SPEAKER_05 0:00

Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with Remax, Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network, since 1996. Marketing and selling residential rural strata, recreational investment, and project development real estate. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlinsey.ca.

SPEAKER_06 0:33

Welcome back to the Pulse Community Podcast. This is where we bring you a variety of stories with emphasis on the people of the Mid-Vancouver Island region.

SPEAKER_07 0:42

I'm Dave Graham, and I'm Peter McCulley. Here we are, getting ready for the coming year, whatever that might mean for people. Yeah, I'm done with resolutions. Wait a sec. Just last week you were talking about a growing list of resolutions. What happened? I resolved to let it be.

SPEAKER_06 1:00

That's it? You're happy with the way things are? My resolutions became a to-do list, and I don't want to have to do anymore. I'm supposed to be slowing down at this stage of my life. I want to work smarter, not harder. No, wait, that's not quite right. I really don't want to work at all.

SPEAKER_07 1:15

So no resolutions is your resolution. Fair enough. Case closed. Moving on, we have a couple of guests this week who set goals and accomplished them. Broadcaster Shirley McQueen has interviewed countless music legends, hosted major television events, and become one of Canada's most respected voices in broadcasting and voiceover work. Now she makes her home right here on Vancouver Island.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

I consider it a privilege to be doing what I'm doing, to have people listening to me, my voice, telling my stories, giving my perspective on things. I've learned that Canadians are really kind, really smart, supportive people. They embrace community, and I will do it as long as they'll have me.

SPEAKER_06 1:56

Then there's the group known as 100 Women Who Care Oceanside. Debbie Patterson is one of the co-founders of this local chapter that funnels hundreds of thousands of dollars into local charities.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

And the two small charities help in our community.

SPEAKER_07 2:35

Future guests of the podcast will include a return visit with actor, writer, and producer Shayla Horsdoll.

SPEAKER_06 2:43

We'll also be joined by singer-songwriter Ryan McMahon of Ladysmith, as well as Krista Nichols of Toastmasters.

SPEAKER_07 2:53

Is this Christy Pinchak?

SPEAKER_08 2:56

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_07 2:57

Peter McCully calling from the Pulse community.

SPEAKER_08 3:00

Hi.

SPEAKER_07 3:01

How are you today?

SPEAKER_08 3:02

Good, how are you?

SPEAKER_07 3:03

I'm doing very well. I'm calling to tell you that Dave Graham drew your name out of a great big drawdrum for our Ty Namera contest, which you entered uh a short time ago.

SPEAKER_08 3:14

Yay! I'm very excited. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 3:17

Well, you're quite welcome. This was our most popular contest to date. Oh, wow. There were literally hundreds of contestants who entered. As a matter of fact, in the very first half hour, Dave ran out of fingers and toes. He was trying to count all the ballots.

SPEAKER_09 3:32

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_07 3:34

So what you've won is a two-hour self-care journey from the folks at Taynamera. So a very nice Christmas gift, I would say.

SPEAKER_09 3:42

Yeah, really nice. I'm really excited. I've never been there before.

SPEAKER_07 3:45

It is a great spot. We'll let the folks know at Ty Namera and they will be in touch on how you can claim your prize.

SPEAKER_08 3:53

Perfect. Thank you very much. I really am very excited and I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_07 3:58

Well, thanks very much for entering our contest and being part of the Pulse community.

SPEAKER_08 4:02

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 4:03

And happy New Year.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

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SPEAKER_07 4:48

This is the Pulse Community Podcast coming to you from our headquarters on Vancouver Island. Our head of Green Room Operations and Guest Relations is Marilyn, and here she is to introduce our first guest.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Debbie Patterson is one of the co-founders of 100 Women Who Care Oceanside, a charitable group in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, who raise funds for local charities.

SPEAKER_06 5:10

Debbie, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for joining us today. I can't wait to hear your story.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_06 5:17

The local group was founded about seven years ago. You tell me you were there. Can you tell me a little bit more how it all began?

SPEAKER_01 5:24

I heard on the radio of this group in the United States that started in 2006 and now has groups all over North America. And the concept is that 100 women gather four times a year, and at each meeting, each member donates $100, which will go to a local charity. I told my friend Judy about this, and a few months later she contacted me to say that a group had started up in Nanaimo. We went to that meeting. We were whispering that we wanted to start our own group in Oceanside. And the woman sitting in front of us in this very crowded room turned around and said she also wanted to start one in Oceanside, and that was Melissa. The three of us met, and then Judy brought in two friends, Pat and Joan, and our first organizing meeting was January 2017. The first meeting was set for April, and I was so worried that we would not get 100 women by then, but we actually had 130. So our first check was for $13,000 to Man a Homeless Society.

