: VOL, LUI — No, 2 THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1960 TERRACE, Evitish.. Columbia : ene SUPPLY CENTRE FOR cOLUME! CIELULOSE _ “OnLy 40 MILES: FROM, KITIMAT Terrace-Hitimat Radio Station gu. ee aap on: aitfist time Monday. THIS HEADLINE fram the August 4, 1960 issue of The Terrace Omineca Herald announces the arrival of the area's first private commercial radio statian, founded through the efforts of J. Fred Cancer claims J. Fred Weber Weber who passed away last week. Stations followed in Kitimat and in Prince Rupert. Broadcasting took a leap forward in 1962 when Weber's Skeena Broadcasters, brought TV to the area. Broadcasting pioneer dies THE MAN who created the Tall Totem network, | bringing television to the northwest through trans- milters placed on rugged mountain tops, has died. ' J. Fred Weber died May 7 in West Vancouver of pneumonia after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 80. Born in 1922 in Young- stown, Alberta, John Fre- derick Weber was just 18 when he joined CKOV Radio in Kelowna in 1940. That was followed by stints in Quesnel, and in Kamloops where he honed his entrepreneurial and broadcast skills first in radio and then in TV. In 1960, Weber moved to Terrace, founded Skee- na Broadcasters Ltd. with a group of local business- people and put CFTK Radio on the air on August 1 of that year. “This is the end of iso- lation in Terrace,” said then-Skeena Broadcasters president George Mc- Adams. “Before us came the B.C. Power Company, B.C. Telephone, the daily train service, daily air service, our weekly newspaper, _hospital, doctor and dental facilities and then came our neighbours, Kitimat. Now a radio station. Ter- race need no more have that feeling of isolation.” ‘Skeena Broadcasters soon expanded to include AM statipns in Kitimat and Prince’ Rupert. Weber’s biggest chal- lenge .was, to provide tele- vision signals to the scat- tered communities of the northwest. Besides his business skills, Weber was also an engineer and designed a transmitter in a piece of plastic pipe that could be installed on mountain tops. Skeena Broadcasters got permission to go to air with its television signal in June 1962. In that time before sa- tellite signals, Skeena Broadcasters maintained the largest one-area broad- cast system in the world, reaching east to the Burns Lake area and north to the Alaska Panhandle. Those were not easy days, as the only access to the propane-powered equipment was by helicop- ter and the northwest’s often unpredictable weath- er made things difficult. It was also a time be- fore live TV signals could be received from the south, meaning shows, in- cluding hockey games, were taped and flown up for re-broadcast. Weber helped finance his TV network by selling $25 gift certificates to be applied against the pur- chase of television sets from sponsors. - The sponsor would re- ceive dollar for dollar ad- vertising when the certifi- ‘gates were redeemed through Skeena Broadcas- ters. The next task of Skeena Broadcasters was to pro- vide cable television, first in Prince. Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat in the 1970s and then elsewhere in the next decade, By the 1980s, Skeena Broadcasters was an es- ‘tablished network of TV, cable and AM stations. In 1983, the company received an FM licence for a station to stretch throughout the northwest. As a mark of honour, the call sign, CJFW-FM, matched Weber’s inilials _ JFW. Weber was also a prop- erty developer, owning through various companies the buildings and land oc- cupied by some of the broadcast facilities as well as other commercial loca- tions around the northwest. The tandem aspect of the business, broadcast and real estate, brought about a mame change to the Okanagan-Skeena Group which also reflected the company’s growing geographic presence in B.C. It also became a public company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Weber also found time for politics, serving as mayor of Terrace in 1968- 1969. He counted Social Cre- dit cabinet minister Grace McCarthy and her hus- band, Ray, as friends as well as political and busi- ness associates. Weber