100 Years of Church Broadcasting on Prince Edward Island

- As published in  The Guardian - January 24, 2025

Letter to the Editor

Trinity United Church - Charlottetown, PEI

On the 25th of January 1925, a new era arrived for those who were unable to attend church services, with radio broadcasting of a Sunday service from First Methodist (Trinity United) in Charlottetown. It was a first for the province through the efforts of Walter E. Burke operating from his home at 36 Upper Hillsborough St. and Walter Hyndman who helped build him a 30-watt transmitter. The Island Telephone Co. provided a connecting line between the church and the transmitter, which broadcast over a club license shared by young radio enthusiasts.

One author has indicated that it was the first church service broadcast east of Manitoba, in what was then Canada. Newfoundland had already seen the launch six months before of radio station 8WMC on July 20, 1924, operated by Wesley United Church in St. John's, which still operates as VOWR, (Voice of Wesley Radio) and is staffed by volunteers.

With the growth of radio on PEI, CFCY as the first commercial station under the leadership of Keith Rogers, added church services to its ongoing programming schedule. Church broadcasting on PEI saw growth with Christian Communications formed towards the end of the century to take on the role of coordinating a Sunday morning service on CFCY radio originating from a rotating list of Charlottetown churches until 2006 when CFCY underwent a format shift and dropped church services.

By that time, cable television had already established a strong presence in church broadcasting when  Island Cablevision established an ongoing arrangement with Trinity in Charlottetown, to broadcast Sunday services starting in 1976.  Simon Compton, a member of Trinity United Church Session, had assembled a business team consisted of Howard Douglas, Harry MacLauchlan, Dr. Lorne Bonnell and himself, which successfully brought cable television to the Island. Licensing required a certain number of hours of local programming, and Simon and his partners were keen to see their new service provide regular church programming within their local time slots. That service continues today under the Eastlink ownership group.

Fast forward a few years, and all churches found themselves shuttered during the early months of COVID-19 when live-streaming was becoming an easy way of broadcasting over the internet. A legacy for many of those churches is that they have continued to use YouTube and other methods to provide both a live stream as well as video copies on their YouTube channel or church website for later viewing. As one Islander who was unable to be home for the holidays stated, “tuning in to the Christmas Eve service was the next best thing to being there.”

Ian Scott

Charlottetown 

George Di Carlo, paintings on Prince Edward Island

COURTESY OF SUSAN SAUNDERSON

Finding four paintings by George Di Carlo, the majority of which were painted on Prince Edward Island, began a search for information about Di Carlo and his career as a painter.

An obituary from 2007 confirms that the career of George Di Carlo (1926-2007) had been based in Montreal and that he had family members in Toronto.

Obituary George Di Carlo. Age eighty-one, after a debilitating stroke, died May 14 at the Montreal General Hospital. Montreal has lost a gentle, delightfully joyous, free-spirited, immensely talented artist, whose love for great Renaissance art informed so much of his work. He was a muralist, and decorative master, whose work graces the homes of many grateful residents in Montreal, London, and New York. His clients included the Ritz Carleton, Queen Elizabeth and Chateau Frontenac hotels. A step inside the Globe Building - 1350 Sherbrooke Street West - reveals a floor to ceiling masterpiece, an inspired depiction of the signs of he zodiac, rendered in marquetry, unlike anything to be seen anywhere on the planet outside of Italy - a Montreal treasure. George will be missed by adoring members of his family in Toronto, and his many Montreal friends who were privileged to spend time in the company of a supremely modest, angelic clown, when laughter reined supreme. His family and friends wish to thank the Royal Victoria Emergency, and the kind staff on the 14th floor of the Montreal General Hospital. Contributions to the Stroke and Heart Foundation, the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation, and the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, would be appreciated by the family. There will be no funeral service: a memorial event is being planned to take place soon in Montreal.

Published in The Gazette, Montreal from May 16 to May 19, 2007.

George Di Carlo became a family friend of Flora & Keith Rogers in Charlottetown and when the family opened a new transmission tower in North River for their radio station, CFCY which was billed as The Friendly Voice of the Maritimes, George provided a painting of the new transmission facilities during a summer visit. The painting of the towers was inherited by their son William Keith Rogers (1921-2019) and his wife Laurette Boissoneault, who were longtime Montreal residents.

George's interest in both Zen Buddhism and the Baháʼí faith would have made him a comfortable visitor in the Roger's household in Charlottetown as Flora Rogers maintained contact and supported members of the fledgling Baháʼí community on PEI as it was becoming established. She was a member of Trinity United Church in Charlottetown, with a strong interest in personal spiritual growth. Baháʼí teachings note the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. 

Four painting owned by the Rogers family include:

George Di Carlo - At McGeana Farm Vernon Bridge PEI
The identification of farm name is still tentative based on unclear writing.
 

George Di Carlo - Rocky Point Wharf, Charlottetown, PEI 

George Di Carlo - 1950 CFCY New Towers, North River PEI

George Di Carlo - 1951
Location is not identified but shows reddish soil
and a waterfront scene suggesting coastal activity. 

An article on his career was published July 8, 2007 by The Gazette in Montreal

An accomplished artist who worked for love, not money

‘ He was basically a happy man who carried his happiness with him’ said a friend

• Montreal Gazette
• 8 Jul 2007
• ALAN HUSTAK THE GAZETTE

George di Carlo was an accomplished muralist and painter responsible for the lavish interior decor of a number of hotels and restaurants across Canada, including the Queen Elizabeth Hotel as well as the Royal Suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal, the Hotel Vancouver and the Banff Springs Hotel.

He was 80 when he died in the Montreal General Hospital May 14, following a stroke.

“He had a fascination with mythological creatures and all the imagery that goes with it. He was influenced by the Italian renaissance and an expert at trompe l’oeil,” said Robert Verrall, a NFB filmmaker and friend who studied art with di Carlo.

