AMHERST, N.S. – On March 29th the CFTA radio show ‘’This is When’ will broadcast its 300TH show.
Airing weekdays at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., the show reveals maritime legends and histories, and has gathered a faithful following.
“Historians often focus on the big picture, but I want to be able to share our Chignecto and Nova Scotian stories,” said Dale Fawthrop, who created This is When in January 2018. “We need to preserve our roots."
Previously, CFTA had aired over 250 episodes of Fawthrop's ‘The 1867 News,’ which told local and maritime stories prior to Confederation.
In the conclusion to The 1867 News many listeners were shocked to learn that there was very little support for Confederation in Nova Scotia. So little that Charles Tupper was the only Confederation federal candidate elected to the first Canadian parliament.
Further, there was only one Confederation supporter elected to the Nova Scotia Provincial Government.
Bolstered by the enjoyment of sharing local stories, Fawthrop created ‘This Is When’ so that local stories will stay alive.
CFTA and Fawthrop have retained all 550 broadcasts of the two shows for posterity and they will be made available to students, researchers and writers.
"With This Is When I often work in weekly or monthly themes,” said Fawthrop. “In October, Women's History Month, I told the stories of 21 women who made a significant contribution to Nova Scotia culture; in November we told the stories of the Victoria Cross recipients and the North Novas; and December was all about Christmas stories.”
For the 300th broadcast Fawthrop appeared on the show with the show host Norman Albert Code.
Fawthrop is the researcher and writer and Code is the host. For the first time these two were in the same broadcast booth together.
Spoiler alert: for those who think Fawthrop and Code sound alike, that's because they are the same person. Norman Albert Code was Fawthrop's birth name.
"Using my birth name for the show host allows me to keep that part of my history alive." said Fawthrop.
Fawthrop thanks the Tantramar Community Radio Society and Ron Bickle from CFTA. “Community radio allows us to share and to preserve our local stories and we could never do that without CFTA 107.9,” said Fawthrop.