was also a Ro- tarian, a regional Boy Scouls commissioner, sat on the local hospital soc- iety board and was the first chairman of the Open Learning Agency, which is tied to the Knowledge Network. He also worked on the early operations of the J. Fred Weber Skytrain rapid transit sys- tem. In 1988, Weber was in- ducted into the Canadian Associalion of Broadcas- Maria Botelho is the Grand Prize Winner of the Terrace Standard’s ~onated by IMAGES BY KARLENE Consisting of a full body massage, facial, manicure, shampoo, hair-cut & blow-dry. Maria is shown here with Terrace Standard advertising manager, Brian Lindenbach. expend yor horizons “Us o» SUIMMEr Executive Program Essentials of Conflict Management From Resolution to Transformation: Harnessing the Power of Change Risk Assessment for Business Start-ups Essentials of Project Management Professional Development Macromedia Dreamweaver I Macromedia Dreamweaver II Adobe Photoshop I Adobe Photashop II Unix Operating System I & IE Oracle Workforce Development & Certification Discoverer for the End User Oracle 8i Intro to SQL & PL/SQL Courses willbe delivered at the University of Northern British Columbia's Prince George campus. Detailed info an courses, dates, fees, accommodation, and registration Is available online or by calling 250.960.5520. Oracle Database Architecture & Administration “ www.res-unbc.ca/summercourses ©. UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA ters Hal! of Fame. He is survived by Evva (McKenzie), his wife of 53 years, three sons and four grandchildren. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - A15 Canadian Community Newspapers Association wCNA Newspapers tell the local story TERRACE ART GALLERY... TERRACE ArT GaueRY... TERRACE ART GAILERY,., LZ.e Tetrace Art Association The Terrace Art Association Annual General Meeting Monday, May 27th, 2002 @ 7:00 pm in Terrace Art Gallery Everbody is welcome to attend! - FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 638-8884 *- Centennial Chrisfian Scho of presents “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien Produced with special permission by HarperCollins May 30, 31, 2002 at 7 p.m R.E.M. Lee Theatre Tickets $10 Adults - $6 Students & Seniors Tickets sold at Centennial Christian School 3608 Sparks Street or the Skeena Mall May 10 &17 5:00-9:00 p.m, Skeenc Mall May 11 &18 9:30-6: 00p P. m For information, call 635-6173. Joanne Thomson "EMbRACING JOANNE THOMSON paints IN ihe tradition of Canadian Landscape palating and Joe Mandur Jr carves, draws avd paints in the tradition of Northwest Native Desicn. Joanne and foe present theta RECENT. Individual work and introduce thelr collaborative work. Contact Emily Carr House Fara selec of classes and Ivlormation sessions (250) BBS-SBAB ade te sfte The aralsrs'will be-In residence for such of the summer, Come and visir, Show dates and Times: July August 2%, 2002 10 am — 5 pm dally at Emily Carr House ‘ 207 Government Si. Vicronia, B. C, Canada VOV 2K8 Joe Mandur jr. Spirit SPIRIT land and spirit in ART www joannethomsen.com ¢ The B.C. Liberals promised to protect public education. But they are defunding our schools by about $200 million next year! The cuts will mean more crowded classrooms, less’ support for students and an estimated 2,000 fewer, teachers working with B.C. students. os That's the equivalent of losing every single teacher from Prince George, Campbell River and the entire: Coast Mountains school district combined. This assault on education hurts our students and c our - communities. Nobody voted for that! To find out how you can speak up for public education, contact t % Terrace District Teachers’ Union at 635-4659. . . Or go to www. bett.ca/Action/ +, Public education : P Because we think the world of o our children REE nd$ 2 4, * Based on a (3) year 46 month 24 hour moritaring agreement at $24.95 plus GST per month, At the end of the term you own the system. OAC Only Home Security Package. 95 for 24 hr ULC /mo, monitoring" Local People, Local Service Providing Security & Protection since 1818 (Chubb Security Systems |, 4443 Keith Avenue, Terrace, BC 638-8321. www.chubbsecurity.com