When the prospect of a community television channel was taking shape in Saint Andrews in the early 1990s, a decision was made to canvass town citizens as to their interest in adding local television to the community. The response was overwhelmingly yes. A group of about a dozen people from this informal survey were asked if they would be willing to help out in any way to get the ball rolling. Every person signed on immediately. In a way, this group became an unofficial board of directors, each having areas of expertise, and for some, the willingness to roll up their sleeves for the work projects that soon got underway.
In those early days with the help of Bill Stanley’s Fundy Cable, the newly incorporated St Andrews Community Channel, Cable 4 and later Cable 10, embarked on a journey that has led to where we stand today – a licensed broadcast television station and a revived Saint Croix Courier, now combined as CHCO-TV/The Courier.
The NB Provincial Museum in Saint John contacted our staff to offer their support in storing any archived Courier newspapers in their climate controlled vaults.This led to a transfer of a truckload (literally) of papers to the museum storage facilities.
While a lot of the attention on the progress made over the last many years is often given to those “in front of the camera” or in more recent times “in the newspaper”, and in many instances to the work of volunteers, it can be easy not to recognize the work that goes on behind the scenes – the dedication of a board of directors, quietly holding regular meetings to discuss the best ways forward for the organization, and today that means taking all of southwestern New Brunswick into consideration.
The official board listed with the CRTC at the time of licence application in 2005 was comprised of these people:
William Joseph Cooney
Brian Robert Dickson
Mary Lee Dowling (née Saulnier)
Brenda Joan MacLean (née Fulford)
Christopher Brooks Gordon
Anne Edwina Luken (née Kennington)
Gail Karen McLaughlin
Johannes Hendrinus Plomp (“Rinie”)
David Bradford Welch
Chris Gordon had the distinction of being the board chair, followed by a number of others over the years. One of the “hands on” chairs was Moe Cross who lent his talent (and workshop) in building a variety of items for our studios, while another chair, Chris Flemming, a former mayor of St Andrews and co-founder of St Andrews Community Channel, brought his computer expertise and penchant for well-run meetings to the fore.
Suffice it to say that the success of CHCO-TV/The Courier is due to the hard work of everyone involved, but the directional force behind it all comes from the good guidance of a well placed Board. There have been several boards over the years. Our present one consists of these members:
Then & Now – the role of the Board of Directors for CHCO-TV/The Courier
Ken MacTavish, chair
Phyl Breuer
Jay Remer
Douglas Noddin
James Steel
Carolan Lesaux
Marianne Clift
Brian Dickson (Member at-large)
They not only look after the television component, but also over the last two years this board went out on a limb to rescue our local paper and put it back in the hands of our communities. The board thanks all our advertisers, the Local Journalism Initiative fund (LJI), staff and volunteers who together keep the ball rolling at a time when the 30+ local community television stations in the province have been reduced to only a few, and local newspapers across Canada, and everywhere, are disappearing all too frequently.
Brian Dickson, co-founder of St Andrews Community Channel