“He was proud of his murals and of his chinoisorie. He was basically a happy man who carried his happiness with him. When he walked into a room, people brightened.

“He might have been much more commercially successful, but his modesty kept him poor.”

George di Carlo, the youngest of eight children in an Italian immigrant’s family was born in Belleville, Ont., June 29, 1926. His father worked for the Canadian National Railway. His brothers were all trained as tool and die makers, but di Carlo chose to attend the Ontario College of Art where he was awarded the Governor-General’s medal for general proficiency in 1946. He studied fresco painting in New York and in 1948 was commissioned to decorate a house in Westmount.

He lived in Japan for several years and studied Zen Buddhism and B’Hai. In the 1970s he lived in Europe where he started executing large scale works for interiors of hotels and restaurants as well as the homes of the rich and famous. He spent a year decorating the walls and ceilings of a London mansion for Lady Baille, the U.S.-born heiress who restored Leeds Castle in England, and decorated a New York apartment for Versace, the acclaimed fashion designer. His most lucrative commission was for a royal palace in Saudi Arabia.

“He was such a magical person. He never liked the idea of using mechanical devices when he worked. He said anyone could use a machine,” his niece, Marie LeBlanc, said.

“He liked being an original, one of a kind. He continuously reminded us that there is only one original.”

He rarely signed his own name to his works, using instead the name of the Greek god Proteus, who changed his shape at will.

The marquetry depicting the signs of the zodiac fashioned from Hawaiian Koa Flex wood in the Globe building at 1350 Sherbrooke St. W. in Montreal is considered one of his masterworks.

One of his patrons, Mike Rosenbloom, described di Carlo as an “incredibly talented, creative and discriminating.

“It took him two years to complete the marquetry,” Rosenbloom added.

“He painted furniture for us, wooden screens, doors, all kinds of things. I tried for years to get him to do paintings to sell, but he wasn’t interested. He did things he wanted to do and if he wasn’t interested in a commission, he wouldn’t do it. Things he liked, often he’d do practically gratis.”

Susan Saunderson, another of di Carlo’s friends, said: “He was one of those artists who lived on an abstract plane.”

“He was courtly, elegant – gentilezza is the word in Italian that best describes him. He was a mischievous angel with a gentle, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, sense of humour.”

Di Carlo also illustrated horoscope calendars for the International Astrological Society.

“He never allowed anyone to watch him work. He was very quick, very good, very generous,” said his long-time friend, Sam Ferstman.

“Sometimes he’d do a painting, and if he liked the customer he wouldn’t charge for his work, even when he didn’t have the money and couldn’t afford to give his paintings away. He could be generous to a fault.”

He had a vast library, enjoyed opera and classical music, and although he owned a television rarely watched anything other than the weather channel.

A memorial service is planned for the fall.

-------------------

With almost no changes, the National Post also published the article on July 10, 2007 with another picture of George di Carlo

Muralist decorated famed hotels and restaurants

JOHN KENNEY / CANWEST NEWS SERVICE

George di Carlo enjoyed creating his Italian Renaissance-inspired murals and paintings so much that he would often refuse to accept payment from customers. “He might have been commercially successful,” one friend said, “but his modesty kept him poor.”

100th Anniversary of Radio Broadcasting on PEI - A Talk by Ian Scott

100th Anniversary of Radio Broadcasting on PEI

A talk give by Ian Scott at Government House, Charlottetown, PEI

April 14, 2021

The MC for the event was broadcaster Kathy Large,
 a granddaughter of Keith S. Rogers.

Your Honour, Ladies & Gentlemen

It is a great honour to be here today at the location of a ground-breaking event, one century ago; the day when an international broadcast received here, provided proof that the emerging technology of long-range radio transmission had arrived.

The event we are celebrating, we now understand, was the dawn of broadcast media and all that has followed.  

Ian Scott

Betty Rogers Large or her sister Marianne both 2^nd generation broadcasters might ask us at this point to, “Put on your pretenders boys and girls.” And if you will, we can almost imagine the excitement building as the group on March 11, 1921 gather in the Provincial Technical School at the Rena MacLean Memorial Hospital on the Fanningbank estate, with Keith Rogers, their instructor, as they hear that first broadcast come faintly and haltingly, and then as clear as a whistle. Young veterans of the Great War in the prime of their lives, some carrying visible and invisible scars of war, some beginning new jobs as they turn dials on homemade equipment and eventually succeed at tuning in a musical broadcast from similar students at Union College in Schenectady, NY. 

Keith Sinclair Rogers (1892-1954)

A week later – the excitement builds as local dignitaries included the mayor, premier, most of the Provincial Cabinet,  several judges and business owners gather for a repeat performance this time using a gramophone horn so they don’t have to share headphones. Harder to connect this time -- but  with special greetings included for the PEI audience from New York it was a success. That same week, was equally exciting for the Rogers family as they welcomed the arrival of their son, a welcome brother for their two girls.

Wireless already existed in Charlottetown with teenage “hams” like Rogers on Morse code keys from at least 1907. Internationally, wireless Morse code saved 706 passengers from the sinking Titanic in 1912. Dots and dashes out of thin air were amazing enough, but it was a bold discovery that sent sounds through the air across vast distances.

The first scheduled broadcast happened in Pittsburgh the prior year as fledgling stations launched – ones that could even reach an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

For Keith Rogers it began as a young militia member over homemade transmitters at the age of 15. By 17 he was issued a license for a wireless station at the Charlottetown Armoury in 1909, (just across Government Pond.) The same year he worked as wireless operator aboard the icebreaker Minto. At Camp Petawawa, age 19, he and his squad built the first portable wireless equipment for the Canadian Army. Portable meant two horses to carry, and four men to move it.

