Arbor Vitae man plays his bed-panjo on last episode of Basic Black

Ken Johnston
Editor

Frank and Pat Stoyka of Arbor Vitae were part of the taping of the last CBC Radio Basic Black (Arthur Black) Show at the Community Auditorium in Thunder Bay on Wednesday June 19th. Arthur Black is retiring after 19 years of hosting the radio show Basic Black out of Vancouver. It airs every Saturday at 10:05 a.m. on CBC 90.5 FM in our area.
CBC Radio One ran a contest in regard to Arthur’s appearance in Thunder Bay: “COME ON ARTHUR GIVE IT A TRY” The purpose was to have Arthur try something really unique on stage that he had never experienced before.
“On a whim, I decided to enter Frank & his Bed-panjo; a truly unique musical instrument!”
Much to their surprise and excitement they received a call from the producers of the show from Vancouver saying that their suggestion was ‘irresistible’ and that they were the winners and would be a part of the show.
With all the flooding and road closures they were not sure if they would make it, but a determined Frank said, “Come hell or high water we will make it.” They thought of flying from Fort Frances but eventually found a long way around to Thunder Bay. They left at 1 p.m. and arrived about 11 p.m.; roughly twice as long as it would normally take to get there.
The couple first met Chris Straw, Basic Black’s producer who helped prepare them for the show. Wednesday night they went to the auditorium and participated in the show. “It was fantastic and we were pretty thrilled,” said Pat on Monday. Frank took his homemade bed-panjo, which is essentially a banjo made out of a bed-pan. While locally famous for his tunes on it, Frank’s new invention was a hit with both the Black and the crowd. Frank played a tune that Pat wrote in honour of Arthur. Then Arthur thought he would try it. “They had him playing but had dueling banjo music back stage. Then they stopped the music but Arthur was still playing. It was funny,” said Pat.
The next morning the couple went to “The Hoito,” a Finlandia breakfast club famous throughout Thunder Bay and parts of Northwestern Ontario. They were wearing t-shirts from the show and were recognized right away. “All day people came up to us and said we were the hit of the show.”
The Stoyka’s are extremely excited about being part of a show’s finalé that they both have enjoyed listening to for years.
Black began his broadcasting career in Thunder Bay so that is where he wanted to end it. The last show will air this Saturday, June 29, 2002.
Incidentally, Frank also had a brief career in broadcasting. Many years ago, long before we were married, Frank operated an ‘illegal’ radio station: (Station G.I.N. The Breath of Arbor Vitae) where he found a blank spot on the dial and would broadcast good country /western music on Sunday afternoons for the neighbours. It could be picked up to a radius of about 15 miles. Pat said that when they stopped by the CBC studio to say goodbye they let Frank sit in Lisa Laco’s studio chair, and don the headset, who Frank is a big fan of. They put the head phones on him and, “He was like a little kid,” said Pat.
Black promised to come and visit the Stoykas because, “He now knows some ‘famous’ people there,” concluded Pat.