Foster Marr was born in Chatham in 1914 and educated at St. Thomas College , Chatham and the Halifax Academy.
He came to Saint John shortly after graduation and was a tenor soloist at St. David's, St. Andrews and Centenary Queen Square churches until 1939 when he joined the First Canadian Division Signal Corps at the beginning of World War II. In October that year he married Molly Gray and in December sailed for England . He served there and in Sicily , Italy and continental Europe until VE Day.
Following the war he joined the staff of CFNB Fredericton as an announcer. A year and a half later he moved to CHSJ Radio and TV in Saint John and hosted the Maritime Farmers Barn Dance, the Kidd Baker and Earl Mitton TV Shows. During that time he traveled all over New Brunswick and Maine emceeing the Maritime Farmers live performances as well.
After retiring from radio, Foster dropped out of the public eye for a few years but recently resurfaced as emcee of the Ned Landry Show on cable TV. He is currently the official emcee of the monthly Fundy Jamboree at the Bayside Junior High School.
Malcolm "Mac" Brogan was born in 1930 at Chipman , New Brunswick and grew up in that mining town on the banks of Grand Lake . He started playing for dances at the age of 12 as a guitar picker and switched to fiddle at 16 to become leader of the Casa Lomo Dance Band and was soon playing on CFNB's Capitol Co-op Jamboree over radio as well.
Mac's father, Hiram, was his first fiddle instructor but Mac makes no secret of the fact that he loved and practiced Don Messer's style.
Mac and his wife, Gladys, are proud parents of eight children. Their living room is decorated with over 50 trophies he has won over the years as well as many cash prizes and gifts. The trophies are from nearly every yearly fiddle contest this province has offered in the past forty years.
The trophies include five wins at The Provincial in St. Antoine , New Brunswick . He was winner of the Don Messer Trophy for the years 1986 and 1989; it is awarded yearly to the resident Maritime Fiddler with the most points in every category. The point of his competing was winning the Maritime Open at Dartmouth in 1986.
In recent years, Mac has appeared on Chipman and Minto TV for Christmas telethons, firemen, cancer research, minor hockey and other benefits.
Mac cut an album in 1984 of 14 favorite tunes entitled: Grand Lake Fiddling. He has composed a number of tunes as well, one of which, the Wilfred Bishop Breakdown was included on the lp. He was one of the few Maritime fiddlers asked to compete in the Canadian Grand Masters Championship in Nepean , Ontario last year.
The Marionettes, Jean and Nan Irvine with Bobby Foster, two sisters and a “younger” aunt, came together in one house when Colby Irvine, the sisters' father, a fine musician, died in 1941 at the age of 39. At that time they went to live with their grandmother.
All three girls made musical appearances previously but now they began singing together with Bobbie supplying guitar accompaniment.
They appeared on amateur shows and went to Saint John for CHSJ Radio's Uncle Bill show.
Appearances on CFNB Fredericton followed; they sang Bob Nolan's “Cool Water” and after the switch board “lit up”, they were asked to do a twice weekly 15 minute program over the station.
Their theme song became “There's An Old Windmill By a Waterfall” and each program featured a song from the pop charts, one oldie, one country and western song and each closed with a hymn.
The Marionettes were the first trio in Fredericton to “go professional” but it all came to an end gradually as the two sisters Jean and Nan graduated and all three girls married in the early fifties.
During their four years of live performances and radio broadcasting they made a lasting impression on hundreds of fans.
PAGE TWO of 1991 INDUCTEES CLICK HERE
