Author Archives: Sylvia Masich

Music@Home – The special musical bond I have with my dad

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It all started when my dad started singing “All These Things That I’ve Done” by the Killers. Specifically the lyrics “I got soul but I’m not a soldier.” I was five at the time and my sister was 2 and a half. We were hooked. My dad had the album Hot Fuss on CD and after we would drop my mom off at work, most days our ride to daycare was filled with that album. Except for track 6. My dad didn’t like that song so we always skipped it.

Five-year-old me was obsessed with “Mr. Brightside” and would often get my dad to turn the stereo LOUDER to I could jam out to it.

That was the start of my music connection with my dad.

Throughout the years, we would share what we were listening to with each other. He wasn’t a big fan of my Taylor Swift or 5 Seconds of Summer, but loved it when I would kick it “old school” and listen to stuff he likes. I was big into Bryan Adams and we talked about that a lot.

And then May 24th, 2016 happened.

We were in the kitchen getting ready for school. We were listening to CBC Daybreak North because that is what my mom likes to listen to in the morning and in the car. The news was on, and that’s when they announced that Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip had terminal brain cancer. My dad was shocked and sad. I was surprised when he said it was one of his favourite bands. I had never heard him talk about The Tragically Hip. Not once.

Later that day, I thought to myself that’ll I’ll listen to their music, and see what my dad was talking about. I can’t remember what song I started off with but I got, like, 10 seconds in and turned it off. It was terrible! I could not understand how my dad liked this music. I was in total and utter disbelief. I went back to my music and continued on with my day.

That summer, the band was doing their farewell tour across Canada. My dad wanted to take us all. We ended up not getting tickets. I’m glad we didn’t either. It would have been a bad night. My mom, sister, and I, would have been bored and the chances of us leaving early would have been high. It would have been a bad memory.

August 20th, 2016 was a big day. My mom turned 50. Alyx Treasure was jumping in the high jump finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, she was one of my grandpa’s track athletes, and The Tragically Hip were playing their last show ever in Kingston. It had almost been three months and I still didn’t understand the hype that surrounded them. It still made no sense.

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The concert was over, the high jump finals were over, and we had had birthday cake. Everyone was getting ready for bed and I was on the computer looking at the news. I was on BBC News and there was an article title “Tragically Hip: Why Canada was closed for the final farewell tour” that I read. There were many tweets scattered throughout the article and I clicked on them to read. And then I saw on Twitter that The Tragically Hip were trending and I started reading tweets about the band. About how people were feeling. About the impact of the band. About the concert. About everything. And then, I pulled my iPod out, hooked it up to my dad’s laptop, and put all of The Tragically Hip songs we had on to my iPod. And then I started listening. I told myself you need to give them a chance. To just listen.

And I did.

The first song I listened to was “50 Mission Cap.” I was confused to what was going on so I went and asked my dad.

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He had a big grin on his face before he answered. He explained that is had two storylines. About the disappearance of Toronto Maple Leaf, Bill Barilko, and how the Leafs hadn’t won a Cup since his game winning goal. 11 years later, they won the Cup and 7 weeks after winning the Stanley Cup, Barilko’s body was found. Also, throughout the song, Downie sings about fifty mission caps. I had no idea what those were and my dad explained that bomber crews in World War II received caps as part of their uniform.  Many would try to break them in and wear them out so it looked like they were more experienced than they were.  Being part of a bomber crew was very dangerous and they had high casualty rates.  A 50 Mission Cap was a big deal.  He told me to ask him any questions I have about the songs I listened to. He was pretty excited that I was going to be finally listening to The Hip.

I stayed up until 2:30 that night listening to their songs. I was mesmerized by the sound of Gord’s voice and the instruments that played. Crazy to think that three months before, I couldn’t stand it and thought my dad was crazy.

My love for their music only grew from there. Often, I would listen to the Hip at school and find my new favourite song, tell my dad, and then we would have, like, a 2-hour conversation about said song and others. It was pretty great.

 

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I knew my dad didn’t have all of their CDs, so I made sure that I was going to complete his collection. HMV was having a wicked deal on all of their CDs, so I bought I think 13 for less than $90, which is a pretty good deal. I had to call my dad and ask which ones he didn’t have, so he figured out what he was getting for his birthday but that was okay.

