Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, May 28, 2026.
President Olaf chaired the meeting and welcomed Rotarians and guest Neil Robbins
Club Business
- Rotary Lobster Boil Social will be held on Friday June 26th at the Steady Brook Town Hall Community Centre. Details will be sent to Rotarians by email.
- The weekly Toonie Count will now take place at Xavier House on Wednesdays at 1.30pm. The count takes about an hour to an hour and a half so come along if you are available even for a short time. At the Toonie Count draw today at Xavier House it was a roll over. Don’t forget to check if you pay your weekly toonie in advance that it may be time to donate more money to participate in the weekly draw.
Remember Toonie Count West is a joint weekly toonie draw sponsored by Xavier House and Rotary Club of Corner Brook.
Guest Speaker
Rotarian Adam introduced the guest Speaker Lenny Benoit from BayFM Radio Station. Lenny was accompanied by Terry Boland. Lenny had spoken to Rotary before, and he spoke about the changes that had taken places and how Bay FM is now a full-service radio station. When BayFM began it received a grant to fill a media void in the area. Lenny spoke about the history of BayFM radio station which with its present name began on June 19, 2023, as a relaunch of Bay of Islands Radio. BayFM ‘s focus is local programming that serves Corner Brook and the North and South Shore. The station also relocated to the lower level of the Glynmill Inn. Last year the station signed on for a new transmitter so now coverage in Pasadena and Deer Lake has been added. BayFM has 5 paid staff and many volunteers to help it fulfil its goal as a non-profit organization providing local information by radio. The five employees do all the work in house by writing commercials etc. and because everything is done locally the crew really knows what the community is about.
BayFM has won several awards. Last June, BayFM won the 2025 Community Radio Awards Broadcast and the Inline (CRABO) for Community Engagement. BayFM is all about bringing radio back to the community level.
Lenny continued by saying that BayFM is a country music station which is the music greatly enjoyed in the area with most people being 45+ years.
He passed out a sheet from StatsRadio which gave BayFM statistics from April 27 – May 24, 2026 that showed for BayFM average weekly reach was 50,400 with the average weekly listening time per person being 8.68. He reviewed some of the data presented before looking at how much the station has grown in 3 years. He noted this is a small station that carries information for local, provincial and federal governments provided by reliable sources. He talked about different shows on BayFM particularly those featuring local performers and those giving information on different topics. BayFM has formed community partnerships with the Western Memorial Regional Hospital Foundation Radiothon, Santa Claus Parade, CB Nuit and Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games, being examples he gave.
He finished his talk by giving plans for the future and including the hope with a new transmitter that BayFM would be able to broadcast to Stephenville.
Lenny answered several questions before being thanked by Olaf on behalf of the club and the meeting adjourned.