Village Squire, 1977-11, Page 34FELEVISION
rol Campbell and Jim Swan exchange chatter on the set of Morning Break.
For more than a decade those who had tc
get up early in the morning within the
listening area of CKNX radio in Wingham
turned on the station to listen to the "Early
Bird", Jim Swan.
Somehow Swan's cheerfulness and
humour made getting up with the rooster
more bearable. So it came as a shock to
Orn the north many when this summer word leaked out
that the early bird was going to leave his
roost and fly south for the winter. South. at
least, as far as London where he had been
selected as the new co -host for CFPL's
morning television show Morning Break.
It isn't that people leaving the Wingham
station is unusual, it has given birth to the
careers of many from Harry J. Boyle
through Bob Carbert the farm director who
moved on to government service, to
Murray Gaunt who moved on to politics
and many, many others who moved on to
make big places for themselves in the
Canadian television and radio industry.
The surprise was that he'd been around for
so long that he'd become an institution and
thus the loss was greater.
But, he says, the time had come both
professionally and personally for a change.
On a professional level he was looking for
greater scope for his work. On the personal
level, the death of his wife a year earlier
had disrupted his lifestyle leaving him with
a family to raise on his own.
That family, plus a love for Wingham as
a place to live have led him to retain his
home there. commuting daily to London for
the show.
`bird'
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to Morning Break
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32 VILLAGE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER 1977.
On the v. all beside his desk in the
Morning Break offices at CFPL a small
plaque tells of the kind of identification
people had with Jim Swan. It's from a
Harriston service Club presented on word
of his leaving the station. The affection was
built up not just because of length of
service with a station that people of the
arca regarded as a friend. but because of
the extra work he put into the job. For
several years he's become more than just a
voice to his listeners by performing as
piaster of ceremonies at talent contests,
beauty contests and variety concerts. He
performed on many television shows on
CKNX television from children's show to
the series. "People. Places and Things"
that vias on the station last season in which
he interviewed interesting people from
around the region.
On radio he took over the "Hi
Neighbours" Sunday morning show
pioneered by Cliff Robb in which he weekly
scanned the local newspapers to pick up
interesting tidbits (he's still doing the show
on a freelance basis). He was the moving
force in the morning feature "Your Town
Canada" on the radio station.
As if all that wasn't enough. the
emphasis on the morning show had been
subtlely shifting in the past couple of years
from news, sports, farm news and music.
to more and more information. Guest
appearances became more plentiful in the
studio. His interests in sports and the arts
began to come more to the fore.