Yesterday our Country Cookout crew made it’s way out to Mazenod to the Aaron Krauss farm for some great food, courtesy of Peg’s Kitchen, and terrific entertainment from The Abrams, who took somewhat of a detour on their way to the CCMA Awards which will be held in Calgary this weekend.

I can’t recall one Country Cookout where the people have been anything but wonderful. They are always so appreciative of the fact that we would all pile into our vehicles and make our way out to their farms for an evening of food and music. When I say “we,” I mean staff from the radio station and reps from all of our great sponsors who make this happen. There are times when “we” come pretty close to outnumbering our hosts!

The cookouts may have evolved over the years, but the principle hasn’t changed since Willy Cole started these things all those years ago. It’s all about getting out to the rural areas and letting the farmers know we care.

Yesterday one of our great listeners, Leonard, came up to me while I was eating and asked if I could do him a favour. He wanted to know if I could say hi to his mother-in-law over the phone. Apparently she has been listening to the station for more than 40 years and loves the morning show and the Flea Market. I was more than a little humbled. So, after supper, Leonard got his mother-in-law on the phone and passed it over to me. I chatted with her for a bit and thanked her for being such a loyal listener. Things like that make this job worthwhile.

Sometimes if a listener is on the other end the phone it’s not a good thing. It always starts the same way. My boss will come up to me and say, “I just got off the phone with a listener.” Uh oh. Now what did I say? Fortunately, those times seem to happen a lot less than they used to!

So, to all of our listeners, be it city or rural, thank you for making us a part of your day!