SPEAKER_06 6:33

You mentioned the proceedings, how it works, chipping in $100 each time. But what about the process for picking the charity itself each time? How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Every member can nominate a local charity to receive the funds. Each member can only nominate one, but charities can have multiple nominations. First, the charity must be in Oceanside, and that reaches from Bowser to Nanus. The charity also has to be able to give a tax receipt, and the money must stay in Oceanside. It's set up so that our local, usually smaller charities will benefit from this. At each meeting, three charities are drawn from a basket, and the member then has five minutes to speak to us as to why we should choose their charity. It's really interesting because quite often we don't even know anything about these charities or that they even exist. After all the speakers are heard, we have a vote, and the one with the most votes is the awarded charity for the night, and the other two go back into the basket. The winner cannot receive funds again for three years, however.

SPEAKER_06 7:46

On those occasions where the presentations are made and the voting is done, how does that proceeding go? Is it all over rather quick, or do you agonize over the decision?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

It's very difficult to make the decision once you've heard the three, because they're all deserving. Our meetings only last one hour, and we have a few housekeeping things that we do ahead of time. We thank our sponsors and everything. The charities each give their speech. We all vote. They don't have a lot of time to think. No, they have to make their decision pretty quickly. We collect those votes, count them, and then the charity is awarded, and we're done in an hour.

SPEAKER_06 8:25

And as part of each meeting, you get to hear from past recipients. And what kind of feedback do you get to hear about?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

So many times a successful charity is one that many of us did not even know existed. The money is used to fund a new much needed project sometimes. During the initial speech, the presenter tells us what the funds will be used for. So when they return, it is to confirm what will be done or how it will be achieved. Sometimes it's to be used towards a much needed roof or a floor. In one case, a high-powered dishwasher and reusable containers were purchased for a school food program, which helped in efficiency but also cut down on the garbage. A new vehicle was purchased for wheels for wellness. There's so many different needs for each one, and the charities will let us know how those funds were spent.

SPEAKER_06 9:20

You mentioned you were founded in 2017. And it is anticipated, I'm told, that in the coming year you're going to reach a remarkable milestone of a million dollars raised. A million dollars in under a decade. How does that make you feel?

SPEAKER_01 9:35

It's amazing. Yeah. We'll have a million dollars we anticipate by April, and it's due to the fact that we have an amazing group of women in Oceanside. Our membership is now at 380, which is incredible. And that's because members bring friends and family to the meetings and also the power of media, thanks to you guys and a few other local publications. The word is out, and women want to help our small charities. And the small charities help in our community. So we want to help those in our community that want to help us. Meeting the million dollar mark is something we never dreamed would be possible, especially at this early date. So it really is quite exciting. It will be our ninth anniversary at that meeting as well.

SPEAKER_06 10:26

Mana Homeless Society, you mentioned the very first recipients after that first meeting. I'm sure you've heard some other stories. Do you care to share some?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Well, most recently, Aerosmith Search and Rescue, who were awarded the funds while the Wesley Ridge fire was raging. They used the donation to purchase a drone truck, which ended up actually helped finding a lost hiker only a few days after. So that was really exciting. Echo players were able to put the funds towards much needed new seats in the theater. Live theater is a wonderful thing to have in our very small town of Qualicum. The Salvation Army Food Bank, the shelves were very low. And I remember when the presenter was told that they were the ones chosen, her speech was full of tears and gratitude. One of the meetings where there wasn't a dry eye on the House. District 69 backpack program helps kids go home with food to get through the weekends, something a lot of us never really thought about. And there's just so many. Yeah, some are more difficult than others. Others, sometimes it's like it's a clear winner. It's all luck on who the other two are and what you're up against. Sometimes I've had very hard time at meetings deciding who's the most deserving. The other thing is because we're giving out $38,000 and hopefully soon $40,000, there's a lot of very small charities. So it'd be hard to vote for a very small charity to get $40,000 when their operating budget is not very much. So what we've done is we've come up with you can, as a charity or as a nominator, can choose to do a charity split. So they go into a different basket. And so we pull somebody out and it says charity split, and then we pull another one out of the other basket. If those two win, it's one vote, but if they win, they split the charity. We've done that many times for smaller charities because it's much more comfortable to give $20,000 to a small charity than $40,000 because they have to use it up in a few years and it would be impossible for some of them. Whereas somebody like Search and Rescue or Heart and Stroke, they would have no trouble with that. The other thing I just want to mention is that every woman gives $100. 100% of that $100 goes to the charity. We don't have any operating expenses whatsoever because we have very generous sponsors like Yates Memorial, who donate the space that we meet at. Close to you, Fashion covers the costs of our database programming. We have our website covered for by Melissa Tracy. It's very fortunate for us that 100% of your money goes directly to the charity in need. And you go to a big charity and that's not the case. You know, you donate $100 and maybe $60 will go to the charity. So that's one thing we're really proud of.