Keith S. Rogers at Camp Petawawa

Rogers like his father worked in the family insurance business and followed his dad as commanding officer of the No. 12  Signalling Unit, a local militia group. WW I saw his young family posted to Halifax, with regular forces as signals officer at Citadel Hill. After surviving the 1917 Halifax Explosion, his wife and two daughters, were sent home while Keith remained in Halifax.

On PEI, Government House was turned over to the war effort, as a convalescent hospital for veterans with construction of the Rena MacLean Memorial Hospital next door for additional beds. As the post-war focus turned from convalescent to rehabilitation, it housed the Provincial Technical School.

Keith Roger at war end, was beginning to see the potential for wireless as a civilian means of communication. An amateur radio operator, with military experience, his skills were soon put to use by the Provincial Technical School at Fanningbank teaching a course on electricity and wireless radio, where he also formed a radio club. It was Friday – as the group turned their dial and located the signal from far away - the broadcast from students at Union College in Schenectady, NY.  Union College campus station, WRUC, exists today - available worldwide, streaming on the internet.

Several months after the 1921 broadcast, Rogers began broadcasting himself locally with announcements and phonograph music. The Charlottetown Radio Association was formed to gain a club license in 1923 so members could broadcast using that license. Walter Burke started broadcasting church services from Trinity Church in Charlottetown on Jan 25th 1925, as the second church in Canada to do so. Rogers was in business selling radio receivers to the public, and wanted to add broadcasting to the operation so in 1925 the first commercial radio license in Eastern Canada was issued to his radio business with the call letters CFCY. He planned for TV broadcasting on PEI, and his family completed that after his death, with CFCY-TV signing on the air on July 1, 1956. His life’s work of connecting people through “the Friendly Voice of the Maritimes” was realized and these stations continue today with Maritime Broadcasting the current owners of CFCY/Q93 and CBC purchasing the television operations.

Broadcasting united Islanders in new ways as they shared the music of Don Messer and his Islanders with all the country. It  relayed educational programs, farm broadcasts, radio drama, music, news and weather (not to mention Hockey Night in Canada), to the region. Long-range forecasts made a huge difference to farmers cutting hay, and were a matter of life or death to fishers hauling traps long before alternatives emerged.

From early church broadcasts to the current level of content available through myriad broadcast and streaming platforms, the Island has been an active participant in a new era that began at Fanningbank, one hundred years ago. 

The Honourable Antoinette Perry
Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island

See CBC coverage including video from the event.

100th Anniversary of Radio Broadcasting on PEI - Background Material

100^th Anniversary of Radio Broadcasting on PEI

Background Material

by Ian Scott, March 2021

An international broadcast of music received by a local group in Charlottetown, provided proof that the emerging technology of long-range radio transmission had arrived; it marked the dawn of broadcast media.  

On March 11, 1921 gathered in the Provincial Technical School at the Rena MacLean Memorial Hospital on the Fanningbank estate, with Keith Rogers, their instructor, were a group of students that received a broadcast of concert music. Young veterans of the Great War in the prime of their lives, some carrying the scars of war, some beginning new jobs turned dials and then succeeded at tuning in a musical broadcast from similar students at Union College in Schenectady, NY.

A week later, local dignitaries gathered for a repeat performance, this time with special greetings included for the PEI audience from the New Yorkers.

Wireless already existed in Charlottetown with teenage “hams” like Rogers on Morse code keys from at least 1907. Internationally, wireless Morse code saved 706 passengers from the sinking Titanic in 1912. The discovery that sounds could also be sent across vast distances using radio waves launched a new era of broadcasting.  

The first scheduled broadcast happened in Pittsburgh the prior year as fledgling stations launched – ones that could even reach an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Keith S. Rogers at Camp Petawawa age 19

For Keith Rogers the interest in radio began as a young militia member with Morse code over homemade transmitters at the age of 15. By 17 he was issued a license for a wireless station at the Charlottetown Armoury in 1909, the same year he worked as wireless operator aboard the icebreaker Minto. At Camp Petawawa, age 19, he and his squad built the first portable wireless Morse code equipment for the Canadian Army. Portable meant two horses to carry, and four men to move it.

Keith Sinclair Rogers

Rogers like his father worked in the family insurance business and followed his dad as commanding officer of the No. 12  Signalling Unit, a local militia group. WW I saw his young family posted to Halifax NS, with regular forces as signals officer at Citadel Hill. After surviving the 1917 Halifax Explosion, his wife and two daughters, were sent home while Keith Rogers remained in Halifax.

On PEI, Government House was turned over to the war effort, as a convalescent hospital for veterans with construction of the Rena MacLean Memorial Hospital next door for additional beds. As the post-war focus turned from convalescent to rehabilitation, it housed the Provincial Technical School.

Keith Roger at war end, was beginning to see the potential for wireless as a civilian means of communication. An amateur radio operator, with military experience, his skills were soon put to use by the Provincial Technical School at Fanningbank teaching a course on electricity and wireless radio, where he also formed a radio club. It was Friday – as the group turned their dial and located the signal from far away - the broadcast from students at the first college radio station, Union College in Schenectady, NY.  Union College campus station, WRUC, exists today - available worldwide, streaming on the internet.

Several months after the 1921 broadcast, Rogers began broadcasting locally with announcements and phonograph music. The Charlottetown Radio Association was formed to gain a club license in 1923 so members could broadcast using that license. Walter Burke started broadcasting church services from Trinity Church in Charlottetown on Jan 25th 1925, as the second church in Canada to do so. Rogers was in business selling radio receivers to the public, and wanted to add broadcasting to the operation so in 1925 the first commercial radio license in Eastern Canada was issued to his radio business with the call letters CFCY. He planned for TV broadcasting on PEI, and his family completed that after his death, with CFCY-TV signing on July 1, 1956. His life’s work of connecting people through the airwaves of “the Friendly Voice of the Maritimes” was realized and these stations continue today with Maritime Broadcasting the current owners of CFCY/Q93 and CBC purchasing the television operations.

