In 1971, on the 11th hour of 11th day of the 11th month, Bill Phillips spoke the immortal words on-air "Lest we forget. This is CHQM AM & FM in Vancouver." This was a 5-10 second pause between the two sentences, and five seconds of dead air can sound like an eternity. Bill passed away August 24, 2017, at the age of 83.
In 1976, Clarence (Casey) Wells died in Chilliwack at age 74. In 1927, he had co-founded CHWK, "the smallest commercial radio station in North America", according to an American trade paper of the period. First licensed briefly as 5CG, CHWK used a World War One submarine transmitter, with 5 watts on 1210 KHz. By 1930, the Depression had already begun, but the station was selling commercials for 80 cents. Not bad, when you consider that CJAT-FM Trail was charging $1.50 in 1972. In 1933, Casey bought out partner Jack Menzies, owner of Menzies Hardware.
In 1999, CFCP Courtenay (B.C.) did an FM flip from 1440 KHz with 1000 watts, to 98.9 MHz with a directional 2685 watts. The call letters remained the same, but the branding became Magic 98.9. The station is now part of the Vista group and was known as JET FM from October of 2005 until May 30, 2014 when it was rebranded as 98.9 The Goat, retaining it's Active Rock format.
