ESTEVAN, Sask. — Like a lot of people growing up in Estevan, Trevor Gowen remembers performing during the United Way Estevan's Telethon through his school.
"If you grow up in Estevan, you go to the telethon when you go through school and you perform each and every year," he said in an interview with SaskToday.
He believes he was likely around 10 years old at Hillcrest School when he entertained at the telethon for the first time. He believes he has been part of most of the telethons since that time.
Gowen now resides in Prince Albert, where he works for SGI as an appraiser. But he'll be back in Estevan for the 50th annual telethon on Oct. 16 and 17 at the Royal Canadian Legion's Estevan branch.
He'll be serving as a host for much of the 33-hour broadcast, continuing a tradition that dates back nearly 20 years.
He recalls that after his Hillcrest School days, he and some friends from high school formed a band and played at the telethon one year. He served as an overnight telethon host, and then he went to broadcasting school. When he moved back to Estevan, he eventually started hosting for the entire event, and now he comes home from Prince Albert each year.
"It's unexplainable," Gowen said when asked why he comes back to Estevan to host each year. "I don't know if you can just break it down into words."
But the telethon raises more than $300,000 each year and cleared $400,000 for the first time last year. It's good to be part of such an amazing group of people, he said, and the telethon carries a lot of funny and emotional moments.
Gowen said he remembers the first United Way Telethon in 1977 when it was at the Trout Chev-Olds Dealership in Estevan because his father worked there at the time. He believes he was three or four years old.
His favourite memories of those early years were of John Deadlock and his "antics" when Deadlock hosted the entire broadcast.
"They were pretty entertaining. And it was on everywhere. When the telethon was happening, everybody knew it was happening. When the telethon was on, it was on everybody's TV."
It remains a pretty big deal in Estevan, he said, with people stopping by the legion, watching it on Access Now or viewing the live stream on the United Way Estevan's website.
The telethon creates new fond memories for Gowen each year, he said, thanks to the antics during the broadcast and the support the community shows for the United Way.
"Sometimes when you stay up that late, a lot of things become really funny that really aren't that funny. And of course, you get some crazy ideas too."
He has also seen young people who perform at the telethon each year grow up. Sons and daughters of board members get involved with the United Way and become board members themselves.
The goal for this year's telethon is $415,050. Funds raised during the event go to the United Way's member agencies and community impact projects.