The night before his birthday, I grabbed a green pen and sticky notes and started to write little notes on each album. And then I went around the house and hid them. I put World Container in his world mug, and Yer Favourites with his tea. Music at Work was put on his work bag and so on. They were scattered throughout the house but the one that took him by surprise was the one I put in his truck. He wasn’t expecting that one.

I don’t think I could ever top that birthday present and I look back on that day with a big smile. Our father/daughter bond got stronger over that. And our bond over The Tragically Hip has only grown from there. I try every year to get him something Hip related and grab that same green pen and the same sticky notes and write a little note on it. I’ve lost track at where we are now, but my dad has A LOT of The Tragically Hip stuff at home.

When Gord passed away, we were both heartbroken. But our love for the band didn’t disappear.

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In 2018, we drove to Québec City and back. My dad and I made sure we stopped at as many places as possible that the Hip references in their music.  We saw the Golden Rim Motor Inn, took in sundown on the Paris of the Prairies, lied down on either side of the Hundredth Meridian (where the Great Plains begin), we looked at the rolling hills all covered in suede in Sault St. Marie, and we visited Kingston on the day they opened the Gordon Edgar Downie Pier. We even convinced my mom that we should camp in Bobcaygeon for a night. For absolutely no reason, whatsoever. None.  And we did see the constellations reveal themselves one star at a time.

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New Hip albums are still being released, with previously recorded songs that haven’t been released before. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m listening to their new EP that they just released,  Saskadelphia.

It’s a music bond that I will forever have with my dad. We still share music that we’re listening to with each other. The most recent one that he’s got me hooked on is the song “Every Day My Mother’s Voice – Live” by Paul Kelly featuring Jess Hitchcock. It is a REALLY good song that I recommend you listen to.

Did your parents ever have an influence with the music you listen to now? Is there a particular artist that you have a special connection with? Share below in the comments!

What it was like working at a radio station during March 2020…

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It’s safe to say that the world totally changed after March 13th, 2020. School wasn’t going back to in person learning after spring break, big concerts and events were getting cancelled and all of a sudden, we couldn’t meet up with a bunch of friends and family. Oh, and people were travelling out of the country. It was crazy.

For the past 21 months, I have worked for Pattison Media in Prince George. I’m their FunChaser – my job is to promote events that are happening in the surrounding area. Yeah… you can imagine what that was like when everything got cancelled.

So, what happened at the radio/news station?

On March 14th we were supposed to welcome the world for the World Women’s Curling Championships. They got cancelled so I had the weekend off. On Monday, I came in to do my reception shift and there were talks about “shutting down.” Not actually shutting down, but getting the majority of people to work from home. Ultimately, if you didn’t have to be in the building, you weren’t to be in the building. The doors were getting locked, so the public could not come in, and we had to keep our distance from each other.

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At the end of the day, Kevin, our General Manager, looked at me and said “Okay Sylvia. We won’t see you until everything is back to normal. You aren’t an essential worker.” I was a little sad to be walking away from work not knowing when I would be back, but I was also excited to spend time at home and do nothing.

Psych.

I woke up the next day to an email, a missed call, a voicemail and a text from Kevin. He wanted me back in the station to cover reception. They only had Janet in there and phones were ringing off the hook with clients cancelling orders right, left, and centre. She couldn’t keep up and needed someone there to help with calls, emails, and doing logs. Our other receptionist/traffic person had to stay home and take care of her kids. I was becoming an essential worker.

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So, off I went to work. I was excited to be able to have a routine during the pandemic and most of all, I was going to be working full time. Oh, and I wasn’t going to drive my family up the wall. I’m REALLY good at that.

I got to work and I walked into a quiet building. Chatter, laughter, sales reps walking around are all common. It was eery. I got to reception and helped Janet.

Because businesses were closing for a period of time, people were staying at home, and money was tight for many, lots of clients were pulling their ads. That means contracts needed to be cancelled, reimbursements needed to be made, and it felt like a lot of work when it seemed like every client was doing it.

Advertisement spots were getting filled with more and more promos and fewer and fewer paid ads. It was really disheartening seeing all this money being lost right before our eyes.

Everything had to get satanized before and after use; you couldn’t have too many people in a room at once; we weren’t accepting food drops from clients; and there were only, like, 15 people in the building. It was scary.

