Bryan Thomsom
Submitted: January 1, 2013
I was a staffer there for a few years - I think around 1965 through 1970.
I was a studio cameraman and then studio director/lighting director (as such as we had one) after the previous one - Ron Moon - left. I worked with staffers such as Hub Beaudry, Tom Pace and our nightly news anchor - Mike Connor. In the control room were many of the early pioneers of video tape TV including my brother-in-law at the time - Bob Hartwell - who migrated to the Mid-Canada group after he left CKSO. Hank Pell for many years was the set designer until he quit.
I grew up with and went to school with Don Plaunt and his sister who were the children of W.B. Plaunt, Sr. - one of the original owners. We were students at Alexander Public School.
In addition to the above there were many staffers with whom I worked and whose names are lost to me for the moment.
Major advertisers were Eaton's, Seymour Men's Clothing, INCO of course, Silvermen's Department Store, Plaza 69 Pharmacy among some I can remember. We produced contract shows like the early version of Crossroads - a religious show which eventually went to CHCH when CKSO declined to go to colour transmission. In addition we produced many local public affairs shows and children's shows like Kiddies Korner, etc.
One of the fondest memories I have of my time there is meeting luminaries like Tommy Douglas, George Hees, Patrick Watson, Rene Levesque, Premier Frost of Ontario, John Diefenbaker, Anne Murray and many, many other politicians and celebs who visited the studio for interviews - mostly done by Tom Pace (who went on to become Program Director for TV Ontario). As we had the monopoly on TV broadcasting in the region these folks had to come to the studio (we had no mobile TV capability back then) and as a consequence I had them to myself along with the rest of the studio crew before and after taping or live broadcast. Tommy Douglas stands out in my memory because he actually took the time to talk to us and genuinely seemed interested in our jobs and our views.