Broadcasting united Islanders in new ways as they shared the music of Don Messer and his Islanders with all the country. It  relayed educational programs, farm broadcasts, radio drama, music, news and weather (not to mention Hockey Night in Canada), to the region. Long-range forecasts made a huge difference to farmers cutting hay, and were a matter of life or death to fishers hauling traps long before alternates emerged.

From early church broadcasts to the current level of content available through myriad broadcast platforms, the Island has been an active participant in a new era that began at Fanningbank, one hundred years ago today. 

Honouring 100 years of broadcasting on PEI at a ceremony held at Government House in 2021

See more about the event with pictures.
See CBC coverage including video from the event.

GUEST OPINION: Many connections to Holland

As published in The Guardian on June 23, 2020

This clipping from Jan. 26, 1943, shows Princess Julianna of the Netherlands at her Ottawa home with her children. - islandnewspapers.ca - Contributed

Travel restrictions this spring limited overseas activities that would have involved Islanders as part of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland, yet it remains important to recognize the close connections that exists and grows between the Island and Holland. Within agriculture alone, studies show that 53.8 per cent of Prince Edward Island's immigrant farm population in 2006 was from Holland.

Canada and Holland also share a unique royal connection as our respective heads of state have been primarily women for the last century and a half. In Holland, three queens have served in the role for 133 of the last 140 years while Canada has seen two queens serve for 132 of the last 183 years.

During the Second World War, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, third daughter of Princess (later Queen) Juliana and Prince Bernhard was born in Ottawa cementing a bond with Canadians celebrated annually with tulips. In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs in gratitude for Canadian hospitality in sheltering the future Queen Juliana and her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Out of this grew the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa. Festival founder and photographer Malak Karsh appreciated that royal gesture of thanks, "The gift of tulips brought colour back into a very gray world. We celebrate this gift, the spirit of spring renewal."

P.E.I. also played a war time role as CFCY radio station in Charlottetown was the location Princess Juliana used in 1941 to convey a message of hope to Dutch citizens at home as well as a birthday greeting to her mother in Britain. The recorded message was intended to bolster hope for the Dutch Resistance and those attempting to survive the harsh Nazi occupation. After the message was recorded at CFCY, it was broadcast over shortwave radio while the Dutch government-in-exile, headed by her mother Queen Wilhelmina, was based at Stratton House near Piccadilly in London.

Unlike the Vichy French government which in defeat accepted a policy of collaboration with Hitler, Holland was the third largest oil producer in the world and crucial war resources were at stake. When Prime Minister Dirk Jan de Geer proposed a return to the Netherlands and a similar approach, Queen Wilhelmina realized that collaboration with Nazi Germany would mean the oil-rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) would be surrendered to Japan and fuel the Axis war machine. A puppet government she would not accept; as head of state she replaced key members with a cabinet prepared to lead their occupied nation from a distance.

Lt. Col. Keith Rogers was the founder of CFCY and the story of the 1941 royal recording session was told by his daughter, Betty Rogers Large in her award-winning book Out of Thin Air in 1989. Full disclosure – Betty was my mother-in-law and after learning of the story, I sent a copy of her book to the Dutch royal family and received an appreciative response.

Many special tulips have been in bloom across the province thanks to the Liberation 75 organization which exists to generate celebration ideas related to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Europe. The colourful displays across Canada have been a fitting way to remember the personal sacrifice of more than 7,600 Canadians who died in the Netherlands as well as those in the larger European operations. After a long fall and winter of 1944 leading to the renewal of spring in 1945 tulips have become a symbolic reminder of how Canadians liberated Holland following the “hunger winter” when even tulip bulbs were resorted to as food for residents.

Great respect for Canadians continues today in Holland with various school events; family connections abound both from the 1,886 Dutch women who married Canadian soldiers after the liberation, and also among those families who found a new beginning in Canada through immigration since.

Veseys in York previously honoured the 70th anniversary with 100,000 tulip bulbs given to organizations across Canada for planting. John Barrett of Veseys commented at the time that, "We're sort of hoping to try and keep that memory alive in Canada to the same degree that it's been kept alive in Holland." Hopefully this year will bring more awareness of the connections between Holland and Canada that grew from such difficult circumstances. Kudos to everyone working hard to commemorate this milestone.


Ian Scott is a past executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation who lives in Charlottetown.

CBC Compass -- Where The Name Came From

CBC Compass -- Where The Name Came From by Ian Scott

The local supper hour CBC news broadcast on Prince Edward Island has remained legendary especially when occasionally threatened with replacement by a national news show. Attributed as having maintained the highest penetration in a local market of any local news show in Canada it has retained its audience despite the arrival of many other news options. Interest in local news is a key part of Island life thus Compass is a daily staple in most households, yet many were unaware of the origin of the name until recently. The story goes back to the period when CBC was establishing a corporate presence on PEI. While affiliate CBC stations had existed locally with both CFCY radio and then CFCY-TV (which opened July 1, 1956) the need to establish a full corporate presence in every province caused CBC to purchase CFCY-TV from the local owners, who were descendants or family of CFCY radio's founder Col. Keith Rogers.

The 1969 purchase led to the building of a new facility on University Ave. Veteran CBC manager Gordon Smith was brought in for the transition and to manage the operation; he learned quickly that Charlottetown Rotary Club was a valuable organization to support and also provided an opportunity to meet other community and business leaders. It was at a Rotary lunch table that he admitted the challenge of obtaining a highly visible location for the new building to a fellow Rotarian who happened to be in a management role with the Charlottetown Research Station run by Agriculture Canada, affectionately known then and now as "The Farm" in the heart of the community. From that conversation came an agreement for CBC to acquire a rather low-lying part of the property that was difficult to crop due to drainage issues but was highly visible next to major federal operations like Agriculture Canada and the RCMP on a major artery of the city. A prime location in the growing commercial part of the city, it would become a visible anchor for the operation.

