Toronto in the 1960’s & 1970’s on CHFI FM 98.1

This is music from Candlelight & Wine on CHFI FM 98.1 Toronto that I recorded on my cassette tape in 1985.
Candlelight & Wine was an evening program of soft music that played on CHFI 680 AM in the 1960’s and CHFI 98.1 FM in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was hosted every evening for 25 years by Don Parrish from 1961 to 1986.
In 1986, Don Parrish suffered a stroke. His last few shows of Candlelight & Wine were hosted from his hospital bed. Candlelight & Wine was cancelled soon after, after being on the air for 25 years. Don Parrish died on February 28, 1996.
I grew up in Toronto in the Blood and Lansdowne area. When I was 16 in 1975, my parents moved to Mississauga but I still took the bus and subway from Sherway Gardens every day to complete Grade 11 at Bloor Collegiate High School.
A few years ago, I returned to my old neighborhood in Toronto but everything was unrecognizable. Neighborhood houses that I once knew were either torn down or neglected. Corner variety stores in the area I visited as a child had disappeared. Even the schools I attended as a kid, Pauline Public School, St. Anthony’s, J.J. McGrand and Bloor Collegiate have either been torn down and rebuilt or are now unrecognizable from years of re-construction.
I can remember in the late 1960’s when the tallest building(s) in Toronto were the Toronto Dominion Twin towers. As a 10 year old, I took the subway for 10 cents with my friends and for another 10 cent admission, you could go up to the top of the tallest of the two TD tower buildings and look down at the tiny streets and people below.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, I remember going to the C.N.E. every summer but even the CNE has changed. Gone is the Alpine Way, the Flyer, Laff in the Dark, Large stuffed Animals on the first successful win and more importantly, the friendly atmosphere.
So, along with the beautiful music of Candlelight & Wine, which is forever gone, I also give you Toronto as it once was and the Toronto the way I will always remember.