Being a radio host for almost 4 decades, most people in Kitchener would probably recognize Dave Schnider’s voice right away. Or if you’re a Kitchener Rangers fan and regularly attend their home games, his voice would probably be even easier for you to recognize. Although Dave isn’t on the radio anymore, he is now a city councillor for Ward 2 in Kitchener and is the PA announcer for the Kitchener Rangers at their home games. I interviewed Dave about a month ago to find out more.

Nicholas Cuming: Tell me about your career before you became a city councillor.

Dave Schnider: “I was in radio in Kitchener for 37 years. Started at CHYM, moved to Kool FM what was then Oldies 1090, went to CIKZ 106.7 to be programmer at the country station, then was back to CHYM for a little while, and then I went back to Kool FM, which is now K-Fun. So, 37 amazing years in radio.”

NC: Why did you choose to pursue broadcasting?

DS: “For me, it was always the magic of radio, I loved the ability to drive around with my little transistor radio on the handlebars of my bike in my back pocket and just one day thought ‘you know what, it’d be really cool to be the person that gets to play the music.’ Things kind of fell into place for me, when I was in Grade 6, I was walking some new students that were from Quebec home and found out their father was a radio announcer at CHYM at the time. So, he was a big inspiration for me, he took me up to the station, and once I was inside the station, I kind of knew like ‘oh I really really want to do this.”

 

NC: What inspired you to run for city council in 2014?

DS: “You know what, I grew up in this city, I love this city, as a kid that benefited from playing in the parks and I grew up in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium neighborhood so going to Ranger games and the practices after, and I think being in the media, being in radio, it kind of gave me a good front seat to see some of the needs in the community and a lot of the good things that go on in the community. What I love most about the job is just the connection with the community, so I thought a natural extension of what I did on the radio, in service, would be to be a city councillor, where you’re supporting your residents with issues and you’re a part of the bigger things that’s going on in the city overall and having a part of the decision-making in that on city council.”

NC: Can you tell me a bit about the charity events that you’re involved with, and how you got involved with them?

DS: “There’s a person, her picture hangs on my wall, and her picture overlooks my desk, so when I look over my shoulder, I see Valerie Corcoran, and when I started at CHYM, this was a woman who said to me, ‘it’s nice being on the air and everything, but if you go to an event, or help out at an event, you’ll find out that’s a lot more fun.’ So, she started connecting me with people who were putting on events, the ‘Great Ride ‘n’ Stride,’ the ‘Relay for Life,’ and others. Hosting those events was really fulfilling, it really is great to see people working together to make the community a little better. I would say those three were big highlights but there were a lot, little smaller events too. But they all add up to adding to the community.”

NC: Can you tell me a bit about the many committees you serve on, and the roles you have on them?

DS: “The number 1 role is that of a city councillor, so we have council meetings. We have 3 standing committees, the Finance and Corporate services, Community Infrastructure, and Planning and Strategic Initiatives. Those meetings all happen on one day. After those meetings, we have a 2-week period to hear back from the residents. I also serve on the Safe and Healthy communities advisory committee, and the Arts & Culture advisory council. What I try to do is, I try and sit back, I want to hear what they (the residents) want to say, I want their input. There are also smaller committees like Kitchener & Bloom, which makes beautiful gardens, and I also help with two community centres, one at Stanley Park and the other at Centreville Chicopee. It’s all part of people who want to do things that make their community and their city a little better so it’s really neat to be a part of that.”

NC: You’ve been the PA announcer for the Kitchener Rangers for a long time. Can you tell me a bit about that job and what has kept you in that role for so long?

DS: “Well, I’m entering into my 24^th season. For me, I’m a kid that grew up in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium neighborhood, so I’ve been going to games since I was 5 years old. It just kind of came out of the radio role at the time. The usual PA guy couldn’t make it, so I absolutely jumped at that opportunity. It’s really evolved over that, it’s now a really great production and it’s really exciting.”

NC: Can you tell me a bit about your family?

DS: “My wife owns a family restaurant in Elmira. I love going there when I have free time. I have a daughter who is a freelance makeup artist, another daughter that plays softball and has a partial scholarship for Simon Fraser University in B.C. I also have a son who is finishing up high school. With the crazy hours that I put in as councillor and my wife puts in at the restaurant, we really try to treasure our time together and make the most of it.”

NC: Have you ever thought of running for mayor one day?

DS: “You know what, no. We right now have an amazing mayor, I see his schedule, and you’re pretty much married to the city, it’s a job that takes a lot of skills. I’d say that I learned a lot on my first term of council, but I can’t say that I have the complete skill set to do what it takes to be mayor. So, I would say no.”

NC: Anything else before I let you go?

DS: “Anyone who’s been in the media would probably have a pretty good understanding, if they ever wanted to run for a civic position, of kind of the needs of the community, how things kind of run at city council and at a municipal level and the differences between the different levels of government and how they work together.”

NC: Thank you very much for your time and best of luck in the election.

 

As you can see, Dave Schnider has had quite the career, as Kitchener residents have gone from hearing his voice on the radio for years, to seeing him around Kitchener as a city councillor.

Which thing about Dave did you find most interesting?

Special thanks to Dave Schnider for the interview. If you want to learn more about Dave, you can visit his website.

Sources:

Photos courtesy of pexels.com

Dave Schnider’s photo courtesy of kitchener.ca

This interview was conducted on Thursday, October 4th, 2018 at Kitchener City Hall.