Graham Hart was born in Nova Scotia but came to Ontario to pursue a career in radio. In 1973, while working at a station in Chatham, Ont., he was approached by CHEX to come to Peterborough and make the move to television, to read the news, sports and weather.
“I came up, and they were so wonderful. The offer was interesting to me, so I gave it a couple of day’s thought, and I called them back and said, ‘Yes, I’ll stay for a year,'” Hart recalls.
That one-year stretch turned into 45 years.
For many years, CHEX TV newscasts featured Hart reading the news and Peter Fialkowski doing the weather. But much earlier, Hart was in a management position when Fialkowski was hired.
“He made it quite bearable,” Fialkowski says. “There were some things I found a little bit bizarre there. I suppose I found Graham a bit bizarre, but in a very nice sort of way, so he settled me down nicely.”
Former CHEX Videographer and CHEX Daily host Michelle Fererri grew up watching Hart on the news and hosting such shows as Campus Quiz. She then spent several years working alongside him and got a new appreciation of him.
“He’s kind, he’s sweet, he’s all of these things. He’s like the most perfect gentleman, but he’s also so funny. I think that’s when I began to fall in love with Graham because he has this wit, this humour, and he’s so fun to work with. He’s just a great person to be around,” Fererri says.
Reflecting on his years at CHEX, Hart says it never seemed like work at all.
“It never did seem like work, as a matter of fact, so I just stayed doing it because I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Hart jokes that in retirement, he will have time for all those things he had to put off because he was working, including restoring homes and classic automobiles.