Reporters would only come in to do their voice overs, and do their stories from home. Many on-air jocks and producers were doing production at home and only came into the building for their show. Most of the creative and sales departments were working from home. Managers were spending more time at home. Toward the end of the day, I would be the only person on the second floor. We all had our little spaces in the office, and we would stay there.

We were talking to coworkers in the building over the phone and email. There were many people I hadn’t seen in weeks. It was crazy.

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If clients wanted to let people know that they were open, and do an ad, they had to call and record their ad over the phone. You could tell it was done over the phone, too. But, we had to do what was best for everyone’s health.

COVID was consuming everyone. It seemed that that was all everyone could talk about.

And then something really cool happened. It lifted a lot of spirits in town. Bailey Grose, a local mom, reached out on a local Facebook page and asked if people could put hearts in their windows for kids to count while they go out for walks with their parents.

It.

Blew.

Up.

It went international.

I saw this as an opportunity to have some fun at the station because we were all feeling pretty blue, and went and bought A TON of card stock paper and started cutting hearts.

Here’s a video I made. I asked people who were at the station that day how many hearts they thought I put up. It was great. A lot of them are still up, which I think is SO cool.

Also, during that time, birthday parades exploded in Prince George. They were happening every day; and at 7PM honking at the hospital in support of nurses, doctors, and medical staff was happening too. We took part in many of them at the station, which helped me a lot because they were events that I could attend.

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The months went by. People were still working from home, we only had a 30-minute newscast with only our anchor on air; our sports reporter and weather person couldn’t be in studio at the same time. I was still working full time reception and I was not chasing a lot of fun. It was not ideal.

As spring progressed, things started to slowly open. Clients were buying advertisements again, I was going out on weekends because some events were happening, my coworkers started coming back to work in the office. It was great, but it wasn’t quite the same.

But with that, we had to change some policy. And policy has changed A LOT since everyone came back to work.

We have plexiglass EVERYWHERE – dividing work stations, desks, on-air booths, you name it. We also have to wear a mask the moment we leave our work station. Our doors are still locked to the public, but we do allow clients to come in to record ads now.

It seems like business is back to normal. We’re almost there, but not quite yet.

Working at a radio station during a pandemic is wild. Especially when it seems that everything is shut down. We are fortunate that we could stay open and continue to play music, and share the news, and be a part of the community. It has been a long haul and I can’t wait for things to go back to normal, and see everyone’s smiling faces walking around the building!

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The One Where He’s Smiling – The story behind the Terry Fox Statue that’s not like the rest

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It’s a statue of a national hero that you can find in many cities across Canada.

Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Ottawa and St. John’s are just a few Canadian cities that have a Terry Fox statue somewhere within their borders. Thunder Bay is the exception – Terry’s statue can be found just outside of city limits at the Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout, the place where Terry was forced to end his Marathon of Hope in 1980.

All of the statues that can be found across the country all have something in common; they are all of Terry in motion that’ve been frozen in time. They’re all from the Marathon of Hope. Except for one; and that is the statue we’re going to talk about today.

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Almost in the centre of BC, you can find a small city by the name of Prince George. It’s home to the University of Northern British Columbia, a lot of mills, two rivers, and a whole lot of wildlife and nature. It is also where Terry Fox ran in the 1979 Prince George to Boston Marathon.

The Prince George to Boston Marathon was a road race where the winner of the 17 mile run would get an entry into the Boston Marathon. Now, the race is known as the Labour Day Classic and the winner of the race does not get an entry into the Boston Marathon. It was started by Tom Masich, a local man who really helped develop youth sports in the city during the 60s to early 2010s.

September 1st, 1979, Tom received a phone call from Doug Alward, informing Masich that he, Terry and Darrell Fox had arrived in Prince George and wanted to stop by to introduce themselves. It was then that Tom had found out that Terry was an amputee and had full intention on participating in the race.

The visit the four men had was great, and Terry even informed the Masich family of his intentions of running across Canada to raise awareness for cancer research. But this race was his testing ground. He wanted to see if he could run over an extended period of time.

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The following day, everyone made their way Downtown to the start line. Also competing that year was a man in a wheelchair – Rick Hansen. He had broken the speed limit during the race, going down a city doing 60km/h! Tom had a lot of people question him for allowing an amputee to compete in the race. Was he crazy? He wasn’t sure. But there was nothing he could because the race had just started. All he could do was continue his job as director and make sure that the event was running smoothly.

