With summer now officially upon us, some of our fair city's citizens face an age-old dilemma: stay in the city for the weekend or flee to the cottage. Families who choose the latter are then faced with the prospect of entertaining themselves in the midst of gridlock and curveballs tossed by the weather deities.

Enter CBC's network of repeater stations to keep family members safe from each other's throats and help them avoid the indignities suffered by bored pioneer cottagers. Without the modern miracles of radio and television, the parents have retreated into their own worlds, occasionally engaging in a quiet contest to see who can display the sourest facial expression. Their children, deprived of television classics like The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup to keep them mellow, give in to their primal urges and engage in an intense hair-pulling match.

As for the two main television affiliates mentioned, CHEX Peterborough remains allied with CBC while CKVR Barrie ended its association in 1995, evolving into an A-Channel outlet.

Source: Toronto Life, July 1973