Golden West C.E.O. Elmer Hildebrand joins Morning Show team Chris Sumner (far left), Michelle Sawatzky and Jayme Giesbrecht (far right), during the CFAM 65th anniversary live stream. (Masks were temporarily removed for interviews and photos)

It is a special day 65 years in the making for those of us at CFAM Radio 950, and for our dedicated listeners who have made the radio station a staple on the AM dial over the decades. Sixty-five years ago today, at 8:01 p.m. on March 13th, 1957, the switch was officially flipped on a brand new radio station, putting CFAM Radio 950 on the air!

This is a portion of the official opening ceremony of CFAM Radio 950. 

Golden West, which got its start in these small studios in Altona, Manitoba, is the parent company of PembinaValleyOnline, CFAM Radio 950, Country88 and Eagle 93.5

Elmer Hildebrand is the C.E.O. for Golden West, and is one of the company's original employees. He joined Morning Show team Michelle, Jayme and Chris in studio during Friday's 65th anniversary Morning Show to reflect on the past six-and-a-half decades.

"A lot of people still remember what they were doing when the radio station signed on, and very quickly people said 'This will never work. This will be a flash in the pan'," said Hildebrand. "(At the time), I was writing ads and initially, we had lots of clients, but when the bills went out after the first month a lot of them cancelled, and after a few more months we didn't have anymore clients, so there were no ads to write. By that time, management had changed, and the manager of the day said, 'Well maybe you can go see if you can sell something', and that's how I started. I was selling ads during the day and writing them at night, and that's how we started to build it up one brick at a time."

Starting as a small radio station in Altona, Manitoba with a population of just 1,800 people, CFAM Radio 950 consisted of 11 staff. Now, Golden West serves many communities as the largest independent radio broadcaster in Canada, with the addition of dozens of community-based web sites that see users read more than a quarter-billion pages of information each year. As well, the company employs hundreds of professionals, and developing robust solutions to help business and communities grow which now includes Homefield, and Homefield People and Strategy.

n CFAM65th" width="400" style="float: none; width: 100%; margin: initial;" role="figure" />Manitoba Premier, Heather Stefanson, also joined in on the 65th anniversary celebrations on Friday.

"I think it's so important and, of course, it's not just here in Altona, but there's many other communities," said Stefanson. "I'm here today with two of my colleagues - (Borderland MLA) Josh Guenter and (Morden-Winkler MLA) Cameron Friesen, and that's just two of the communities that we cover off. Of course, local businesses are so important to these communities, family businesses, and that's who we want to celebrate, everything they do. You guys cover all of those areas, those businesses, those families, and so this is what it's all about."

Here is more of Stefanson's conversation with Chris Sumner.

For Borderland MLA Josh Guenter, who also attended Friday's celebration, CFAM Radio 950 has been a part of his entire life. From tuning in as a child for school cancellations in the winter, to following local news and sports, and eventually becoming a part-time on-air announcer at CFAM's sister stations The Eagle 93.5 and Country88 (formerly CKMW 1570) in Winkler.

"Sixty-five years is a significant milestone, and I celebrate this along with all of you," he said. "It's very significant for our community. We really depend on local news these days as a trusted source of information. So many organizations aren't doing local news. and so Golden West is providing an incredibly vital and valuable service."