After a radio career spanning more than six decades, Andy Stewart has signed off.
Stewart, who spent much of his career as host of CFAR’s “Meet the Legion,” broadcast his final episode of that program on Saturday, June 17.
“I felt that I had the opportunity to go through all these years [and] it might give me a little break to go off the air and take a little rest,” he said with a laugh.
Stewart, 86, began in radio in Grande Prairie in his home province of Alberta in 1955. He spun records and brought his personable charm and smooth voice to the airwaves.
He still remembers the day in 1956 when he first played a song called “Hound Dog” by a young guy called Elvis Presley. He was not impressed.
“I couldn’t get used to this rock, this was something new to us,” Stewart said in a previous interview. “And I said, ‘What kind of music is this? This is ridiculous. It’s not going to make it at all.’ Well, you know what happened with Elvis.”
Stewart eventually took a break from broadcasting to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. He got back into radio after his three-year commitment was up, landing at CFAR in 1970.
He spent 27 years with CFAR as a salesman and a broadcaster. In retirement, he stayed on the air, hosting “Meet the Legion,” a weekly program geared toward Royal Canadian Legion members.
Stewart has become a fixture of Flin Flon. He is known for playing his fiddle at community events and his work with the Lions Club, which recently presented him with a bronze lion award for his 47 years of service.
He is leaving not just his broadcasting career, but also Flin Flon, as he will soon relocate to Toronto to be with his daughter.
“You feel that, you know, you’ve got a lot of friends and it’s a little difficult to leave a place that you’ve been at since 1970,” Stewart said. “Forty-seven years. That’s a long time.”
