41073722•05/25/12


• Collision repair & painting •All insurance c


• Collision repair & painting • All insurance c


• Complete restorations • In-house frame repair


ations


All insurance claims welcome t


• In-house /mobile sandblasting • Windshield replacement


• Glass Mechanix stone chip repair • Clear stone guard protection


• Graphics design: stock or custom, customized airbrush designs, vinyl lettering


Poncho Parker


that awful. The general sales manager went to the boss and said, ‘I don’t know who that guy is but get him off the radio. He has the worst voice I’ve ever heard.’”


38


There was once a time when one of Medicine Hat’s favourite professional talkers was simply a full-time listener.


From welder to pipeliner to a silk-shirt- wearing banker, this ROCK 105.3 FM morning co-host spent a lot of his early days as a real Jack, er, Poncho of all trades. But it was the last job before turning to the airwaves that truly developed Poncho Parker’s love of radio.


“I was driving a semi at the time when I put myself through broadcasting college,” says Parker, who has now been in radio for 12 years. “One of the reasons why I love radio, specifically rock radio, is because I’d actually much rather listen than talk. I listened to a heck of a lot of radio while I was driving a truck.”


Parker took his schooling at a small broadcast school in Winnipeg, or as he says “River City in the Keystone Province.” It was self-admittedly not your typical broadcast school either, providing him with a seven- month crash course in the field.


But that was all Parker needed to earn some practicum time in Peace River, where he would read grain reports for a local station for all of about 30 seconds each day. As odd as that sounds for Poncho fans, what’s even stranger is the job they offered him thereafter.


Less hard to believe for most — including Parker himself — is the axe he was given just 24 hours later.


“They hired me the day before my birthday and then fired me the very next day, on my birthday,” Parker remembers. “I was


OK, so he wasn’t meant for agriculture numbers. But he was meant for radio, and someone in Peace River actually knew it as well, convincing the station higher- ups to get Parker rehired on a part-time basis.


That second chance secured his place in the industry, as part time eventually did


become full time, which then led to career- advancing jobs in Bonneville, Cold Lake and Lloydminster.


In early 2008, just a few months removed from the official launch of ROCK 105.3, Poncho Parker made his Medicine Hat debut. And for four years since, Parker’s voice — one that has since proved not to be the “worst” you’ve ever heard — has been keeping Hatters company while they drag themselves to work each morning.


During that time, Parker — along with wife and daughter — has made a life here and is extremely proud to call Medicine Hat his home.


“I’m just happy that this town enveloped me,” he says. “It feels really good to put some roots down here. I’m kind of like a 21st century gypsy of sorts, where I get the itch move every couple of years, as did my wife.


“But now that we’ve started a family, we really can’t think of a better place to raise our little girl.”


If you’ve seen Parker around town, you know those horribly unstylish, dress-shirt banking days are well behind him, as he is the textbook jeans and T-shirt guy if there ever was one. In fact, he readily admits a serious inquiry into a possible station dress code during his initial interview, adding that the wrong answer might have been a deal breaker.


“I think a lot of people in Medicine Hat are jeans and T-shirt people too,” he says. “We all want the same thing — cheap gasoline and the return of Velcro shoes.”


Congratulations


Top 40 Under 40 Honourees!


to all of the


LIFETIME


PAINT WARRANTY


SPRAY IN BOX LINERS Mobile Services Available for Industrial & Agricultural applications


2039 Bullshead Road (2 km. east of Medicine Hat on Hwy. #1)


403.526.4005 toll free: 1.877.526.4005


fax: 403.526.4012


www.outlawcollision.ca TOP 40 UNDER FORTY | 33


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44