The Rural Voice, 1996-06, Page 38suppertime, the station also gave time
for reports of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture Fieldmen, local Ag
Reps, and assistant Ag Reps (for
young audiences).
From
the days of his hobby -
experiment, Doc had also
included local talent in shows.
So it wasn't surprising that,
three months after, the CKNX
Saturday Night Barn Dance started in
1937 as a half-hour show using
recorded oldtime music, it was
decided to invite some local
musicians and singers to the
CKNX studio on Wingham's
main street to perform. Crowds
would gather on the street to
watch the performances through
the large plate glass window.
By 1942 Johnnie Brent had
been hircd to act as show
manager, master of ceremonies,
and to book the talent and set up
the shows into community halls
across southwestern Ontario.
Local service clubs would host
group of local stars were created. -To
enable them to put bread on the table,
the station also had them perform on
live radio broadcasts and booked
them out for dances. Some learned
duties at the station, and later at the
TV station Doc founded in the 1950s.
In 1950, there were two country
music bands maintained by CKNX :
The Ranch Boys and The Barn
Dance Gang. They were a mixture of
talented local people who got a
chance to perform in front of larger
audiences and performers from
in Wingham and perform at events.
Today he spearheads the Barn Dance
Hall of Fame in Wingham, using a
huge collection of memorabilia
collected by him and others, to keep
those glorious days alive.
Ward Allen, raised on a farm at
Kirkton on the Huron -Perth border,
was another local talent who joined
the Barn Dance Gang in 1950. He
had already won the Canadian
National Exhibition Fiddle
Champion hip in 1949 and went on
to become a legendary figure in
Before the age of television, the names and voices of the stars of the CKNX Travelling
Barn Dance were familiar but it was only when they appeared in person that people got
a chance to see what they looked like.
the event and reap the rewards: about
$10,000 a year for good causes by
1951.
Brcnt was born in Waterloo and
had been in the radio business two
years when hc arrived in Wingham.
As was usual in those days, he wore
many hats. In 1951, he hosted the
early morning "The Top of the
Morning Show". Wednesday nights
hc hosted "The Hayloft Hoedown"
and he was in charge of live talent
for the station.
And given the chance to perform
regularly and earn at least part of
their living from music, performers
swarmed in. Through the barn dance
and the live radio shows on CKNX, a
across Canada who sought a chance
to perform on what became one of
the country's foremost showcases of
country music talent.
One of the Barn Dance performers
from that very first year, and a
member of the Barn Dance Gang,
was Earl Heywood. Born and raised
on his father's farm near Exeter, he
used the Barn Dance as a stepping
stone to a recording contract with
RCA Victor, in a day when Canadian
recording artists were as rare as hen's
teeth. Even after the Barn Dance
finally ended, and CKNX television
stopped producing the local talent
shows like Circle 8 Ranch, Heywood
and his wife Martha continued to live
Earl Heywood, (seen in the centre with Johnnie Brent and other members of the
Barndance crew), is working to keep a bit of the show alive through his
Wingham Barn Dance hall of Fame, featuring his incredible collection of
fiddle music, creating the tune
"Maple Sugar".
Fiddle music was a big part of the
Barn Dance attraction — really big
if you included Clinton native Ross
Mann who played with Don
Robertson's "Ranch Boys". Mann
tipped the scale at close to 400
pounds by 1950, an old Barn Dance
program says. In later years, whcn he
appeared regularly on Circle 8
Ranch, it sometimes seemed like the
fiddle would disappear under his
multi -layered chin. Mann was also
known for doing comic numbers.
Another fiddler with the Ranch
Boys was Archie Mann, a farmer
from Monkton (no relation to Ross).
Joining the Barn Dance in 1950 was
was Midland's Mel Lavigne who
won the first Canadian Old Time
Fiddle Championship at Shelburne in
1951:
One of the most enduringly
familiar faces and voices of the Barn
Dance days is Ernie King. Bom in
Penctanguishene, he was only 19
when he joined The Ranch Boys as a
singer/ musician. He would remain in
the forefront of the group after the
Barn Dance ended and The Ranch
Boys went on to Circle 8 Ranch.
Later he opened his own music shop
and recording studio in Wingham
and still lives in the arca.
Adding humour to the Barn Dance
JUNE 1996 35