SPEAKER_06 13:54

Did you have any other stories about reactions from past donations?

SPEAKER_01 14:00

When the votes are counted, two of our members come in with this big check, and then they turn it around and reveal who it is. And it's absolute, complete joy, they're overwhelmed, in many cases, relief that they can keep the doors open and the lights on, especially during COVID. That was a really difficult time for so many people. It's quite often not a dry eye on the house because it's just such a wonderful thing to receive the funds. There's small charities, they're not going to be able to go out and get those kind of funds like the big ones can. They don't have the staff or the resources to do that. So in one hour, to be able to come home with $38,000 is quite an achievement. It's a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_06 14:47

Aaron Powell Has an opportunity come up to team with the other 100 fill-in-the-blank organizations locally?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

We have not discussed that. We all have the same sort of premise where we raise money for a local community, but we act separately, and we haven't actually discussed that. Doesn't mean to say it'll never happen. Could be something in the future. You never know.

SPEAKER_06 15:12

Within a nine-year span, you've accomplished so much. I can't imagine what the feeling must be like for you as one of the founders of this. You mentioned off the top of our conversation how you weren't even sure you get 100 together for that first meeting. And are you still dreaming for more?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Aaron Powell As I say, we're at 380 right now. 400 seems to be a really reasonable goal. I just want everybody to know that it says 100 women. We're not closed. We are still accepting members. We now say 100 plus women who care. And the more members that we have, the more money we can raise for our local community and the more charities that we can help in this area. So we would like to see as many women as possible. And we have a great time. A lot of women choose not to come to the meetings and just send in their checks every quarter. But for the women who come, we have a really fun meeting. And then afterwards we have a social. The electricity in the room of wondering who is going to be the successful charity is just fantastic. It's just a great evening out, one hour, four times a year. That's it.

SPEAKER_06 16:23

How might someone find out more information? Because I'm sure there are people right now wanting to join.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Go to our website, which is 100 Women Oceanside. There is a place that you can sign in and join as a member, and Judy will get back to you right away with how to sign up to be a member. And our next meeting is the second week of January. Our April meeting will be a big celebration. That would be the one to come to for sure. But January would be good too.

SPEAKER_07 16:52

The work that 100 Women Who Care Oceanside does really demonstrates the power of collective action. It's inspiring to see how Debbie and her fellow members are making a difference in our region.

SPEAKER_06 17:03

That is inspiring. Thanks to Debbie for being on the podcast. You know, I appreciate the reminder of what one person can do to make a real difference in the lives of others. Oh, now I'm rethinking my resolutions. I don't have time for that right now. Instead, I have to issue an invitation to get in touch with us. We appreciate your feedback on our stories, your suggestions for stories we might follow. And for announcements of coming events, you can leave us a message in your own voice or by typing. Contact us at thepulsecommunity.ca.

SPEAKER_07 17:34

We're on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. We're also on Facebook and Instagram.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

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SPEAKER_05 18:01

Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with Remax, Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network, since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational investment, and project development real estate. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlinsey.ca.

SPEAKER_06 18:26

You know, Peter, listening back to my chat with our last guest got me thinking about resolutions, and yeah, I realized that my latest list was all about me losing weight and being more organized and eating more chocolate, which is all good. But I think a more meaningful goal involves looking outwards, see what I can do to improve the lives of others. Well, that sounds promising. What brought all of this on? Well, I've come to see that I've been the way I am for quite some time now, and perhaps I need to be just okay with not being the most organized person I know. And I'm good at other things like um, well, uh, we can get to that later. But I realize that past resolutions have failed because they weren't really what I wanted, or maybe I would have made them happen. So I need to be more realistic.