The new CBC building at 430 University Ave. became home to operations of the renamed TV station CBCT, and then in 1977, CBCT-FM arrived bringing a full CBC radio station to PEI. An expansion to the building and a major renovation currently underway in 2020 continues to adapt the building to the many platforms maintained by the public broadcaster.

On Island Morning broadcast during August 2013 Ken Bolton then aged 70 indicated that "In 1969, Whit Carter and I hosted a new show on CBC here in Charlottetown called Compass, I think I actually came up with the name."

While the show was a team effort, a later broadcast clarifies the origin of the Compass name and how it came about.

Broadcast on CBC Compass, on April 9^th 2020 was a brief item read by Compass host Louise Martin that honoured R. Gordon Smith at the time of his passing and told of the naming of Compass – the CBC nightly news show for PEI.

"Gordon Smith was the manager hired to start up CBC operations on PEI during the late 1960s and 70s and supervised the construction of the CBC building on University Ave. We asked him about the name of the show and he said, that he was playing with a knife on his desk one day spinning around and thought of the name compass.
Our deepest condolences to his family and friends and we thank him for everything he has done. His legacy will not be forgotten and lives on every night here on Compass."

The obituary of Gordon Smith, (below) was published in The Guardian gives additional background on his lengthy career as a broadcaster and manager.

R. Gordon Smith

Published in The Guardian: April 09, 2020

SMITH, R. Gordon (Major (Ret’d), CD2) R. Gordon Smith, of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, passed away peacefully on April 6th, 2020, at the South Shore Regional Hospital with his children by his side. Born in Saint John, N.B. on October 26, 1923, Gordon was the son of the late Frank P. and Sarah C. (Lacey) Smith. He was a veteran of the Second World War, serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from 1941 to 1945. He continued to serve Canada in the militia from 1954 with 3rd Field Artillery, 2nd Battalion N.S. Highlanders, P.E.I. Regiment, and finally as Militia Area Atlantic Public Affairs Officer, retiring in 1983. Gordon had a remarkable career in broadcasting, which began in 1946 as a weekend fill-in at CFNB in Fredericton while attending the University of New Brunswick. And with that, he had found his calling. Gordon went on to work as an on-air personality, sportscaster, and manager at CFBC Radio in Saint John, N.B. from 1948 until 1962. Continuing his broadcasting journey, he and his family moved to Sydney, N.S. where he ventured into television as program director and on-air host at CJCB-TV. Gordon remained with CJCB-TV until mid 1967, at which time he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Sydney. In 1968 he and his family transferred to Charlottetown, P.E.I. where he oversaw the merger of an affiliate (CFCY-TV) into CBCT, which included being location manager, on-air responsibilities, as well as coordinating the 1972 construction of the CBCT building. Late in 1974 he became a part of regional management team for CBC, based in Halifax, until his retirement in 1986. Gordon was a true Maritimer, having lived in cities and towns in all three provinces: Saint John, Sydney, Charlottetown, Halifax, Mahone Bay, Mader’s Cove, and Bridgewater. Following his retirement, he volunteered his time and expertise, serving on numerous boards and committees in both Mahone Bay and Lunenburg. Gordon’s legacy will be one of a courageous, intelligent man with an exceptional life story, unparalleled integrity, countless friends, and a family that loved him unconditionally. He is remembered and deeply missed by many. Gordon was predeceased by his loving wife of 57 years, Lois (Lodge), as well his siblings: Donald, Ruth Peacock, George, Freda Taylor, Shirley, and Bob. He is survived by his three children: Tony (Lynn Lantz), Sara (Stephen) Harding, and Becky (Bruce) Campbell; grandchildren: Jennifer (Rob Bustos), Christine (Morgan Smith), Geoffrey, Alex (Samantha) Harding, Ryan (Katrina Lapierre) Harding, and Sherri Campbell; great-grandchildren: Ronan Bustos, Jacob and Olivia Harding, and Hugh Smith; sister-in-law Joyce (Moore) Smith; nieces and nephews: Cecilia Bowden, David (Marie) Peacock, Janet (Bob) McKinney, Keith (Sydney) Peacock, Stephen (Brenda) Smith, and Roger (Joanne McFall-Smith); numerous grand-nieces and nephews across Canada; and his dear friend and companion, Wilma Chandler, and her entire family in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Cremation has taken place. There will be no funeral or visitation. A graveside service and celebration of life will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the VON of Lunenburg County—in appreciation of their caring support of Gordon over the years—or an alternate charity of choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Mahone Funeral Home, and condolences may be sent to www.mahonefuneral.ca “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Christmas memories from P.E.I.'s Sleepytown Express 'How special it must have been for people to have Santa come into their home'

By Viola Pruss, CBC News Posted: Dec 19, 2016 8:30 PM AT

The sound crackles and buzzes, but come Christmastime Islander Kathy Large still listens to archived recordings of her mother interviewing Santa Claus.

Betty Rogers Large was the longtime host and producer of The Sleepytown Express, a much-beloved P.E.I. radio show that aired on P.E.I. radio station CFCY from the early 1930s to 1960s.

"In those early days of radio, it was true magic that that sort of thing got on the air," Large said. "It literally came out of thin air and people were just amazed by the new technology."

In an interview with CBC Radio: Mainstreet, Large — an award-winning broadcaster herself — said her mother, who became known as The Storyteller, introduced her young listeners to many characters of her own imagination including the Bubble Fairy and Mickey the Elf.

