Good morning, and goodbye
CBC Radio co-host signing off after 10 years of waking Victorians
by Joanne Hatherly
Victoria Times Colonist
Friday, February 01, 2008
                                                                  
CBC Radio's On the Island broadcast loses a touch of its constancy when morning co-host Jeff Weaver clicks off his microphone for the last time today at 8:30 a.m. While the show that wakes up with the city has gone through about a dozen hosts since its introduction in 1998, Weaver, 47, has played co-host through its entire tenure.

Weaver, his wife Colleen and their two Siamese cats Bill and Mimi will ride out on the Coho ferry this afternoon, heading east to his home turf in southern Ontario, back to a large extended family and a life of unknown possibilities that might include working as a cook at a McDonald's restaurant.

"I want to do things I've never had time to do before," says Weaver, chuckling as he describes his prospects and discusses leaving his career in radio, where he got his start after following a buddy into a campus radio station studio in New Brunswick.

"I followed him in and it's been 30 years since," muses Weaver from the studio where he delivers the morning show. He worked in private radio for 10 years before hooking into CBC Radio in New Brunswick where he hosted a show, but it wasn't the right fit, he says.

"I don't like being the centre of attention," says Weaver, putting to rest any question that his departure has anything to do with always being a co-host, never a host at Victoria's CBC station on Pandora Avenue. "I could have been host, but I like being second-in-command; it's my role to make the host sound better. And it's less pressure."

Current On the Island host Gregor Craigie says his first contact with Weaver was as a listener. "When I first came to Victoria, I woke up listening to Jeff and Dave Grierson, and just laughing as I listened to the two of them." Craigie says he'll miss Weaver's technical expertise and genuine nature. "His on-air and off-air personality is the same. It's not an act."

In part, it was Grierson's sudden death due to a heart attack while on assignment in Tofino in 2004 that triggered Weaver's thoughts about his own life.

"He died at 49 years old, I'm 47," Weaver says. He points at the empty chair in the sound booth facing him. "You become so close; you share the morning across the glass. He's a good friend. So yes, his death has something to do with it. I want to be out living when I'm 50, not that there's anything wrong with this job."

Grierson's passing might have been the trigger, but Weaver says an accumulation of factors contributed to his and Colleen's decision, the main being that despite having lived on the Island for nearly a decade, he was unable to convince any of his extended family in southern Ontario to join them here.

When Weaver's mother had a health crisis several years ago, Victoria suddenly seemed far from home. Too far. The Weavers took stock and realized that selling their Fairfield home near Gonzales beach and moving back to Ontario would enable them to live life as they chose.

"We made a little money on our house, like a lot of Victorians," Weaver says. "So, I'm sure a lot of people are weighing the same decision."

Weaver, who has a business degree and has always kept his eye on the stock market, ponders starting up as a financial adviser, as well as doing jobs he has never done before but has always been curious about, including that job flipping burgers for McDonald's.

"I don't know how long I'd last, but I'd like to try it," says Weaver, smiling. He and Colleen intend to travel. When asked for a short-list of destinations, Weaver mentions a travel coffee table book with 200 locales, but he quickly names Iceland, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. Up to now, work has restricted their travel to one- to three-week trips.

That's not enough to satisfy their curiosity. Ideally, they would like to take up work terms that would let them fully experience other countries' cultures. That might spell a return to radio, Weaver says, "maybe with an NGO (non-government organization) setting up radio stations in Africa."

As he looks back, Weaver knows what he'll miss most: His radio audience, covering the personal stories of Islanders living their lives, and beachcombing with Colleen at Botanical Beach and Gonzales Bay.

What does he look forward to the most? He grins. "Spending more time with my wife. We're best of friends and I'm looking forward to being able to spend entire days with her. I can't wait."

Colleen, whose past occupation was as a program director for the Boys and Girls Club, looks forward to the trip home. She says, "I've enjoyed our time here in Victoria and love the city, but I'm also looking forward to a new adventure."

As Weaver thumbs through the dozens of e-mails from well-wishing listeners, he wonders out loud what life will be like being one step removed from the news.

"Next week, nobody is going to care what I say, no one will listen to me any more," Weaver says.

What about Colleen?

He laughs. "She learned to tune me out a long time ago."

jhatherly@tc.canwest.com