I've been looking for footage for years so I could write about Telerama.
If you were a disabled person who grew up in Edmonton or Northern Alberta between 1975 and 1990...
...you tended to look forward to Telerama just as much as Christmas.
At least I did.
Before Family Day, it was the event that broke up the midwinter blahs in Alberta.
Showbiz with a cause!
And definitely for me (and a bunch of us I think), Telerama was our first clue that there was a world out there beyond our houses and schoolmates we saw every day.
I remember watching my first Telerama in 1977.
And wondering how Bob from Sesame Street got to Edmonton.
I didn't know about planes then I guess.
But seriously, the first Teleramas helped build the ACT (Associated Canadian Travellers) Centre in Rundle Park.
And the very nice indoor pool that was built at Camp Health Hope and Happiness in 1984.
Also any number of specialized vans and buses used to transport the disabled around Edmonton to programs and activities.
And the telecasts always ran from 9PM on a Saturday to 5PM on Sunday.
And there always seemed to be a great can-do spirit among Edmonton's local sports and entertainment celebrities.
I mean, Kompany! is shown performing a high-energy show at 6AM! That's dedication!
And the occasional celebrity flown in to keep the pledges coming in, such as the aforementioned Bob McGrath.
And who can forget Another World heartthrob Stephen Schnetzer, Cass Winthrop himself! He was willing to pitch in and help in with a musical number or whatever needed doing for "the disabled children of Northern Alberta".
Even if it was exhorting the folks at home to "RING THOSE PHONES!"
If you were a regular Telerama watcher, that particular phrase was kind of tattooed on your DNA in those years.
And if you weren't, then it wasn't. You played Atari or Intellivision.
I know people who would do that.
But I'm sure that particular phrase helped with the pledges.
So you may be wondering, if Telerama had this winning formula, why isn't it around anymore?
I'm just offering my off-the-cuff opinion here.
But I think it just got too expensive to put on.
That rousing singing of "Can't Smile Without You" at the start and end of every show? Barry Manilow was paid for that
And I must mention Crosby, a guy who was the local on-camera spokesman for many years. I happened to know him through school at the Glenrose, and he was always very personable and cool.
But the fact is also that no matter how committed Bob or Stephen were to the cause...
...they and all the other flown-in celebrities were well paid for their efforts.
And the year that the main theme used at the top of every hour was from the Broadway play The Music Man?
I bet that cost a pile of dough.
And even though Alberta may have been considered a "have" province back in the '70s and '80s, I think charity fatigue may have started to set in by the time things started to wind down for Telerama in 1990.
At this point I would like to thank everyone for donating and contributing to the telethon, and the projects it supported, over the sixteen years it was in existence.
Your generosity was - and still is - appreciated.
But I have to say that it was a little unsettling when the Telerama organizers seemed to take a page from the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon...
...and give the impression that every disabled man, woman and child in Northern Alberta was sad and downtrodden.
It is true that being disabled was and is no picnic.
But it is also true that most of us had parents who tried to make us see past our disabilities.
Most of us were also involved in programs like swimming and track and field.
A lot of which was funded directly or indirectly by Telerama.
So again, thank you to all.
Thank you so very much,
Honestly, with all those activities plus school, there wasn't a lot of time to mope.
So if you saw any disabled person on camera or in the audience looking very serious, it may have been anything from rapt appreciation for the variety-style entertainment to a once-yearly case of sleep deprivation.
I remember the 1985 show, when I was on the show twice on Sunday.
The first time was presenting a cheque to 1984 's Miss Canada Cynthia Kereluk, on behalf of St. Gabe's Elementary, my school at the time.
That was supposed to take place midmorning. But I was there 6:30ish, because Dad was working a shift on the phones.
At about 7:15, the person scheduled to go on had to respond to the call of nature.
So on I went in their place.
I answered Ms, Kereluk's three questions (who I was, what school I was from, and how much the cheque was for).
And other than hearing myself on a seven-second delay on every TV speaker in the general area of the room, it went great.
And I spent the rest of the day in the audience.
Which went great, as we were entertained by people like Mr. McGrath, Bobby Curtola, and Ronnie Prophet.
And at about 4:00 or so, a guy with a headset asked four of us if we'd like to be on camera during a song by Broadway star Carol Lawrence.
We looked at each other for a minute and agreed.
So we were arranged into a circle, told that the camera would move to each of us for a closeup...and oh yes, please don't laugh when we were on camera.
We all made it through, looking appropriately serious, due to the fact that we knew we were being sung to by a bona fide Broadway talent, even without the Internet to verify.
(And yes, due to more than a little sleep deprivation).
I am not 100% certain what the song Miss Lawrence sang us was, but You'll Never Walk Alone seems to stick out in my mind.
That would certainly fit.
Most of us had parents, walkers, or parallel bars supporting us when we attempted to walk.
And that was Telerama...big-hearted showbiz in Northern Alberta folks.
From roughly 1975 to 1990.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed and participated.
One year, Dad even let Jacquie and I call in pledges.
Oh the memories!
Here's the song that opened and closed the show from 1978 onward:
I want to take a minute to also acknowledge the respected Edmonton jazz musician Bobby Cairns. I never knew or met him, but Mr. Cairns was responsible for the wonderful musical orchestrations on Telerama, bringing decades of experience which started for him at the age of 15 in the Tommy Banks band, as well as many years touring, recording, and teaching. His musical arrangements were a huge part of what made Telerama so memorable. Rest in peace Mr. Cairns.