Recording bed-time stories

The Sleepytown Express started out as a very simple show, said Large.

The Sleepytown Express was a P.E.I. radio show that captured the imagination of thousands of Island children, and was hosted and produced by the late Betty Rogers Large.

(Photo courtesy Prince Edward Island History Blogspot)

Her grandfather, Keith Sinclair Rogers, who founded and operated CFCY, wanted to test his new station — so he ran a microphone to his childrens' bedroom and recorded 12-year-old Betty reading stories to her younger brother.

"She would just read for a long time and he would have a voice track to test the station," Large said.

As the years went on and the station got into proper broadcasting, Rogers Large began telling her own stories on air.

What listeners didn't know was all the characters were played by people working at the station or recruited to fill the part, said Large.

"The elf Mickey at one point was George Scantlebury, who lived across the street from the station," she said.

Talking to Santa

But the highlight of The Sleepytown Express were her mother's annual interviews with Santa, said Large

CFCY had convinced its young audience that the station had a direct link to the North Pole. Every Christmas, her mother would not only talk to Santa but also invite children to send in their telegrams to him.

Letters arrived from as far as the Magdalen Islands, said Large.

The show even heard from people who didn't have electricity and would crank their radio to listen to the show.

"It gives you a sense of how special it must have been for people to have Santa come into their home, maybe hear their name on the radio," Large said.

"At Christmastime, it was on the radio every night after supper, just at the right time for bedtime stories."

The Storyteller

Rogers Large would broadcast for 50 years, eventually publishing a book about her time on the radio, Out of Thin Air.

While she had many roles at the station, being The Storyteller was always her favourite, her daughter said.

"Often people would recognize her by that voice all through her life. And she enjoyed that, she loved the role."

Eager to hear one of these vintage recordings? Click here for some compilations of The Storyteller's Christmas broadcasts.

The audio interview with Kathy Large is first broadcast on CBC Mainstreet is located here.

Atlantic Nocturne by J. Frank Willis (1908-1969)

Atlantic Nocturne

When the grey of the night creeps out of the east
And the salt of the sea smells cold,
And away in the west the evening has died
With a last brief gift of gold —
Then the rolling long-shore hills stretch out,
In an arabesque of blue
And the soft friendly glow of candlelight
In the cottages calls to you
To come and dream — to forget the day
And its cares — and the murm'ring tide
Will take you adventuring down the world
In your chair by the fireside,
Or bring to you with its mist of night,
The mood for quiet thought,
Or sing to you with its low soft voice
A tune that you'd almost forgot.

For there is a verse, or a melody,
Or a thought for everyone
In the Nocturne the old Atlantic sings
To the shore when day is done.

by J. Frank Willis (1908-1969)

The connections of this poem to Prince Edward Island are more personal but because it is not available on the Internet - thought this might be a spot to place a copy and tell the story behind it.

Frank Willis began his career as a Canadian broadcaster in Halifax, N.S. in 1925 and hosted an evening hour of poetry reading to organ music, initially called Harbour Lights and later Atlantic Nocturne.  In 1936, when the Moose River mine disaster occurred, trapping individuals in an abandoned mine 100 kilometres east of Halifax - Willis brought live broadcasting from an emergency to the CBC airwaves - his broadcasts of the rescue over 69 hours set a new place for radio in keeping Canadians connected to unfolding stories of significance. His career eventually took him to Toronto and he remained on the airwaves until 1963.

Atlantic Nocturne, was a signature piece of poetry J. Frank Willis wrote and read on the airwaves. It impressed another broadcaster, Bob Large of CFCY Charlottetown and he kept a printed copy of the poem in his home. At the funeral of Bob Large in 2009, longtime broadcaster Eric MacEwen read Atlantic Nocturne. Poetry is not often heard on radio - except on the weekly syndicated Eric MacEwen Show - thus it was a fitting tribute to another era when the roots of Canadian broadcasting were first being established.

The Sleepytown Express with Betty Rogers Large

The story of The Sleepytown Express a vintage radio show broadcast over CFCY, is best told by The Storyteller herself - the late Betty Rogers Large. Her award winning book, Out of Thin Air is now available in pdf form as part of the Island Lives Collection at UPEI Robertson Library. The book also tells the larger story of broadcasting on Prince Edward Island which began with Betty's father, Keith Sinclair Rogers a boy with an enthusiasm for wireless communications.

Original recordings of Betty's show were saved and rerecorded by her husband, the late Bob Large, and are now available. Some - broadcast near Christmas - featured a direct voice link to Santa Clause at the North Pole reading letters mailed from listeners, showing the amazing power of radio to track down even the most remote characters and create vivid memories for young listeners. To young people amazed that a box made up of tubes and wires could receive messages from around the globe, these radio communications from the North Pole helped fuel their imaginations further.

Bob selected several Christmas broadcasts to include in these recordings. Each are 30 minute compilations in WMA format which should play directly on your computer.

• Sleepytown Express Track 1

Side (A) total time 30 min.

Sleepy Town Express Theme

Three Little Pigs (also letters from listeners)

originally broadcast March 17,1947

Christmas Program (Nov. 29,1946)

The Little Fir Tree

Sleepy Town Express Theme

• Sleepytown Express Track 2

Side (B)Total time 29 min.

How The Glitter Began

Why The Chimes Rang

Peter Rabbit (Broadcast Feb 26,1947)

The Little Red Hen (Broadcast Feb 28,1947)

The Animal Store

Sleepy Town Express Theme
Thanks to the foresight of both Bob and Betty Large these materials were saved. We hope you enjoy this sample of vintage Maritime radio broadcasting.