SPEAKER_07 19:12

Are you feeling okay? Maybe you need to lie down for a minute. In the meantime, we have a guest coming up who knows all about building a life around meaningful work. Here's Marilyn.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

In the green room is broadcaster and actor Shirley McQueen. With a remarkable career spanning Q107 Toronto, rock 101 Vancouver, and now Icon Radio on Vancouver Island, Shirley has interviewed countless music legends, hosted major television events, and become one of Canada's most respected voices in broadcasting and voiceover work.

SPEAKER_07 19:46

Thanks for joining us on the podcast today, Shirley.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Hey, thanks for having me, Peter. This is great.

SPEAKER_07 19:51

You have, as I like to call it, one of those smiling voices. I don't have to see you or see your face to know that you're smiling. You're just happy.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Well, you know, I'm human. I'm like everybody else. I have my ups and my downs, but I try to keep a very Zen-like outlook, and I like to just greet every day with optimism and a few affirmations, some morning meditation, just to set my intention that I'm going to take every opportunity to make this the best day.

SPEAKER_07 20:20

You were born and raised in Regina, which is one of my favorite cities in Canada, actually. I wanted to know what it was like growing up there, and how did that prairie upbringing shape who you became as a broadcaster and a storyteller later?

SPEAKER_03 20:34

You know, my father came from a family of four, and him and his brother, my uncle Dave, they moved into the city into Regina. But the other two, Uncle Bernie and Aunt Lorene, they both married and stayed on farms. The family was from southeastern Saskatchewan, a small town called Wapella, where my father grew up, which was right next to Whitewood. Some people might know the name Whitewood just because it's right there on the number one. And my mom was from Whitewood. Lorreen and Doug. All our summers and holidays were spent on the farms. So I had the great privilege of being a city girl, which I love, the action and the community of a bigger city. But I was able to take advantage of and be a part of farm life on all my summers. And I treasure those just the family memories of the parties and the food and the holidays and doing chores as much as I hated them at the time.

SPEAKER_07 21:28

And running away from the giant grasshoppers.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

Exactly. It was a great upbringing, lots of music. When I wasn't with family playing music on the farms, the Saturday night parties and barn dances. At home in the city, I was a fan of radio. I grew up with in Saskatchewan. It was the great 620 CKCK for decades, it was the powerhouse province-wide radio station. And of course, they played everything from farm reports to pop music to country music, talk shows to unique. The other big one was CJME, and it was 1300 on the AM dial at the time. I collected the paper charts that they put out every week, their top 40, you know, and I religiously uh would listen to the radio and the countdown shows. And some of my favorite memories are the DJs on 1300 CJME, Hart Kirsch, Harry Decker, my very first job in radio in Regina. I got a job as a secretary for the music and program directors at the great 1300 CJME, the Rawco station at the time. And Harry Decker was still doing mornings. My first on-air job was giving him one-minute reviews of the previous day's soap operas, Another World and General Hospital at the time. Before I knew it, here I was at 19, 20 years old, and I'm on the air with Harry Decker's morning show. It was magical. That was back in 84.

SPEAKER_07 22:56

In the 70s and 80s, there weren't as many women in prominent broadcasting roles, especially in rock radio. Who were some of those female broadcasters or media personalities that you looked up to and how did they influence your path?