There were two distances that could be completed that day. The 17 mile or the 8.5 mile. Terry chose the shorter one to start off with, but once he finished that one, he didn’t stop. He was going to be doing the entire 17 miles.

Just over 3 hours since the start of the race, Terry made his way to the finish line. He had quite the crowd cheering him on as he crossed the line with sweat dripping down his face, and all over his race bib with the number 192 on it. Tears, cheers, and applause could be heard. Terry finished last, but he had stolen the show.

In this video, you can get a glimpse of what the day was like. In it you can see Rick Hansen, Doug, and of course, Terry. The music playing in the background is Rod Stewart singing “Never Give up on a Dream;” a song dedicated to Terry and his Marathon of Hope.

At the banquet later that day, Terry shared his plan with everyone and then later that night, he shared his plans with his parents. His mom wasn’t too thrilled that Terry wanted to run across Canada. She questioned why he wanted to run across the country – why couldn’t he do something local?

Terry’s response? People across Canada get cancer.

She ended up hanging up on him, but eventually came around and supported Terry’s dream to run across Canada.

And that was that. Terry ran in Prince George, stole the show, and made his way back to the lower mainland to prepare for his run across Canada. We all know what happens next. He starts his Marathon of Hope in St John’s Newfoundland and makes his way to Thunder Bay before he has to stop because his cancer came back. After another year of fighting the disease. Terry lost his battle. But his legacy still lives on, 40 years later.

But what about that statue?

In the mid 2000s, the city of Prince George got a statue of Terry made to be put downtown beside the Four Seasons Pool.

It’s different from the rest across Canada.

He isn’t in motion, he’s standing up right with his hands on his hips.

His face isn’t focused, he’s not concentrating on running. Instead, he has a big smile.

And finally, he isn’t wearing a Marathon of Hope shirt. He has a bib on with the number 192 across the front and “Prince George to Boston” on the top.

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It’s from a time before everyone knew who Terry Fox was. He was just a guy with big plans on the horizon. It’s pretty cool knowing that that statue, with that amount of history stands in the downtown of my hometown.

I’ve been to four Terry Fox statues so far in my life. The one in Ottawa, the memorial in Thunder Bay, the statue in Vancouver, and of course, the one in Prince George.  I always make sure to spend some time looking at them before I continue on my day, wherever I am going. It is really cool seeing a national hero being recognized across the country. Even though all of them are powerful and moving to me, my favourite will forever be the one of a smiley faced Terry from before the world knew who Terry Fox was.

Understanding the hype of the Berg Lake Trail

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Every summer, my Instagram feed is filled with pictures of people doing the Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park. The vibrant colours of Kinney and Berg Lake are mesmerizing and it feels like you’re staring at a painting. Emperor Falls look terrifying as it rules over the valley, and the entire hike looks painful.

I never understood why everyone went. Throughout high school, many friends of mine hiked the trail and my woodwork teacher even tried convincing me to join on the school trip. I had no interest. I didn’t understand the hype. What was the hype?

I grew up spending my summers at the track, travelling with my family, or in Telkwa, a small village just before Smithers in Northwestern BC. We never went camping, or hiking. I was 17 when we went camping for the first time. 17! That’s pretty old!

It wasn’t until I got older that I became more interested in hiking and camping – my best friend Fiona really brought out the explorer in me.

So, when she texted me asking if I wanted to go to Mount Robson with her in July 2020, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Was I nervous? 100%. This was my first ever overnight hike. I needed to buy hiking boots and a bag, and mentally prepare myself for hiking up a mountain. But I was going to see for myself what all the hype was for the Berg Lake Trail.

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We were hiking up to Robson’s Pass and back in three days. That’s over 40km with tons of weight on our backs, all in three days! What was I getting myself into?

We did the 4 hour trek the Sunday morning, with a stop for lunch in Dome Creek where I accidentally did a turn doing 100km/h. Fiona was not impressed. When we got to the provincial park, we found a parking spot right by the trail head, got our gear, locked my blue VW Golf Ronnie up, and started our hike. I was nervous. I was scared I wasn’t going to make it. I was scared I wasn’t going to have fun.

We made our way to Kinney Lake, which is absolutely gorgeous, and crossed some questionable bridges. Many of the bridges on the hike only allow one person to cross at a time. And lots of times, the water is racing below your feet. We climbed these long switchbacks and were counting down the kilometres to our campsite. We were exhausted!