The Sleepy Town Express theme music

Words and Music by Haven Gillespie

Come on all you kiddies
Put your play things down
Take a trip with me to the jubilee
Down in Sleepy Town
Climb into your nighties close your eyes and rest
Cause we’re going away for a holiday
On the Sleepy Town Express

We’re goin to meet Jack
And we’re goin to meet Jill
They live in a shack on a Punkin Pie Hill
It’s an all night trip on a pillow slip
For the Sleepy Town Express

We’re goin to pick cakes by the lemonade stream
Sail over the lakes full of Honey and Cream
And the Sandman dear is the Engineer
On the Sleepy Town Express

All the little Tots down in SleepyTown
Are wait-in to meet the train
With their Licorice Shoes and Choc-late Hats
And Peppermint Candy Canes
We’ll paddle and splash in the Soda pop Pools
On the Plum pudding beach
Where there ain’t no school
Go to bed don’t wait or you’ll be late
For the Sleepy Town Express

All aboard all aboard for the Sleepy Town Express
Can’t you hear the wheels a click-in on the silver plated rails
While the kitty kats meow “Good-bye” and wave their pretty tails
All the maidens on the milk-y way are shin-in up the moon
Cause they know the Sleepy Town Express is com-in very soon
We will stop and pay a visit to the Woman in the Shoe
And we’ll call on Cinderella and Old Mother Hubbard too
When you hear the wind a toot-y toot-y toot-in down the flue
Then the Sandman will be com-in with his choo-ka-choo-ka-choo
All aboard all aboard for the Sleepy Town Express.

Liner Notes for recording:

Storyteller Betty Rogers Large began broadcasting the Sleepy Town Express in 1925 over CFCY radio, a station that was founded and operated by her father, Keith Sinclair Rogers in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island. Her broadcasting career started at the age of 14 and would continue for 60 years. In retirement she returned to her roots in storytelling with her writing being broadcast over BBC and several revivals at Christmas time of the Story Town Express over local radio stations on PEI.

Broadcasts of the show sparked a demand for copies of the original shows which had survived as transcriptions on soft acetate discs and had been stored in less than ideal conditions for 50 years. Re-recorded onto tape using modern facilities the stories and music recaptures a time when radio was magic. The result of three years work the tape makes available vintage radio and preserves Island history. Out of Thin Air authored by Betty Rogers Large recorded in words and pictures the history of radio on PEI, the tape through voice and music is a fitting companion. In a similar way that Betty and Bob Large had been life companions as husband and wife as well as working partners the production of this tape by Bob Large is a fitting memorial to Betty, known to many Maritimers as “The Storyteller”.

Active in local theatre productions Betty brought her own creativity to her radio productions recruiting local actors or training children as needed. Some of the voices on this tape are the Storyteller herself, announcer Bill Brown, Mary Trainor as the Bubble Fairy, Austin Trainor as Santa, and George Scantlebury as Mickey.

Betty's sister Marianne (Rogers) Morrow, also fulfilled the role of storyteller on the show. During a period in the 1930's when Betty and Bob lived in Sackville, NB, Marianne kept the show going until Betty returned to the role again.

- Note in 2016. CBC Radio conducted an excellent interview with Betty's daughter Kathy Large, herself a retired CBC broadcaster, about Betty's Sleepy Town Express broadcasts. The news article remains on the CBC site and a recording of the interview is accessible on Soundcloud.

Broadcast pioneer brought television to PEI in 1956

Broadcast pioneer brought television to PEI in 1956
Published in The Globe and Mail
By -- ALLISON LAWLOR
PUBLISHED JULY 1, 2009
UPDATED APRIL 28, 2018

Robert F. Large (1918-2009)

Robert (Bob) Large may have been the man who introduced television to Prince Edward Island in 1956 at a time when television sets didn't even exist in island homes, but it was radio that truly captured his heart and mind.

Mr. Large died in Charlottetown on June 4, 2009, from lymphoma. He was 90.

"A portion of every day was spent listening to radio," said his daughter Kathy Large. "He had a true appreciation of talk radio. Music wasn't what he turned the radio on for."

In 1936, Mr. Large landed his dream job. At 18 he walked into the office of CFCY in Charlottetown and was hired as an announcer and operator. He had already been dabbling in the medium. At 14, he built a one-watt radio station on which he played lively band concerts for family and neighbours in a three-block radius around his Charlottetown home.

At CFCY he not only launched his broadcasting career, but fell in love with the boss's daughter, Betty Rogers, a fellow broadcaster known as "the storyteller." In 1924, her father Colonel Keith Rogers had started the station - which adopted the radio slogan "the friendly voice of the Maritimes"- from his living room.

"It was a unique radio station. It was a family affair," said veteran broadcaster Eric MacEwan, whose syndicated radio show has been running on CFCY for 35 years.

He married Betty in 1939, and the couple moved to Sackville, N.B., where Mr. Large got a job with the CBC. But their love of PEI soon brought them back to CFCY, where Mr. Large became part of The Early Birds radio program.

The five-member radio host team, which did everything from play music to recite poetry on air, became widely popular throughout the Maritimes. The show's signature theme, "Keep on smiling ... cause when you're smiling the whole world smiles with you," captured the enthusiasm of the youthful group. They developed a loyal audience and honoured them whenever they could.

On one occasion they travelled to New Glasgow, N.S., where they broadcast from the bedside of a dedicated listener who couldn't leave her home. Another time they played music for a wedding taking place at listener's home in rural Nova Scotia.

"I would be so grateful to our favourite radio station, CFCY, if you would play the Wedding March for me on the air," the listener wrote. The hosts assured the bride-to-be that at the precise time, on the correct date her wish would be carried out. They were true to their word. And while the Wedding March played, they let curious listeners know what was happening.

Born in Charlottetown on Aug. 21, 1918, Mr. Large lived and worked on the same block of Queen Street, just down from City Hall, most of his adult life. Living so close to work allowed him to duck out at noon every day for lunch, followed by a quick nap before heading back to the station.

