Catching up with Jim Raddysh, a staple of Saturday mornings for '90s kids in northern B.C.

For nearly a decade, Jim Raddysh was as big a name in children's entertainment as Charlotte Diamond or Raffi — but only if you were a kid growing up in Prince George, B.C.

From 1992 until he moved away in 2000, Raddysh was a mainstay at kids-oriented concerts and events in and around the city, including the International Children's Festival, a multi-day event that brought in performers from around the world.

But for many he is best remembered as the host of Toon Raiders, a Saturday-morning program that ran on the local TV station, CKPG. In several short segments spread out between cartoons, Raddysh would sing, talk to kids and interview adults about their jobs at places like the museum or fire station.

"My philosophy about the show is I wanted it to be in the community," he said. "I wanted it to be interactive, and I also wanted it to be educational in nature."

Having gone off-air before the advent of YouTube and other video-sharing sites, episodes of Toon Raiders live largely in the memory of the '90s kids who grew up watching it — some of whom are surprised to learn Raddysh was a local, rather than international, celebrity.

A recent Reddit post set off a new round of people searching for Raddysh and his performances, although no one — including Raddysh himself — has yet to be able to dig up a VHS of his Toon Raider days.

The musician, who now lives on Salt Spring Island and continues to perform locally in both rock and concert bands, spoke to CBC News about how he got started as an entertainer in northern B.C.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Catching up with children's entertainer Jim Raddysh

11 months ago

Duration 16:26

For much of the 1990s, kids growing up in Prince George, Kamloops and surrounding B.C. communities had their Saturday morning cartoons interspersed with segments from Toon Raiders host Jim Raddysh. Now based on Salt Spring Island, Raddysh speaks with CBC News about what he's been up to in the years since.

What was your trajectory into Prince George and entertainment?

I was born in Burnaby and then spent a little bit of time in the Okanagan and then went to Prince George for a job.

I worked for the Canadian Red Cross Society and the water safety service, and I had written a bunch of songs related to being safe in, on and around the water, which was kind of my first foray into writing songs for younger audiences.

When my daughter was born in '91 it it became clear that I was going to have to stay home with the kids.

My wife at the time was the principal of a high school and so our lives were very, very busy and for me to be away all the time — I needed to stay home. So I did that and then the children's festival in Mackenzie [160 kilometres north of Prince George] needed someone to help out. So I agreed to do that and that was really my first children's performance.

And then how did it come about that you were on Saturday morning cartoons?

So after my children's festival up in Mackenzie, it was the first time that I had ever made any money not wearing a bathing suit because my career was running swimming pools and working in pools.

So I was really quite proud of that first performance.

I came back to Prince George and Fort George Park [now Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park, Prince George's main civic park] was hosting open stage in the summertime for performers to get up and play. So because I had this pocket full of songs that I had written, I did that and lo and behold, Dan Williams from the TV station CKPG was in the audience and approached me after the performance and let me know that they had a show, they had a concept.

Listen to Raddysh's song, Hooray Hooray:

But they didn't have a host — would I be interested in doing that?

And so I said, sure. How hard can that be?

How long were you on air?

We aired for almost 10 years but I was also on CFJC out of Kamloops. About two years into the Prince George contract I pitched the idea to Kamloops and they picked me up there.

So I was travelling back and forth from Prince George to Kamloops to film the same conceptual show, which was a dilemma for kids in Cache Creek and 100 Mile House because they were seeing me on two different channels on the same Saturday morning in Prince George and Kamloops.

How often do people reach out and say, 'I remember you from when I was a kid'?

It happens often and it really does warm me to know that what I did back in those days is remembered and I hope I had some kind of an influence on our community and on the younger people.