SPEAKER_03 23:11

When I was 24, I moved to Toronto. I got two years under my belt at Rolko in Regina and thought, okay, I'm hitting the big time. I know it all. My girlfriend Karina and I, the wonderful Karina Halunga. It was her idea. Let's move to Toronto. So we packed up our meager savings. I remember I sold my 72 Copper Monte Carlo. Beautiful car. I loved that car. Got $1,200 for it. And that's what I moved to Toronto with in 1985. We landed and we made our way though, Karina and I. In Regina, I did get some experience hosting a video show with some friends of mine because I was already in radio there. When I landed in Toronto, I managed to get this video hosting job on a live daily show at four o'clock. We went up against the great City TV Toronto Rocks, who were in the building with Much Music. They were the big guns, but we were up against them at four o'clock and we went live. Myself and Joel Goldberg, who's still a good friend. He's become one of the great producers of film in Toronto, on a show called Something Else. And we had top of the Pops videos under our license. So that was a great entry point for me to meet all the other media in town. And it was the little fish that all the big people paid attention to, especially because we were live and it was the dawn of the video age and we had all these top of the pops videos. That was a fun show, but it didn't last only about a couple of months, two or three months later. And boom, I'm out of work again. Gary Slate was the owner and president of Standard Broadcasting at the time, and they had the powerhouse rock station, Q107, in Toronto. And I came down from the studio after doing one of the very last something else recordings. There's a note on my desk to call Gary Slate. So I called him and he just flat out offered me a job. And I was flabbergasted and flattered. And I absolutely am taking the job. It was so very flattering. And here I was five months after moving to Toronto. I'm starting on Q107, and I was nervous, and it took me a while to get comfortable. But Gary gave me all the breath I needed. And so I was doing the overnight show. That was in those days when all the day parts were still live. I was on from midnight to 6 a.m. And like you say, there weren't that many, especially rock, but female radio hosts at the time. The people that I got to know there at Q107 were largely the people that influenced me and taught me how to do it and what to do and what not to do. And at the time, Jane Houghton Q107. She and Jean Vellitus were the co-hosts of Barometer at noon on Q107. Sue Johansen was there, talk sex with Sue. Yes. And I would oftentimes get called upon to do weekend shifts as well. And Sue was on Sunday night. So oftentimes I'd be operating the board for Sue Johansen in 85, 86 at Q107 there. There were other people at Q107, the great Bob Makkowitz, the late Bob Makowitz, Mako. Very quickly, Andy Frost came on board as well. He went on to become the in-house voice of the Leafs for a time. I also looked up to female broadcasters from the news, from the great CTV and CBC news journal shows like Barbara Frum and Carol Taylor, who's on the island here again. Learning how to speak to people, how to draw the authentic person out with your questions and make people comfortable. Came through watching people like that.

SPEAKER_07 26:56

And you've interviewed hundreds of Canadian and international artists over your career, wherever you've been in the country. Who were some of those conversations that surprised you the most where the person was completely different than their public persona?

SPEAKER_03 27:10

It's funny because a lot of the really big-time people, nothing phases them anymore, and they've learned to just let all the pretense go, and they're comfortable in their own skin. So some of them are the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. I remember interviewing Brian Adams at Q107, and it was still mid-80s. He was still very young in his career. Just an awesome guy. He was already quite big. The cuts like a knife was a hit already for him. Heat of the night, I think, as well. But yeah, some of the blue rodeo guys, Big Sugar, Gordy Johnson, the band, Ian Thomas. A lot of it for me was Canadian. When I started in Toronto, I was still doing some television, some video work. Although I did get some of the English acts coming over too. I remember interviewing the guys from the English Beat. I interviewed those guys. And yeah, it was it was a fun time in Toronto because the city was blossoming in the mid-80s. Not only that was radio blossoming, but the entire cultural scene in Toronto was really coming of age. It was a fun time. And I actually got to meet a lot of those artists. I would follow the six o'clock rock report. I was on at seven when I got the evening show a year later after doing the overnight show. I would follow the guys from the Six O'Clock Rock Report, Derringer and Mako, and eventually Steve Warden. They were the ones that would book all these artists. I would be there in the green room prepping for my show and being around all those people. So I got to talk to them a lot more casually instead of actually in an interview setting. I was just casually talking to them before they'd go in for the rock report. But once I uh started working at Rock 101 Vancouver back in 1998, I got to interview some of the big guns myself, Gene Simmons from Kiss, Jim Cuddy, Blue Rodeo, and others. And Jim Cuddy is just an awesome guy. He's so down to earth, so pleasant to talk to. He always has a lovely thing to say about all his collaborators and his fellow bandmates. Yeah, that was really fun at Rock 101 Vancouver, that five years, 98 to 2003.

SPEAKER_07 29:24

And you stepped out from behind the mic in front of a camera. I looked you up online. I found some pretty interesting videos of you interviewing all sorts of people in all sorts of situations, like learning how to scuba dive or making pottery.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