After starting off on air, Mr. Large moved into management at CFCY, eventually becoming manager and program director. Mr. MacEwan remembers walking into the station in the early 1960s as a brash 17-year-old with a dream of becoming a rock 'n' roll disc jockey. Mr. Large gave him a job, and along with it some advice that stuck. "You have to be versatile," he told the young radio hopeful, encouraging him to learn to write everything from news to commercials.

With his radio on at all times - even when he was out of the office - Mr. Large had no patience for sloppiness or carelessness on air.

Bob Large at Radio Station CFCY on Kent St. in Charlottetown

"He was quite strict," Mr. MacEwan said. "He didn't suffer fools lightly."

In the early days, Mr. MacEwan worked the Sunday morning shift. His job was to ensure that the religious programming coming in from the United States was running smoothly on air.

Not interested in the preaching, one day he decided to duck out of the studio while the tape ran to grab a coffee and cinnamon bun at a nearby coffee shop. While he was out the tape broke and all that could be heard over the airwaves was the flipping sound of the broken tape. Mr. Large flew into the studio in a rage. He didn't fire Mr. MacEwan, but came close.

"He felt a tremendous responsibility communicating to the public," Mr. MacEwan said.

Mr. Large was station manager when CFCY-TV went on air in 1956. The initial dream of bringing television to PEI had started with Col. Rogers. But in 1954, he died suddenly of a heart attack, just three days after celebrating his 62nd birthday. At the time of his death, Mr. Large had already done close to five years of feasibility studies on the idea.

"Dad had to pick up the pieces," said Kathy Large. "A lot of people said 'you can't do that in PEI.' It was such an ambitious project."

But Mr. Large had made his decision. He had thoroughly studied the idea and knew his good relationship with General Electric meant he could buy equipment at a decent price. After investing more than $250,000 and constructing a new tower, located a few kilometres west of Charlottetown that could direct power along the entire length of PEI and toward Nova Scotia, Channel 13 went on the air on July 1, 1956.

Staff at the station had to learn quickly how to work in a visual medium. Money was in short supply in the early days. "No money for sets. Okay? No kitchen cupboards. Is that understood?" Mr. Large told Henry Purdy, the station's first full-time artist, just before Helen Herring, who had done women's shows on radio for years, was to be launched into television with her show Today at Home .

After the show, Mr. Large confronted Mr. Purdy, Betty Rogers Large recounts in her book (co-written with Tom Crothers) Out of Thin Air: The Story of CFCY 'The Friendly Voice of the Maritimes.'

CFCY-TV goes on the air

"I thought I told you there were to be no sets, no cupboards," Mr. Large said to Mr. Henry, who insisted that there weren't. But Mr. Large said he saw them and wanted an explanation. "What you saw was a painting," Mr. Henry said. Still not believing him, Mr. Large ran back to the studio to confirm.

CFCY-TV, which was sold to the CBC in 1969, helped develop several talented broadcasters over the years, including former political commentator Senator Mike Duffy. Having the best collection of records in town, Mr. Duffy started at the station with a Saturday afternoon teen dance party. Don Messer and His Islanders moved from radio to television at CFCY before they were propelled to national fame on the CBC.

"He was a visionary in so many ways," Mr. MacEwan said.

Until his death, a beloved radio rested at his bedside. With his eclectic tastes, Mr. Large listened to everything from BBC newscasts on shortwave to New York City traffic reports.

Mr. Large leaves his daughters Brenda, Daphne and Kathy; five grandchildren; and brother Bill. He was predeceased by his wife Betty.

Special to The Globe and Mail

© Copyright 2020 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved.

351 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON Canada, M5A 0N1

Phillip Crawley, Publisher

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.E.I. television pioneer dies at 90
The Guardian -- SaltWire Network
Published: Jun 15, 2010 at midnight
Updated: Sep 30, 2017 at 3:48 a.m.

The man who first introduced television to Prince Edward Island in 1956 died Thursday at his home in Charlottetown. Robert F. Large was 90.

He was station manager and part of the family that introduced TV to the province in 1956 when CFCY-TV first went on air.

While most of his contemporaries in the radio field warned of the high risks involved with the unproven form of new media which had no established track record in generating revenue, Large, his wife Betty, along with family support forged ahead and built the Island's first TV station at a time when television sets did not even exist in Island homes.

The initial dream of bringing TV to P.E.I. had begun with Betty's father, Col. Keith Rogers, the owner of CFCY, who had introduced radio to the Island decades before.

Large's career began at the age of 18 as an announcer and operator in 1936 when he joined the staff of CFCY.

At the station he became close friends with Betty Rogers, a fellow broadcaster known as The Storyteller, and, in 1939, they married and settled in Sackville, N.B., where he held a staff position with CBC.

Their love of the Island soon brought them back to CFCY where Large would eventually become station manager.

Large was the last surviving member of the "Early Birds'', a five-member radio hosting team that was widely popular throughout the Maritimes.

Based on a format now known as "talk radio," the five men kept Islanders entertained and informed. Their signature theme on CFCY, "Keep on smiling . . . cause when you're smiling the whole world smiles with you,'' captured the youthful enthusiasm of the lively team.

After CFCY was sold to Maritime Broadcasting and CFCY-TV to the CBC, Bob and Betty Large enjoyed an active retirement, with travel being a regular part of their annual cycle until Betty's death in 1990.

A family spanning three generations of broadcasters, Bob and Betty Large saw two of their daughters follow in their footsteps with successful media careers.

Large's fascination with all forms of broadcast media continued in retirement with a special interest in international radio stations.

His remains are resting at the Belvedere Funeral Home. There will be no visitation by family request. A memorial service will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. from the Kirk of St. James.