standing behind MacDonald and Huber during the broadcast, and whipped up to a frenzy by producer Jan MacLaurin - stayed the course, cheering when appropriate.

Around 100 people were there to witness the broadcast. The Kenaston Co-Op also held a Customer Appreciation Barbecue in front of Snowman Park that evening, ensuring a large, happy crowd.

The CTV Saskatoon crew spent most of the afternoon in town, meeting local people and visiting the Kenaston School, the town pool, and other businesses and facilities. MacDonald and Huber had lunch at the Kenaston Café, and all in all, Huber said, it was "a full afternoon."

"We're having fun," said MacDonald. "We weren't quite sure what we were going to run into." He complimented the town, saying he was impressed at the facilities it offered for a place its size and that they'd received a "very warm welcome."

The two anchors thanked Susan Anholt and the area chamber of commerce for nominating Kenaston. Anholt and several other local leaders, including Mayor Dan O'Handley and chamber of commerce president ML Whittles, were there on Thursday evening.

"Any time you can promote your town, it's good, isn't it?" said O'Handley. He added that the news team's visit proved that "there is things to see in small towns."
MacDonald said he enjoys the tour in part because it allows the anchors to meet and interact with their audience, rather than being in the studio, where it's just them and a few technicians.

"It's great to get out of the office," he said.

Among the locals featured on the broadcast were national horseshoes champion Colin Finnie and 96-year-old Matt Pillipow, Kenaston's most senior resident.

Asked how he felt about his TV appearance, Pillipow said, "I don't know . . . it never sunk in yet."

Oddly enough, the inclement weather had held off for most of the afternoon. It was only just before the broadcast began at 6 o'clock that the rain started. The crew had a back-up plan to hold the show inside at Kenaston Place, but they decided to brave the elements instead and stayed outside for the duration of the 15-minute broadcast.

And just as MacDonald and Huber signed off from Kenaston, leaving the station's other anchors to continue the program from the studio in Saskatoon, the rain finally stopped, with sunlight breaking through the clouds.

"Like I said," MacDonald observed, as the crew began packing cameras and equipment away, "live TV - anything can happen."

The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada.