50th Anniversary

Welcome to the CKCU 50th Anniversary headquarters! Here, you will find:

  • info about special anniversary events
  • links to anniversary projects (commemorative book; limited edition Gold LP; reunion weekend events; etc.)
  • Pre-order for Gala tickets
  • sign-up for 50th Anniversary email updates (way down at the bottom of this page)

Commemorative Book

Coming soon to your coffee table! A group of volunteers headed by Michael (tic) Houston is compiling the history of CKCU-FM into a richly illustrated 12″ x 12″ book, featuring contributions from CKCU alumni throughout the ages. To contribute your memories, contact tic and his team at ckcubook@gmail.com. Embarrassing photos are definitely welcome!

Book Pre-Order:

We are now taking orders for 100 copies of a very Special Edition of the book (not exactly as illustrated), via a GoFundMe page. Here’s what you get for $200:

  • A hand-numbered first edition of the commemorative book 
  • Your name listed on a “This Book Was Made Possible By…” supporters’ page
  • Custom-printed 45rpm adapters featuring CKCU branding
  • A bonus USB drive containing hundreds of additional photographs that could not be included in the print edition, and Digital copies of all of the available issues of Trans FM, CKCU’s original program guide

Want Additional Copies, or Prefer to Just Buy the Book?
After production, the standard version of the book will be available for $93.10. You can also pre-order the standard edition now. Go to the same GoFundMe page and enter $93 x the quantity desired. Pre-ordering will help us with production costs, and will ensure that YOU get your copy.

Act Now!
Hurry, the Deluxe Edition is turning out to be very popular! Pre-order at GoFundMe or e-transfer to alumni@ckcufm.com. Old-school cheques still work, too, payable to CKCU-FM and mailed to 517 Nideyinàn, Carleton University, Ottawa ON K1S 5B6.

Anniversary Weekend

At 12:00:01 am, November 15, 1975, Joni Mitchell’s “You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio” sparked the beginning of FM broadcasting by Radio Carleton, CKCU-FM, at 93.1 on the dial. Fifty years later – and coming up really soon! – we’ll be celebrating with a full weekend of activities, from Friday, November 14 to Sunday, November 16.
Here’s what we know so far:

• The Friday night social will reunite old friends from five decades of young people – well, they were young at the time – who contributed to the Mighty 93.
• Friday’s social will culminate at midnight in CKCU’s studios (yep, still on the 5th floor of the Unicentre, now named Nideyinàn), where you will join in an outburst of enthusiasm and pride as we enter our 51st year of broadcasting.
• On Saturday afternoon (at an undisclosed location), volunteers and alumni will gather to spell out a large human “CKCU” for an epic overhead drone photo
• Saturday night’s Gala Dinner will feature speeches, awards, reminiscences, a photo booth, displays of ephemera, merch sales and, of course, dinner. After dessert, there will be music and much merriment, until the authorities intervene.
• On Sunday, participants who aren’t burnt out can enjoy a collegial Sunday Brunch. (This is a pay-for-your-own-eggs-benedict affair.) We haven’t settled on a suitable restaurant for this yet – if you have any recommendations, the committee would love to hear them! Email bruce.white@ckcufm.com with your tips.

Gala Dinner Tickets

You can now book your seat at the table! The Gala Dinner on Saturday, November 15th is the only ticketed event of the weekend. Over a hundred seats have already been sold, so pre-order as soon as your next paycheque comes in:
    • $120.00 per person
    • $220.00 for two tickets (your Plus One can be a spouse, partner or BFF)
    • $80.00 each for current CKCU volunteers
    • $150.00 for current volunteers and their Plus One
E-transfer the appropriate amount to alumni@ckcufm.com. Thanks for showing your support!

Limited Edition LP ~ Certified Gold

For CKCU’s 50th anniversary, we’ll be assembling a kickass Bandcamp page with many great Ottawa area artists. Out of those, we will compile over a dozen of those tracks on a limited edition LP on GOLD vinyl (well, gold coloured, not $4600/oz. real gold)!

The aim is to reflect the diversity and dynamism of our local artists and to showcase them across the Community Radio sector and beyond. We hope to have these very special records ready for sale by anniversary weekend, November 14 to 16. Please stay tuned for more details and some previews of this project as they develop!

We Need Your Skills!

The 50th Anniversary Reunion Weekend is being organized by a small group of volunteers, on a shoestring budget. Y’know, a typical CKCU effort. We can’t do much about the budget, but it would be wonderful if we could make the team a bit bigger.

We need CKCU alumni to help with graphics, shopping for caterers, event planning, party decor, sourcing branded swag, crafting awards, writing scripts for the gala evening, collecting photos & reminiscences, and – this is kind of meta – recruiting more volunteers.

If you think our ragtag group needs your help, you’re probably right. So right now, email alumni@ckcufm.com to pitch in. (Photo is to make this blurb look a bit less boring; any inference about the ragtag nature of any of those pictured is totally not what we were going for.)

Updates

For more information, watch for updates on this web page, or subscribe to the Best Alumni Email List Ever by contacting Bruce at alumni@ckcufm.com