You know what? That show was really fun. In after Vancouver, after five years in Vancouver, I started following my ex's career. He's a radio programmer. He got a job as a program director at the Great Power 97 in Winnipeg. So that's why we left Vancouver in 2003. I trudged off to Winnipeg with a two-year-old and very quickly got a job there. And then after a time in Winnipeg, we went to Calgary. From Calgary, I went to Regina. And in Regina, that's where I got this job with CBC Television. Nova Alberts, who's just a fantastic television producer, hired me to be the host of Living Saskatchewan. And it was one of nine regional living shows, the living brand that CBC put out in 2007, 2008. There was Living Vancouver, Calgary, a number of them out east Toronto. And I was the host of Living Saskatchewan. Our show was one o'clock during the day. And the mandate was to give people five takeaways from each segment that we produced, each story we went out to shoot was five takeaways that people could actually do or learn to do something practical themselves. It would be everything from I'd go take a scuba diving lesson in the pool and show people exactly what happens in a scuba diving lesson, and if they had any inclination to go take one, and now they knew what they were in for, kind of thing, or the pottery. But we expanded our scope a little bit too, as is necessary when you're shooting, because it was a half-hour long show. Each segment was about seven minutes. So we would have about three segments a show. That's 15 stories a week. You got to go cover a lot more than just pottery lessons, which is why you saw all sorts of things. I would interview the premier of the province, who was Lauren Calvert at the time. So I went right into the premier's office in the Saskatchewan and interviewed Lauren Calvert and the mayor of Regina at the time as well. Lots of different people, and it was an immediate introduction to all the players, movers, business people, entrepreneurs in Regina and Saskatchewan because we would travel. It was living Saskatchewan province-wide. So that was a great introduction, having moved back to Regina, where I met everybody fairly quickly, all the players and shakers. So it was a great time back in hometown Regina for the five years I was there.

SPEAKER_07 32:06

Tell me about your time on Corner Gas.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

That was that same period back in Regina. As you're probably aware, Corner Gas was shot just outside Regina, Dog River. And my cousin, Brenda McCormick, is a casting director in Regina. She's one of two. And Brenda had the corner gas. So she brought me in for a lot because I'd been acting for years in Toronto and Vancouver. I did two corner gases. One was where I played a soccer mom. And one was I played Oscar's mom. Because, of course, the camera was on little Eric Peterson, a boy who was cast as the role of Eric as a child. That was great fun. And those people were so accommodating. That was David Story and Virginia Thompson, who ran the production team behind Corner Gas. My colleague, brother Jake Edwards, here at Rock 101 in Vancouver. He came in for a corner gas as well, where he played a DJ. He might have even played himself. I think he did.

SPEAKER_07 33:25

I think he did.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

Yes, he did play himself. Brent Butt and Nancy Robertson, Tara Spencer Nairn, Lauren Cardinal, they were all just so accommodating, so much fun, funny people, right?

SPEAKER_07 33:38

I like to think of that show as quote unquote modern day beachcombers. Very Canadian, right?

SPEAKER_03 33:45

Yes. And a different region, right? Beachcombers covered the island and the Sunshine Coast so definitively. I think Corner Gas did that for Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_07 33:57

So Shirley, you're now on Vancouver Island, currently working with Icon Radio. What stories are you most excited to tell these days? And how do you think your approach to storytelling has evolved over your career?

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Because you always reflect the community you're in. Here I am now on Vancouver Island, living on the ocean. And so it's really about the people. You know, I've been starting to go to the various arts festivals, like for instance, the Thanksgiving Festival, the studio tour on Gabriola Island, which is just a short ferry ride away from downtown Nanaimo. I'm meeting all these great artists. So of course, those are the stories you start to tell. And what we do on icon radio is we're very music focused and we're a classic hits kind of a format. It's a different format, too. We're all tasked as storytellers, not DJs per se. It is an automated station. We are pre-recorded. So I do it in my home studio here. We have this massive playlist, and I just go through it and I pick an artist that's interesting or might have something going on in the news about them, because a lot of these people are still performing, still writing, still recording, and just tell interesting stories. In particular, if we've ever met or interviewed them, that's the mandate for Icon Radio to tell real stories about these artists. Just this week, I started as the midday host on Vista Radio's Powell River station, 957 Coast FM, part of the Vista Radio Company that also owns Icon Radio. Now I'm actually hosting and telling community stories from a Powell River perspective, Sunshine Coast. It's great to be here on the island, to be meeting all the people and the players. I've been doing great interviews with the Port Theater and some of the artists that they bring in, and that's been a real joy. Chamber of Commerce here in Nanaimo as well. They do a lot of events. Wendy, our mutual friend in Parksville, who does a lot of the publicity for events. She's had me interview Tom Lavin from the Powder Blues band, who played the Parksville Beach Fest this past summer. And in that same vein, Al Harlow from Prism, they played the next night. I interviewed Al Harlow. So it's really a privilege to be able to be here on the island and getting to know a lot of the West Coast artists as opposed to my time in Toronto when it was a lot of the Central Canadian base.

