May 6 2014 · 0 Comments
By Angelica Blenich
Your morning drive to work that first cup of coffee and the reeve’s report will no longer be the same as a familiar voice that floated across the radio airwaves during the early morning hours has broadcasted for the last time.
On May 2 Canoe FM radio host Mike Jaycock received a standing ovation from dozens of community members who came out to thank the man who has been the narrator of their mornings for the past decade.
Last week Jaycock 72 officially announced he would be stepping down from his morning spot on Canoe FM for health reasons after being with the radio station for 10 and a half years.
“I think it is a happy day for you perhaps but a sad day for the community” said Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey. “I don’t know of anyone that has had an impact like you have on a volunteer basis.”
Emotions and tears filled the room as Jaycock hosted his last morning show with co-hosts Lorraine McNeil and Shawn Chamberlin.
Tributes and gifts piled up signifying the admiration for the Eagle Lake resident who gave thousands of hours of his time simply because he believed in community radio.
Jaycock initially decided to get involved with the morning show following an ad he saw in the Haliburton County Echo.
“I had been a rock n roll disc jockey in my younger years and about a year before I planned to retire I saw in the Echo (we got it by mail in Lynden Ont.) that a radio station was going to open in a year’s time” he told the paper in an email. “I contacted Dave Sovereign (the program director to be) and asked if they would be interested when Jane and I moved to Eagle Lake to ‘retire.’ We stayed in touch and then when we moved up I went in .. and Dave gave me a big welcome and the next week (October 2003) I went on the air. I remembered how much fun I had as a young man and thought it would be good fun again … I was right. In fact … this was the best radio I’ve ever been involved with.”
Jaycock estimates that since then he has donated more than 9000 volunteer hours and travelled more than 70000 kilometres for Canoe FM.
But it’s all been worth it and his final farewell was a further testament to that.
“What I loved about it was not just that people had kind things to say but also that it was further proof of the power and importance of community radio and the way it can touch people support organizations and communicate for the broader good of the communities we serve. I was privileged to be long-serving part of that effort.”
Fearrey thanked Jaycock for being kind to the local politicians and that on behalf of all the reeves “you’re our friend forever.”
“There used to be a saying when you come to Haliburton you have to be here four or five years before you’re accepted” said Fearrey. “You broke the rule. You were accepted right away.”
Representative of many community organizations such as the Haliburton County Folk Society Haliburton Lions Club Highlands Little Theatre Haliburton Rotary Club Highlands Summer Festival and more thanked Jaycock for supporting and promoting their causes and initiatives.
Canoe FM station coordinator Roxanne Casey was not surprised in the least at the turnout for Jaycock’s final morning show.
“This isn’t goodbye … this is not a wake. It’s just that Mike is leaving our morning show” she said. “You’ve done an amazing job over the past many years as our morning host … It’s been a true pleasure to work with you over the years.”
Apart from being the morning host Jaycock has served on the community radio station’s board of directors hosted workshops and helped in many ways said Casey.
“The support that we get from Mike Jaycock is just incredible” she said. “I know that this is just we’ll see you later because you’re coming back.”
Jaycock thanked all those who have been on his show over the years as well as his co-hosts Chamberlin and McNeil whom he said were a great start to his day.
“Thank you so much for your contributions” he said. “We have as much fun off the air as we do on the air … there is a lot of laughter that goes on.”
The host also thanked the listeners for their time and for being “who they are.”
“Because of the kind of people we have in the Haliburton Highlands it made it easy to create a one-to-one relationship with our listeners” he said. “I consider it an honour and a privilege … thanks to all of you who came out today this has been an absolute joy and a wonderful way to wrap things up.”
Jaycock plans to use his morning free time to try to get a bit more sleep take care of his health catch up on outside projects try to do more pottery and look for new opportunities in voice work.
And yes he still hopes to do a weekly program on Canoe FM.
