L&M’S
WAYNE
FORSETH
ANNOUNCES HIS
WELL-EARNED
RETIREMENT
After 40 years working for Long & Mc-
Quade on the west coast, from the sales floor
to B.C. District Manager, Wayne Forseth
has announced that he is retiring, with his
final day on the job being May 30, 2020.
Back in 1980, as a young man in need
of a new job, Forseth’s friend who worked at
L&M’s Vancouver store suggested he apply
since he already shopped there all the time.
“I was always working part-time in rock
bands in those days, so it was true I was in
the store a lot,” Forseth recalls for CMT.
“So, the next day I went down to talk to Pat
Coffey, who was the manager at that time,
and said I was looking for work. He said
the only position they had coming up was
shipper. He said the shipper just gave his
notice and if I wanted that job I could have
that, but he also said, ‘It’s behind the scenes,
heavy work, no glory, and you
would start at minimum wage,’
which was $3.50 an hour in
1980. I said, ‘Sure, I’ll take it.’ I
really just took the job thinking
I would do that until I found
another one, but here I am 40
years later.”
Over those four decades,
Forseth moved first from shipper
to salesman to assistant manager.
In 1984, he became manager of
the Victoria Long & McQuade
store on Vancouver Island, a
role he kept for 24 years. Then,
about a dozen years ago, he was
promoted to B.C. district manager.
“What kept me with the company for
this long is I just love talking about music,
talking to musicians, and helping them find
the right instrument, whether they are a
hobbyist or a professional musician who plays
music for a living,” Forseth says. “What I’ll
miss the most about working in MI retail is
the customers. I’ve had some wonderful expe-
riences and met so many wonderful people.
Some famous and some not so much, but I’ve
enjoyed dealing with them all.”
As to why now is the right time to retire,
Forseth tells CMT that simply: “It just feels
right; it’s time. I’m 69 years old and it’s time
to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. I’d
like to spend more time with my two grand-
kids and spend more time with Janet, my
wife. We love walking and we live a 20-min-
ute walk to town, so we walk around town
all the time and enjoy simple things, like a
nice lunch in a small restaurant or a coffee in
Starbucks and sit and people watch.”
Retirement also gives Forseth more time
for a unique side gig he’s maintained for
30 years – being a movie and TV “extra.”
He’s appeared in the Goldie Hawn and Mel
Gibson movie Bird on a Wire, the Leslie
Nielsen movie Digger, and was a hospital
patient on the original McGyver TV show.
“So, I plan to do much more of that as I
love that almost as much as I love working
for Long & McQuade.”
CARTER CHIASSON
NAMED MUSICOUNTS’ 2020 TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Canadian music education charity Musi-
Counts has named Carter Chiasson, a
teacher at Allison Bernard Memorial
High School in Eskasoni, NS, as the re-
cipient of the 2020 MusiCounts Teacher
of the Year Award. The annual award
recognizes an inspirational and passion-
ate Canadian music educator’s impact
on students and music education.
Carter will receive a $10,000 cash
donation, a significant contribution to
his school’s music program, and a crystal
statuette based on the Juno Award
design. He was also supposed to be
honoured at the 2020 Juno Gala Dinner
& Awards in Saskatoon, SK, which was
cancelled at the last minute because of
COVID-19.
Carter’s role at Allison Bernard
Memorial High School is teaching
courses in both music and technology.
Eskasoni is home to the largest popu-
lation of Mi’kmaq people in Canada,
and Carter regularly uses both music
and technology to help students engage
with, share, and celebrate their cultural
identity. Carter worked with one of his
students, Emma Stevens, to produce a
video of her singing “Blackbird” by The
Beatles in her native Mi’kmaq language.
Since then, the video has been seen by
more than a million people, and Carter
and Emma have been invited to perform
the song across Canada and even at an
event featuring Barack Obama.
For more information, contact
MusiCounts: 416-485-3135, info@
musicounts.ca, www.musicounts.ca.
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE 19