SPEAKER_07 36:25

From the time when you and I first became broadcasters and the days of 45 records and real-to-reel tapes and hardline telephones and the whole thing. And now where people can listen to this podcast on their telephone, they could probably see us on their Google glasses if they look really hard. So any advice for those younger than us who might be considering a career in the media these days?

SPEAKER_03 36:51

The number one quality is to really be a good listener. If you're not listening, like if your mind is on your next question or your next set of questions, you're not engaged in the moment with that person. And they can feel that. So you're doing yourself a disservice if you're not listening to their answers. People don't care what you know until they know that you care. So you have to prepare. Reading is a good way to do that, to open up your worldview and get to know all sorts of different people and people's views. Alice Monroe, I love her work. But read all your favorite authors.

SPEAKER_07 37:25

So, Shirley, we can catch you on Icon Radio in the Naimo and Coast FM in Powell River.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

And actually, I've got a side hustle. I'm recording shows for Bell Media for their bounce radio brand. I don't know if you know of that. They used to have them right across the country, and there was one in Kelowna up until just a couple of years ago when Vista, my company here on the island, bought many of the Bell properties that they divested themselves of, including their bounce here in Kelowna. So the only bounces left are Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba, Kitchener Waterloo, and Midland, Ontario. And there's one in Fredericton, New Brunswick. There's five of them. I do evenings and then midday and whatever fill-in they need for me. So I'm doing bounce radio as well.

SPEAKER_07 38:15

So you're bouncing right across the country again.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

I am.

SPEAKER_07 38:20

There's that smiling voice again, Shirley.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

I consider it a privilege to be doing what I'm doing, to have people listening to me, my voice, telling my stories, giving my perspective on things. I've learned that Canadians are really kind, really smart, supportive people. They embrace community. Like you mentioned, they have a great sense of humor. This is a privilege, and I will do it as long as they'll have me.

SPEAKER_06 38:46

Thank you to Shirley McQueen for being on the Pulse podcast and for offering a reminder that the best careers aren't just about success. They're about finding what you love and pursuing it with passion. Shirley's work continues to connect people through storytelling, and that's what makes her such an important voice in Canadian broadcasting. Hey, wait, that's what we're doing here, connecting people through stories.

SPEAKER_07 39:06

And we cater to all kinds of interests through our growing pulse community. Football fans will want to check out the F3 podcast with Aaron and Jonathan Fraser from the Comox Valley. F3 stands for Football, Food, and Fantasy Football. The food part refers to Jonathan's bonus recipes with each podcast.

SPEAKER_06 39:24

Yes, Jonathan is a chef, and his latest game day recipe is Houston style smoked brisket. Then there's the podcast Nonpartisan Hacks, featuring Parksville City Councillors Joel Granz and Sean Wood, the offer and insider's look at municipal politics.

SPEAKER_07 39:42

We offer classic original radio series on our radio archaeology feature with Sergeant Joe Friday on Dragnet and Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_06 39:52

And our Skookum Kid stories bring fresh adventures with Peter and Gracie the Eskimo Dog and with Captain Dave aboard the Mellow Submarine. Both stories now come with downloadable coloring pages with each new episode. You'll find these podcasts and more at the pulsecommunity.ca. So, Peter, here we are, closing out another year. We haven't talked about your resolutions for 2026.

SPEAKER_07 40:17

I resolve to continue bringing great stories and conversations to our listeners. And you, Dave, have you settled on anything?

SPEAKER_06 40:24

Well, in the grand scheme of things, I realize that I get to live in a place that other people come to for vacation. I have my health, three meals a day, a warm, dry home. Gosh, I therefore resolve to keep all of that going. Anything above and beyond that is gravy. Oh, I just said gravy. Well, you know what that means. It's time to go to the cafeteria for fries and gravy. Well, I'm now fixated on gravy, so yeah. This is how I roll, and I'm just too old to change. Hey, if we take the stairs and we could order poutine pretty much guilt-free.

SPEAKER_07 40:57

Thank you, folks, for joining us. I know that I speak on behalf of everyone here at the Pulse Podcast. Dave, Marilyn, Rock and Ronda, and the Uptown Blues band, and everyone else, and wishing you the very best for the new year.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

You compete, you complete.