"To everything - turn, turn, turn. There is a season - turn, turn, turn."    - The Byrds

 

If you're a longtime Kitchenerite as I am, there are certain things you've probably grown accustomed to.

 

Like Oktoberfest in the fall and the Comedy Festival in the spring.

 

Bluesfest in the summer and Kitchener Rangers' hockey games in the winter.

 

And in all seasons, Randy Steinman on TV.

 

But now, after four decades of being a fixture in the world of local news and (mostly) sports, Steinman and family have relocated to Chatham, Ontario.

 

First Hiway Market closes, now this.

 

Kitchener will never be quite the same.

 

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His career began in radio with CFTJ (Cambridge) in 1979 followed by a couple with CKKW (Kitchener) before some short stints as colour commentator for the Cambridge Hornets and play-by-play man for the Guelph Platers. Then he made his first move to Chatham in 1984 to become the sports director for CFCO.

 

"That was a huge break for me because it was the season the Detroit Tigers began the season 35-and-5," recalls Steinman.

 

"NewsRadio stations across North America were hungry for info on the Tigers and I was able to provide it.  So I also evolved into the NewsRadio 'go-to guy' for Tigers and Red Wings coverage.  Plus some Pistons and Lions.  So I got to cover a lot of pro sports out of Detroit from 1984-89."

 

What came next was one of those pivotal moments in which fate seems to play a hand.

 

"One night in September of ‘89, I’m in the press box at Tiger Stadium covering a late-season game and I’m sitting beside CKCO-TV Sports Director Bill Inkol, who was there doing some work for CTV’s Blue Jays Banter show. "

 

"He knew me from my CKKW days so we talked for a few innings. A few months later, he called to ask me to apply for a job at CKCO and I started in December, 1989."

 

Back then the sports department at CKCO was a core of professionals as solid as a Scott Stevens bodycheck : Inkol, Steinman, Jeff Hutcheson, Wayne Kooyman and Don Cameron - what Steinman refers to as "the glory days of TV".

 

Inkol retired in 1994 and was replaced by Hutcheson who left for Canada AM in '97. At that point, Steinman became the new sports director, a role he remained in until March of 2017 when Bell Media made the decision to eliminate the sports departments at CTV affiliates across the country. He spent the last couple of years as a news reporter until retiring last month.

 

Former colleague and longtime friend Hutcheson was every bit as impressed with Steinman's work ethic during his Chatham days as he was with the quality of what he produced.

 

"One of his responsibilities was to produce a half hour weekly sports show that would only be seen in the Channel 42 viewing area," remembers Hutcheson. "We needed this local content to keep up with the CRTC mandate."

 

"And when I say 'produce', I mean find and profile 3 or 4 people each week; shoot his own interviews in addition to conducting them; then script and formulate the show which we edited in KW." 

 

"You'd actually have to do this to realize how hard it was."

 

Hutcheson, who along with Steinman is a member of the Preston High School Hall of Fame, knew that covering amateur and high school athletes and telling local stories struck a chord with his fellow Panthers alumnus. So he wasn't surprised when Steinman made some changes after becoming the new sports director.

 

"Randy steered the station into a diet of heavily localized sports coverage and content.  He took some shots from viewers for this but stayed the course…and it was the right thing to do."

 

"National sports still got its due but he was well aware that the TSN's and Sportsnet's of the world covered the major sports and that fans watching a high school football game or Junior B hockey game were just as important as viewers as those Leafs or Blue Jays fans."

 

Hutcheson knew how devastating it was for Steinman when the Bell Media axe fell on the sports department but he also understood why he agreed to transition to the news side of things for his final few years.

 

"Be it sports, be it news, it's still how you tell a story," says Hutcheson.

 

"Randy's results, and three national broadcasting awards, speak for themselves.  He is, and was, a great storyteller and a great broadcaster."

 

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Lance Roberts is a local real estate professional who refereed in the NHL for 14years. He is also a longtime friend of Randy Steinman.

 

"Randy was always humble with his celebrity status and I would always joke with him about it," says Roberts reflecting back on their friendship.

 

"He would answer the phone 'Randy Steinman Sports' and I would answer 'What do you know about sports?' and he would have a funny retort about my ability as a referee. He can give and take equally with the ribbing."

 

Former Wilfrid Laurier head football coach Gary Jeffries sees Steinman in much the same way.

 

"He is always pleasant. Always has a smile on his face. We've had a lot of good laughs together."

 

Those laughs have been shared at cottages not far apart or at Morty's in Waterloo where Roberts was also sometimes in attendance.

 

"We would often tease Randy about how slow he was to get his hand inside his wallet," says Jeffries with a smile.

