1

Welcome logistics of the evening: presentation, tour - Washrooms, etc. - Finish by 8/8:30pm

Canadas oldest public broadcaster: went on air Nov. 21, 1927, broadcasting from U of A Campus All about rural adult education (all the rage at that time) and with founding women: reducing isolation among rural women

For way more information: the book and the DVD

From the beginning, volunteers were the backbone of CKUA: people wanted to get radio out to the people, and they did it on their own time and dime!

4 With a $7,000 grant, a second hand piano and burlap sacks from a local brewery for soundproofing, CKUA went on air. At the beginning: broadcasting courses twice a week, for a total of 7.75 hours, on the 580 AM frequency that remained ours until today. Many firsts at CKUA,

5 Including the first live broadcast of a Canadian football game on October 13, 1928 between the U of A Golden Bears and the Edmonton Eskimos

6 From broadcasting courses, CKUA moved to entertainment: music, live theatre

7 Even teaching folk dancing to children: found in the move, this is Susans Gavotte, so now we know how they did it!

8 A lot of radio back then was live, including performances by (in this case) the Hawaii Singers. Were keeping the tradition alive and well with our very own CKUA Ukele Band, which has performed at various events in the building since we moved.

9 CKUA has a long tradition of associations with well known artists: seen here, now Senator Tommy Banks back when his hair wasnt even going gray yet. We also support new talent: many kids got some of their first air time on CKUA, and youll hear them acknowledge that on air Corb Lund, Jann Arden, K.D. Lang We continue that tradition with programs like Alberta Backstage 85 years has obviously seen a lot of transitioning of technology as well From not quite but close to binder twine, we had turntables for our records (and youll see some really ancient ones in the Library)

1 0

1 1 To reel to reel in the 70s To our current truly state of the art equipment in this building (which youll see on the 2nd floor) But we still have those turntables so we can literally keep spinning tunes!

1 2

Another first for CKUA was to be the first online station way back in 1996 Since then, we are constantly trying to improve our online product We encourage you to spend some time with the web site, exploring whats there and of course listening to CKUA online!

Volunteer features on the web site - Volunteer section - Volunteer Blog in development

1 3

After it got off the ground, CKUA was supported by Government, through Education and then ACCESS. On air fundraisers started in the 1980s, as govt started to re-think its funding. By 1994, Govt of Alberta decided it didnt want to be in the radio business anymore and set up a board of directors, which it gave $5M, and a mandate to create sustainable community radio. Unfortunately, that didnt happen by March 1997 the $ was gone and at midnight on March 20, the DJ signed off with Well be right back, after this Followed by dead air

1 4

This marked one of the biggest turning points in the history of CKUA Listeners mobilized: money raised in communities, a Touch the Transmitter Tour that saw literally buckets of $ coming back to Edmonton

1 5 And the first of what are now our twice a year on air fundraisers Listeners knew they had to pledge $, and they sure did Within minutes of going live to raise funds, the phone lines crashed

1 6 When all was said and done, wed raised $1M and we were back on the air, where we have stayed ever since!

1 7

So twice a year October and April a major fundraising effort happens at CKUA Our goal is now usually about $500,000 each time Announcers fly and drive in to be on air in the studio And we are in the building from 6 am to midnight for 10 straight days

1 8 Fundraisers are when volunteers play a huge role in the life of CKUA: they want to raise that $, and the pledge room is always full of energy

1 9 And volunteers also come from all over the province to help with fundraisers: Medicine Hat, Calgary, Red Deer, and this is our crew from Athabasca (with one Slave Laker thrown in!)

2 0

Tho we loved our old building dearly, it became clear that we needed to move The roof leaked The place was filled with heaven knows what toxic substances The pledge room was 2 flights up from the 4th floor

2 1

And we were back to binder twine again: trying to maintain equipment that had seen better days (and thats an underestimate) We looked and we looked and we looked and finally bought this building (which is a whole other story called The Capital Campaign) But for volunteer purposes, the next important thing is

2 2 THE MOVE Starting in the summer of 2012, we started shoveling out the basement Building mountains of boxes

2 3 Some of it in the dark and dungey basement: no stacking either, because we didnt want to damage anything

2 4 Mountains of boxes and lots of sorting and shredding

2 5 And packing and more packing Volunteers came in night after night, in teams of more than 20 sometimes, to get it all done before moving day October 19

2 6 To our new location at the rebuilt Alberta Hotel, an architectural jewel right downtown where we belong!

2 7 While we were busy down at 105 and Jasper, the builders were busy here And while it was still a construction zone, we couldnt resist in the summer of 2012

2 8 Getting John Worthington the Old Disc Jockey all gussied up in his fanciest duds

2 9 Driving him in style down Jasper Avenue

3 0 And delivering the first (of about a zillion) LPs to the new building, where honoured guests gathered and City of Edmonton and Government of Alberta dignitaries wished us well (and gave us $)

3 1

So here we are: in our lovely new building that we are busy raising $ to pay for (you saw the money chart in the lobby: Capital Campaign again) True to form, and loving a challenge, we closed up shop on Friday, Oct. 19 and the movers arrived to load up and move us on Monday

3 2 So we could have our Fall 2012 Fundraiser starting on Thursday

3 3

Volunteers young and old have been with us every step of our CKUA journey When we say we couldnt do it without you we mean it! By now, volunteer hours must measure in the millions You listen, you give (many of you) financially and of your time

3 4 AND WE ARE SO GLAD TO WELCOME YOU TONIGHT AS NEW VOLUNTEERS TO THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE MIGHTY CKUA! HAVE FUN!