MANITOUWADGE — A four-day journey into the region has highlighted the importance of community connection along the north shore.
Dougall Media president and CEO Hector Dougall, CFNO radio salesperson Lynn Cregheur, and CFNO morning man Al Cresswell, embarked on a regional journey earlier this month.
Cresswell who has been CFNO’s morning man, and news and sports director for more than 20 years, and Cregheur, CFNO salesperson have become local celebrities to the people of a region.
As owner of Dougall Media for the past year, he hasn't had the opportunity to go out to townships that depend on CFNO radio for community connection and information. Cregheur, who is based out of Manitouwadge, coordinated the tour, and prepared an itinerary that would run from June 6 to June 9.
The idea of the tour arose after Cregheur and Dougall visited a job fair held in Thunder Bay last March. She recalled how Dougall, “Started speaking with this gentleman who represented a mining company in the region, and who Dougall asked what the chances were that he could visit that mine."
Soon after that, she was planning an itinerary that would take them from Schreiber to White River.
The intent of the tour was to visit the communities, the people, and the industries along the North Shore who were within the area, to experience first-hand how deeply connected the people of Schreiber, Terrace Bay, Marathon, Manitouwadge, Hornepayne and White River truly are. It was also to realize just how important radio was to keeping that connection alive.
After arriving in Marathon, on Monday, June 6, Dougall met Cresswell. Their meeting resulted in gaining more insight into the significant role that radio has in the region, and their concerns with the quality of the signal.
“We wanted to improve our coverage in Manitouwadge because the signal gets a little crazy in the town of Manitouwadge and there is not really a commercial reason to put a repeater there. So, we wanted to ask the town if they would look for any funding available to help us put up a tower in Manitouwadge."
Cresswell, spoke about how much the people, businesses and industries depend on radio.
“People wake up in the morning at 6 a.m. and the radio goes on until 10 p.m. They’re all connected and they need to know what’s going on in each area,” Cresswell said.
“It was important to get the Manitouwadge town council to help establish better signal quality for the community. The signal in Manitouwadge is terrible because the township is surrounded by mountains and is located in a valley, so the signal tends to go over the town,” he added.
On Tuesday, June 7, both Dougall and Cregheur visited the Township of Hornepayne. There they met with Mayor Cheryl Fort and some of her administration.
Meeting each mayor of these communities was an important element of the tour.
“Going into this I wanted to get a better understanding of the employers, our clients, and the culture of the region,” said Dougall. “So, to that end, I included some larger industries. I met some business owners and had the opportunity to meet with the mayors of each of these communities."
Meeting with these mayors and touring larger industries that drove the economy for these communities was an integral part of this tour.
When in Hornepayne, the group toured Hornepayne Lumber, a community-based sawmill, who employs more than 100 individuals and whose owners include: WRC Timber Inc., the Missanabie Cree, the Chapleau Cree, and the Netamisakomil Anishinabek (Pic Mobert) First Nations.
The tour of the mill supported Dougall’s focus on learning about the businesses, and the workers who make the running of these companies possible. Cregheur also shared how, “Getting to tour the mill Hector loved the attitude of the workers and the bosses who showed how they all got along; how they had a beautiful relationship."
Afterwards, they returned to White River, where they met with Mayor Angelo Bazzoni. During a conversation with Bazzoni, it became very evident just how much CFNO radio meant to the people.
That afternoon Dougall toured White River Forest Products, employing more than 160 people from the community and known for its continued focus on protecting the environment, while creating social, cultural and economic benefit for the region.
On Wednesday, June 8, Dougall visited White River’s Silver Lake Resources Gold Mine formerly known as Harte Gold. That day, he went underground for the first time. Cregheur described that experience explaining how they had gone down 365 feet underground, but in her view that wasn’t very deep; considering how her husband who worked in the mines, would take her down to levels that were thousands of feet deep.
Because the area that this tour encompassed, represented such a large geographical part of Northern Ontario, it’s size alone demonstrated how crucial this key communication medium known as CFNO radio was, as a key means for these communities to stay connected.
Dougall defined the reality the role that this need for connection played and who was instrumental in maintaining this link. He stated that, “Although this region is vast it is through our CFNO staff, that they feel connected. More specifically, it is with the work of Cresswell and Cregheur whose service is “community first”.
On June 8, the group went back to Manitouwadge, where they met with the mayor and town council.
Dougall along with chief engineer Denis Bariault, who accompanied him to the council meeting, presented a deputation to Manitouwadge town council seeking their assistance through funding in order to establish a better CFNO radio signal for the community.
Currently, the signal in Manitouwadge needs improvement primarily because the community is located in an area surrounded by mountains, and in a valley, so that the signal tends to go over the town.
Cregheur demonstrated her passion and knowledge about how critical CFNO radio was for the people of Manitouwadge, the town in which she lived. She formulated a questionnaire asking how many people in Manitouwadge listen to CFNO radio, and how many wanted it as a service. She was overwhelmed with the response, receiving hundreds of replies.
A copy of the questionnaire and community responses was given to Manitouwadge mayor and council the evening that Dougall and Bariault met with them.
The meeting went extremely well, as council passed a motion to look into possible funding available to support moving the project forward and thus, improving the quality of CFNO radio for the community.
Mayor John MacEachern, asked council to look for and apply for grants and government funding, available for projects such as this, in order to assist in making improvements possible in an effort to fund and improve equipment such as towers.
Council decided to use current equipment, specifically a tower being used by Motorola in order to put the repeater on.
On Thursday, June 9, the group headed back to Thunder Bay, but not before stopping at Marathon, where they met with Mayor Rick Dumas. He spoke highly of CFNO radio. Dumas spoke about Cresswell and the close connection that he has with the people of Marathon, always taking time to attend council meetings and celebrate happy events like birthdays, and anniversaries, with the people of the community and region.
Both Dougall and Cregheur then stopped to visit the mayor of Terrace Bay, Jody Davis, who suggested that they visit a few places tied to tourism.
As a final stop, they stopped at Schreiber where they met with township staff; ending their visit there by going to a huge sponsor for CFNO radio, the Figliomeni Ford Dealership.
Throughout the tour and from each of the comments and reactions by community members, mayors, council members, Dougall, Cregheur and Cresswell, there was a common theme that underlines this. It was the importance of being connected to each other and each community.
The information provided to each of these communities is a vital part of their daily lives.
As a final comment to the retelling of the purpose and joy gained by experiencing this tour, Dougall recalled the day when these communities feared that CFNO radio would be moving out of their region.
“During my journey so many people spoke to me about a time when the company was considering moving out of the area and I just want to make a commitment to them. Al will be on the air broadcasting from Marathon as long as he wishes to do so,” stated Dougall.
Dumas himself spoke about how more than 8,000 people, at the time, supported keeping CFNO radio alive in their region. Cresswell and Cregheur are CFNO radio for these communities. “Lynn is the frontline for Al,” added Dougall. “CFNO ties these communities together and Cresswell and Cregheur are local celebrities and beloved by everyone in the region,” stated Dougall.
This journey provided Dougall with a new appreciation for CFNO radio, what it meant to the people in each of these communities, and how special the culture of this region truly is.