Matt Cundill
May 25, 20152 min
Updated: Dec 11, 2019
It took almost a half year to happen, but Power 97 got the send off it deserved.
Saturday night, an amazing collection of Canadian radio talent from Power 97's past, piled into a Winnipeg bar to share old stories and in some cases, meet for the first time. Leave it to great radio people to find a way to have a radio station promotion for a station that has not existed for a year. What ensued were good times, a few drinks, a lot of laughs. Also the ability to celebrate hard work, success and acknowledge one another's contribution.
Power 97 came of age in the late 90's and well into the 2000's. Over the course of its existence, the Winnipeg rock station made headlines with outlandish promotions and irreverent on air personalities. You remember the time a woman volunteered to ride naked down Portage Avenue? Or the time the morning man became the 34th greatest Canadian?
Not surprisingly, Hal Anderson and Jim Jones were apart in both those promotions and outlasted 4 program directors throughout their tenures at Power 97.
The passion of those who built the radio station into one of Canada's finest, inspired the Saturday night send off. Chris Lynch who served as music director for several years, and former PD Christian Hall, (2002-2004) came up with the idea for the Power 97 Wake. It did not take more than a Facebook invite to have a contingent from Alberta, (Lochlin Cross, Chris Lynch, Graham Mosimann and Christian Hall) and Toronto, (Steve Parsons and Fearless Fred) arrive in Winnipeg for the weekend.
Over the years, the station churned out immaculate on air talent, programmers, imaging producers, engineers, promotions people, sales and support staff, and eventually a website and interactive director.
Any great Power 97 event always needs Dan Harper photography - his pictures tell the tale: It was the people who were apart of Power 97 that made it great.