 

"I think he's been promising to buy me the same cup of coffee for twenty years now."

 

Aside from a valued kinship with Steinman, Roberts and Jeffries share the same opinion about just how good he was at covering local sports and how valuable that was to the community.

 

"Randy truly cared about the local content," says Roberts. "I coached the St David's High School hockey team and it was exciting for these young athletes to be recognized on his telecast."

 

"His knowledge of sports and knowing what was important to bring to the community will be missed. He touched many people with his reporting and coverage."

 

Jeffries agrees.

 

"He was always supportive of our teams at Laurier but also did an amazing job for the entire K-W area."

 

"Having said that, it's great to see him retired. I'm thrilled for him - he's just a great guy."

 

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Darren Stevenson worked alongside Steinman in the latter stages of his career at CTV Kitchener and like all the others, sings his praises as both a person and a professional.

 

"Growing up in K-W, I had watched Randy on the news for years. He was a familiar face in our house, so it was really great in the Spring of 2003 when we met for the first time," remembers Stevenson.

 

"In my job interview, he was honest, relatable and you knew right away he cared about sports and his department. We hit it off almost right away and I know he played a key role in me landing the sports anchor and reporter job at the station."

 

"I will always be thankful to him and Larry Rose (the news director at the time) for giving a young guy like me an opportunity to do sports in my hometown."

 

"Randy was fiercely passionate about our department and the people that worked in it. Along with Jamie Killingsworth, we all believed in what we were doing bringing local sports to the community."

 

Apparently that Steinman work ethic that impressed Hutcheson so much never wavered during the span of his career.

 

Says Stevenson:

"As a broadcaster, Randy’s attention to detail was second to none. He was extremely organized with schedules and knowing what was happening on any given day. When I arrived to 'work' every day, there was a detailed list of all games on that day. It made things so much easier."

 

And of course, that trademark Steinman joie de vivre was also part of the whole package.

 

"As a person, Randy's sense of humour stands out as one of his best qualities. There was no shortage of laughs and funny stories swapped in any given day."

 

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When Steinman ended up at CKCO/CTV-Kitchener, he was literally working across the street from the hospital in which he was born.

 

"I like to joke that, in my entire life, my career only took me 200 yards," he says.

 

So despite the fact he has returned to Chatham, the place where he earned his television "stripes" early in his career, Steinman is as Kitchener as the Coronet and Dom Cardillo Arena.

 

"I grew up watching Big Al’s cartoons and Betty Thompson on Romper Room and news anchor Gary McLaren. And later on, I got to work with Betty and Gary."

 

Steinman is clearly grateful for the wonderful experiences his career afforded him and grateful to all those who helped him along the way.

 

"Sports gave me a chance to meet heroes from my youth.  I interviewed guys like Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Johnny Unitas, Bob Feller…" 

 

"Those athletes were larger than life when I was a kid.  My one regret was that I never got photographs taken with them.  It was always an unwritten rule in our industry that you never ask for photos or autographs.  It just wasn’t cool.  But now, I’m thinking, 'Who would have really cared?' "

 

Not surprising, however, is that Steinman's favourite memory of all was one a little closer to home.

 

"The night Wilfrid Laurier won the Vanier Cup in 2005 was THE highlight for me." 

 

"I had covered World Series and Stanley Cups and major golf tournaments, but this was way more fun. The game was at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton and Darren and I went down to cover it together. It was such a great game with the Hawks winning on a last-second field goal."

 

"We got all our post-game material, then raced back to make it the lead story on the late news."

 

"By then, the city of Waterloo was going bananas with celebration and our coverage of everything was phenomenal.

 

It was a Saturday night, so at midnight I went to Morty’s to join in on the party. I was so happy for Gary.  It was an unforgettable experience."

 

Steinman 's gratitude for those who helped him along the way is heartfelt and widespread.

 

"People like my profs Gary Parkhill and Larry McIntrye at Conestoga College…a late, great News Director named Mike LaPointe at CFCO in Chatham - tough as nails, but I loved the guy…and Bill Inkol who saw something in a young guy with zero TV experience and gave me a shot."

 

 "Jeff Hutcheson was a colleague for eight years and I had so much respect for his ability as a broadcaster.  The most natural on-air talent I have ever known."

 

"And I was always so proud to have worked alongside Darren Stevenson and Jamie Killingsworth for about 13 years.  We were always on the same page in what we wanted to do for the Region’s sports community.  And I felt we made a great team."

 

For the better part of forty years, Randy Steinman, Kitchener's man for all seasons, has been shining a spotlight on the people of our community.

 

Now it's his turn.