Wider Horizons

It’s another workday - 7 a.m. - and when the alarm sounds, Lounge Lizards in southern Alberta awake to a familiar lc logobooming voice over the radio. “They’ve added a new phrase to the dictionary,” it says, warming the morning with another morsel of vital information to start the day. “Bad hair day.”

Before listeners have a chance to pour their first coffee, they’re already smiling. That dulcet voice is Veryl Todd, half of the morning team at CJOC 94.1 The Lounge, who does his best to make sure people’s mornings are a joy, not a dread.

Todd, who retired in mid-2007, is a former Lethbridge College Broadcast Journalism instructor who sent hundreds of young voices onto the airwaves during his two decades in the classroom.

“My 22 years at the college were wonderful,” says Todd, who took delight in the many students he taught. “I loved interacting with them; I shared my knowledge of broadcasting, and they shared their lives with me.”

Retirement, it turns out, barely let Todd catch his breath; it wasn’t long before he was back at it, doing what he loves. As CJOC’s morning news anchor and partner to Mark Campbell, (Lethbridge College Radio Arts, ’75) he couldn’t be happier.

“Going back to radio as morning anchor was a dream come true,” says Todd, who worked in radio for more than 25 years before his time at Lethbridge College. “Radio was my career, so working at the new station was simply ‘going home.’ It was a no-brainer.”

Although Todd is on the job at 5 a.m., he hardly considers it work at all. “I love radio and always have. To me, it’s not work, it’s an enjoyment. I am creative and it’s the perfect outlet. I’m a morning person and don’t stay up late. (I) also get to go home early and never have to fight traffic.”

Todd says he enjoys teaming up with Campbell, and believes they make a good on-air pair. “Working with Mark Campbell is a delight; we have a sense of humour that matches a lot. We work well [together] and help the listeners have a happy day. I learned long, long ago, morning radio is where the biggest audience is. I don’t talk to my listeners, I talk with them. I provide them with their morning news in a personalized way, and also give them a few reasons to chuckle as they start their day off.”

Todd also enjoys gardening, oil painting, making beer and wine and spending time with his family. But, career-wise, he says his heart will always belong in radio.

“To me, radio is one of a kind. Every day and experience is slightly different. I love to be on-air and have a natural skill for it. I have something a lot of people don’t have: I love my work and it helps keep me young and healthy, and I will do it as long as it is fun.”

Wider Horizons
Christina Boese
Original Publication Date:
Category