Forbes on Six

[jon]

RadioWest.ca member Marty Forbes now has a regular column in the Edmonton Sun. On Page 6, just like Graham Hicks of "Hicks on Six" fame.

I'll let Marty tell his own story from the first two columns published so far.

[jon]

Edmontonians was city gem
By MARTY FORBES, The Edmonton Sun
Tuesday, July 13th

Last month, it was sad to note that Sharon MacLean's legendary Edmontonians magazine folded.

This local gem filled an important niche in our city for several decades, and I very proudly played a part in covering the city's great people and events for the past two years.

First off, I'd like to send my very best wishes to Sharon and my fellow columnists, and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

I truly enjoyed working with all of you and you should be proud of the work we did for this city.

Next, often when one door closes in life, another one opens, and I'm very happy to report that my good pals at the Edmonton Sun have just picked up my column, and in fact will now be working me like a mule and doubling the workload to twice a month.

So every second Monday, you'll now see my bright and chipper face gracing Page 6 of this paper with interesting tidbits of information from our city streets in a similar style to what I did forEdmontonians.

What will the column be like?

Well, I like to talk to the behind-the-scenes people as well as focus on feature interviews and columns about the many high-profile folks in Edmonton that make our city tick.

I talk to interesting people on our streets all the time, and I'm constantly involved in many great civic projects, mainly in the public service, and I travel a great deal bumping into Albertans all over the globe, so I'll be bringing their stories to you in the Sun as well.

Plus, I'll keep you up to date on the ever-changing media world.

After 40 years of running radio stations for a living, I thought I'd move into the vibrant world of print to round out my media career, so here we go!

So if you bump into me on the street and have something you'd like to share with our readers, please feel free to pass it along: mforbes07@shaw.ca.

My first piece of business is to say congrats and best wishes to outgoing Sun Media bigwig Craig Martin, who exits the building this week.

Not only has Craig had a big influence at the Sun,but he also did lots of wonderful things behind the scenes, including his work on the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and the United Way.

I call Craig not only a peer and a friend but my "neighbour" as we are in the same complex in Arizona.

I know he has lots of plans for travel and golf with his lovely wife Janet, and I wish them both nothing but straight drives and short putts. See you in the desert, my friend!

Next, I don't know why they're keeping it a secret but you'll now find some Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream shops inside select Tim Hortons in Edmonton. There's one in Hawkstone near Sobeys in the west end.

Cold Stone is huge in the States and certainly a premium product. Loaded with fruit and great names, they come in sizes -- Like it, Love it and Gotta Have it. Make sure you tip the server to get a free "song" too.

I know summer is construction season in Edmonton, but I don't think I've ever seen the roads in this city in such upheaval.

If it isn't new bridges or new surfaces, it's grinding down the old roads for resurfacing.

It's virtually impossible not to do major tire damage in Edmonton. I just can't wait for the day they finally declare the city totally "finished."

Finally, we're into festival season again. The Edmonton Folk Music Festival looks superlative, and my all-time favourite event is Cam Hayden's Labatt Blues Fest in Hawrelak Park during the third week of August.

If you get a chance to attend these events you'll see how magic they both can be. I pray that the sun gods shine deeply on both events.

I'll see you at the top of the hill at Blues Fest, groovin' to Monkey Junk with my big cigar in hand.

Lastly, I'm going to try to give you an Edmontonians Elsewhere update from time to time, where I track down city folk who have either moved on to a different city or are working elsewhere in the world, to get brief updates from these people.

There are some high-profile people working around the globe that still call our wonderful city home, so I hope to send along their update and a hello from them as well.

See you in a couple of weeks.

[jon]

Where are the future leaders?
By MARTY FORBES, The Edmonton Sun
Tuesday, July 27th

The one thing that vaults a city from good to great is its people, and over the past few months several great Edmontonians have served notice that they are retiring from their high-profile gigs here in town.

Dr. Sam Shaw, Dr. Paul Byrne, Wayne Shillington, Gord Whitehead, Ken Knowles and people like theSun's own Graham Hicks not only do great jobs in their chosen fields but they also volunteer and mentor for thousands of hours every year in the community.

First off, please accept my best wishes to each. I worked with all of these gents in the public service over the years at one time or another and "millions of dollars" were raised in various communities to make life better for all of us thanks to these people.

All are moving on soon and I wonder "who is going to fill their shoes?"

