‘It’s magic and it’s great’: Former TeleMiracle chair reflects on 50 years

As Saskatoon prepares for Telemiracle 50, many are reflecting on the history and progress of the show, which made its debut in 1977. Hallee Mandryk has the stor

While watching the raising of a flag marking TeleMiracle 50 raise in front of Saskatoon’s city hall, Ron Berry was feeling nostalgic thinking of the telethon’s history in Saskatchewan.

“Nobody imagined when we started it would ever last as long, but people bought in province wide,” he said.

Berry was the chair for TeleMiracle 3 in 1979. He was also part of the team that got the idea off the ground for the first ever TeleMiracle.

“I was a member of the Saskatoon Kinsmen Club, and we covered the whole [province] before it started. We covered the whole province and sold all the clubs that this was going to be a Saskatchewan project, not a Saskatoon project. And everybody bought in and they bought in till now. So, it’s magic and it’s great,” Berry said.

Berry added that the founding members did their research by looking at similar projects throughout the prairies.

“We travelled the whole province, and we went to telethons in Edmonton and Winnipeg just to see how they operate. And we learned a lot about it. And it hasn’t stopped. It’s probably the biggest telethon in North America now,” Berry said.

Also in attendance to watch that TeleMiracle 50 flag rise was Tammy Blackwell, the chair for TeleMiracle 50. Blackwell shared that having Berry in attendance felt like a full circle moment.

“He is so vibrant and he is so proud that that we are celebrating 50 … It’s very special that we still have some of our legacy founders with us to come and celebrate. It means a lot to us and to them,” Blackwell said.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

The TeleMiracle chair added that the occasion has many people reflecting on exactly what has helped the fundraiser stand the test of time for five decades.

“Everyone is taking a piece of the pie and the shared collective responsibility. And I believe that that’s ultimately what’s led us to being here to celebrate 50 years is because Saskatchewan has built and embraced and loved this thing for 49 years,” Blackwell said.

The telethon has seen a lot of change throughout the years, but Berry shared that it has remained important in the hearts of Saskatchewan people.

“We were always classed as a small province and it’s just it’s the way people bought in was really the biggest thing … you got little clubs that the town buys in the kids buy in and they have fundraisers and they all come to get a chance to come and present their fundraising projects on TV and be involved in it,” Berry said.

TeleMiracle 50 kicks off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park.