Published Jun 12, 2025 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute readAnne M. Crossman is a former journalist and media manager. She now does volunteer work in her community of Annapolis Royal. Photo by ContributedThe wildfire news in northern Saskatchewan last week erased a physical part of my past.Wildfire season has started early this year. The boreal forest is on fire and all the people and creatures who live “up there” live in fear that they will lose their homes.Read More ANNE M. CROSSMAN: A bustling arts scene ANNE M. CROSSMAN: Warrior women I have known I lived in La Ronge in mid-Saskatchewan from October 1980 until January 1983. I produced a CBC Radio program from the second floor of the Robertson Trading Co. Sadly, that whole building was burned to the ground. It contained a collection of local crafts, such as beaded moosehide jackets, which were housed on the first floor.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentWe were four intrepid souls who broadcast the top half of the province from what used to be Uranium City in the north to Creighton on the east side and Meadow Lake near the Alberta border. We were part of a CBC Radio experiment called the mid-Canada Network.I got the job after living in Regina Beach for a very short period of time and doing casual work in the CBC Radio’s Regina newsroom. We drove up to La Ronge with two adults, one child and two dogs. We got a cabin at Red’s Camps just across from the Robertson Trading Co. building. I remember cooking our Thanksgiving turkey in a gas oven, which I had never done before. We are still around so I guess it was OK.Red’s Camps was the place to start your fishing trip, and they had a wharf where floatplanes could cosy up to and then take off to where the big fish were. Many of the floatplanes were Beavers. If you have ever heard a Beaver take off, you will understand that having a big plate glass window in your broadcasting studio felt a tad precarious. That glass would flex like you wouldn’t believe. But the view of Lac La Ronge and the planes taking off was spectacular.Article contentIn those days, radio studios were either underground or in the middle of the CBC building. The second floor of the store had plate glass windows all along the front – our office, our record library, an editing studio and our broadcast studio.We were all greenhorns at the station. We knew some of the basics technically but the stories were there and ours to tell. We did news casts in English (sent up to us by CBC in Regina), Cree (translated by our Cree broadcaster) and in Chipewyan (translated by our Chipewyan broadcaster). We learned a lot. We did interviews and music and sometimes even requests for specific music pieces. I learned about the Cree and the Chipewyan. I also learned how to manage in a very different kind of radio environment.We moved from Red’s Camps to the Anglican Church “compound” where there was a large motor home, which had been used to house any visiting clergy. There was a cottage down on the lake with a wharf where the reverend could park his plane. And there was the little Anglican Church. There are stories which come from there but I’ll keep them for another day.I still keep in touch with one of the broadcasters which makes me happy. And I have my coffee every once in a while out of my Keewatin Kountry mug with the names of all the communities we talked to every day.Anne M. Crossman is a former journalist and media manager. She now does volunteer work in her community of Annapolis Royal and can be reached at acrossman2@gmail.com.Article content
ANNE M. CROSSMAN: Thinking of La Ronge