The part that scares me is that I'm not seeing a huge list of young dynamic people stepping in to fill many of the big jobs and needs in the community.

Now I'm sure the next generation of leaders are out there somewhere. I'd love to hear from you if you know such a dynamo so that we could start recognizing these folks in the media.

We need dreamers, builders, rule breakers, risk takers and leaders to take this city up yet another notch towards greatness. The mantle is officially being tossed.

NEW SHOW

Winer? Terry David Mulligan has been a radio announcer, TV host, and movie actor during his multimedia career across Canada for many years. Now he's a wino.

I'd better explain. As well as his excellent Saturday afternoon CKUA show Mulligans Stew he is now hosting The Ta ting Room,beginning Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. also on CKUA.

I used to run the Tasting Room on Astral here in the city a year back and it is definitely an interesting and fun show featuring some very high-profile stars.

If you want to know about wine without becoming a sommelier (wine steward), then give it a listen. More information is at http://www.tastingroomradio.com.

You'll probably bump into Terry David Mulligan here at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival or at the next CKUA fundraiser.

SNOWBIRD FANS

Hockey already? It looks like an interesting and exciting NHL season is shaping up for our young Edmonton Oilers. But it's always good to have a "backup team" to cheer for just in case it takes awhile to get the boys in high gear.

For me it's the Phoenix Coyotes. Fifty or so other snowbirds and I will be hopping a plane during the first week in October to help the 'Yotes open the season in Prague in the Czech Republic.

We'll attend a few functions with the team, cheer at two games against the Boston Bruins, and go on guided tours of this most historic city. I'll fill you in on how it went when I get back. Work work work!

'SHOPPING VILLAGE'

Endless construction. Boy, when you drive around Edmonton it's amazing just how much construction is underway.

One new development well underway in the southwest now is the Currents Mall in Windermere near Terwillager and the Anthony Henday.

This will be our first "shopping village," a concept you see often down south. There are big box stores on the outside and soon you'll see a single-storey shopping complex on the inside section that will look like downtown Banff with lots of strolling areas.

It will feature a new Keg, Future Shop and all the major banks. A new theatre/entertainment complex is in the plans and lots of stores targeted towards women shoppers. It's within walking distance of the new Forbes abode so we look forward to its opening, which will likely be next spring.

RADIO WAVES

More radio coming? The changes in media are never ending and we have yet another new radio station getting set to launch in Edmonton.

Harvard Broadcasting is the last of the stations licensed by the CRTC two years ago, and it is expected on the air in the next few months.

I haven't seen any confirmation of the format to date but will continue to check.

There are now no workable frequencies available, so this should be the last blitz of new stations for some time. I think.

Also the massive Canwest Global team will soon be separated with the newspapers run by a group out of Toronto (they are now known as Post Media) while the television stations will shortly be operated by Alberta's Shaw Communications. No word on what they have planned yet either. I'll touch base with Global GM Tim Spelliscy shortly as well.

MALL UPDATE

I noticed while driving past West Edmonton Mall that Bourbon Street has been renamed Entertainment Alley. Good call and nice update. P.S. to West Edmonton Mall: offer free Wi-fi to your customers. It's now a business expectation.

DINO ALERT

Good luck to the Jurassic Forest and Learning Centre folks on their grand opening northeast of Edmonton near Gibbons shortly. More on this new attraction later.

EDMONTONIANS ELSEWHERE

Our good friend Dawn Chubai checked in recently from the West Coast, and Dawn tells me that she is now in her seventh year with Breakfast TV on CITY in Vancouver. She continues to sing jazz and you'll also see her in the latest Twilight movie.

She plays a CNN reporter in Eclipse and says there's a funny story about that. CNN asked to review her audition tape and grant approval for her since the character would be associated with CNN.

THE TREE IS BACK

Finally, I'm working once again with the highly talented John Cameron and his great team on the Edmonton

Singing Christmas Tree event, which returns to the Jube again in December.

There will be six shows this year and John tells me some large star power is being invited this time around to take it up to yet another new level.

Profits from the event go to help the building of the Jerry Forbes Centre for Community Spirit, which will also house Santas Anonymous. More later in the fall.

Marty Forbes is president of Radiowise Inc. and the former VP/GM of Astral Media Edmonton. He can be reached at Mforbes07@shaw.ca

[sandclan]

Congrats Marty! Best of luck with your new column!