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Our first night was spent at Whitehorn. It was quite the trek to get there but we survived. The views were outstanding over the 11km, and I was starting to understand the hype of the Berg Lake Trail. I still felt out of my element, but was having a blast.

Whitehorn is a beautiful campsite – it’s in a valley, with the Robson River flowing down the middle of it. The water is freezing, but beautiful. You can find people sitting by the water relaxing, reading a book, and taking in the beautiful nature that is surrounding them.

After our rainy night at Whitehorn, we ate breakfast, packed up camp, and made our way to Robson’s Pass Campground. It was 12km to get there, and the majority of it was uphill. We were a little nervous, but both knew we could do it.

Throughout the entire hike, waterfalls are scattered along the mountain faces. I think I counted 11 at one point that I could see. You can hear the rumbling for kilometres before you actually see the water. It’s amazing. When we were hiking, it was very gloomy. But it added so much character to the landscape and made it seem like we were in a fairytale.

The hike from Whitehorn to Emperor Falls is long and painful. It’s all uphill and there are some killer switchbacks. You just want it to be over. People coming down the trail give you words of encouragement, telling you that you’re almost near the end. Those words are as sweet as candy. Your legs are in pain, your back hurts, you want to give up. But then, you make it.

A must stop on the trail is Emperor Falls. They are loud, powerful, and look like they rule over the entire valley. Mist hits your face as the water rumbles down the rock face. It’s beautiful. Pictures don’t do them justice. You have to be there to experience their glory. When I look back on the hike, Emperor Falls was one of my favourite parts. They are just SO stunning. You can’t even see how far down they go. It’s a mystery when they land, and I do not want to find out.

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After Emperor Falls, we continued our way up. We still had some pretty steep parts to climb up. Eventually we hit the flat part and it was the best part ever. Mount Robson was also right in front of us. We walked on rock for a long time – there were lots of people around us making their way to the final campgrounds.

We reached Berg Lake and it did not disappoint. The cold turquoise stood out from the gloom that surrounded the water. We walked along the entire lake and had a lunch break at the far end of the lake. My biggest regret? Not bringing a bathing suit and jumping in!

Sitting down after a grueling ~9km was very much needed. But it was so hard to stand up and get going! Thankfully, to our surprise, we were only a few kilometres away from our destination. Fiona and I continued on and while we were walking, the sun started to peak through the clouds. Thankfully at this point in the hike, it is super flat and wildflowers can be found alongside the trail. The Robson River is slow and calm. It was crazy thinking it gets so fast and dangerous.

It was a relief when we reached out campground. We made it! We set up tent, and relaxed a little. Then, I wanted to go to Alberta because the border was a short walk down from the campsite. Fiona however did not want to go. All she said was have fun and don’t get eaten by a bear, and off I went.

It was really cool being able to leap into Alberta and Jasper National Park! I was also in the area that leads to Snowbird Pass, a hike that takes you to Robson Lakes, and the glaciers that feed the lakes in the area. Unfortunately, Fiona and I didn’t have time to do it and are hoping that we will get to do it one day soon. I made my way back to camp, and Fiona called it a day.

The next day was going to be a long one. A 23km hike down and a four hour drive home. It was sunny and beautiful, and perfect for pictures.

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We passed many people making their way up, and just like the people the day before, we gave them words of encouragement as they made their way up the killer switchbacks and told them that the worst part was almost over. I even ran into people I knew on the trail!

When we hit Kinney Lake, we were SO relieved. We were almost done. And when we only had 2km left, we slowed down to the point where it felt like we were sloths. Our bodies were so sore.

It was funny because we were walking by people who were going for a little walk to Kinney Lake and back and they would look at us completely cooked and exhausted and question if wearing flip flops was the right thing to do.

We ended up finishing the hike in about 6 hours and when we reached my car Ronnie, we collapsed. We were SO relieved to sit down and eat. After processing the fact that we had just climbed down a mountain, we made our way back home.

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I couldn’t walk for a few days after the hike. I went to work the next day and my steps were small and I grimaced in pain. But the pain was worth it. As I write this, I miss Mount Robson and the Berg Lake Trail and the amazing hike I got to do with my best friend.

So, is the Berg Lake Trail and Mount Robson Provincial Park worth the hype? Yes it is. And you need to do it one day!