The day the radio went silent

Last Tuesday morning I was saddened by the news of an old friend passing away.
The news came from that old friend at 4 a.m. as my clock radio went off to wake me up for my weekly trek to the printing plant in Fort Frances.
On came the radio and it said, “This is am 640 CFOB in Fort Frances. Please tune into B-93 FM, 93.1 on your FM dial.” That message repeated over and over again, was still repeating at last check Monday.
To improve the quality of their signal, the Fort Frances radio station converted to FM earlier this year. However, the fringe area of their broadcast area, Rainy River, is in a valley. Many people, including me, can not receive the FM signal on their radio’s at home.
The station was giving away antennas this year, but they do my clock radio little good.
I have fallen asleep and awoken to CFOB for about 20 years. In fact I remember the kids at RRHS listening intently every morning to hear if one of their school mates, often Marc or Guy Beaudry, had one a phone in contest.
The local people also listened to what was the only source of daily information on news and often depended on to get the weather reports and school closures during the big storms of winter.
Now people will either have to count on U.S. based radio from Warroad for those reports or else head out the car where the signal comes in fairly good.
With the departure of the AM signal last week I felt like an old friend had died. It is too bad we can’t get his reincarnated replacement at home on the radio.
–Until then,
Ken