Parents and children were kept entertained on Saturday (9 April 2016) at the Cayman Turtle Farm where staff and management of Radio Cayman hosted the station’s 40th Anniversary listener appreciation party.

The Turtle Farm welcomed more than 2000 people to the free family fun day. The facility, along with its signature waterslide, shark enclosure and bird aviary, also featured a VIP area, face painting, DJs and live bands.

Earlier in the week, Cabinet Secretary and Chief Officer for Radio Cayman, Samuel
Rose congratulated management and staff of the station, saying “Thank you for a job well done and we wish you every success and God’s richest blessings for the next 40 years.”

Mr. Rose, equating the four decades of Radio Cayman’s service to it spanning a generation, continued, “It’s hard to believe that 40 years ago, the first broadcast was transmitted from Radio Cayman; this is an incredible achievement. Today, as we celebrate, we also acknowledge your leadership, vision and unwavering dedication throughout these many years.”

Radio Cayman’s Director, Norma McField, offered up her words of gratitude saying, “I am delighted that Radio Cayman has reached this milestone. Many people and governments have contributed to us reaching this point in our history. We thank the past directors who laid the foundation, which we continue to build on and we thank all of our staff members—past and present—for their dedication.”

Ms. McField expressed her vision in continuing the quality programming the station is known for. “Our objective is to remain relevant to the people of the Cayman Islands, by offering programming that continues to attract a wide cross-section of the community,” she said. “There are many choices in radio, so we profusely thank our listeners who have made us their number one for the past four decades and we hope that they will continue to tune in.”

Radio Cayman’s 40th anniversary celebrations will continue throughout the year.

Radio Cayman’s first broadcast was in Easter of 1976 over the frequency 1205AM, as there was no FM frequency available at that time. Regular broadcasting began on 12 December of that same year with Loxley Banks (now retired) as the station’s first presenter.

You can now hear the station on 89.9FM, or 93.9FM in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. In the 1980s, Radio Cayman began operating a second station on 105.3 FM which is now known as Breeze FM.

The station is owned by the Cayman Islands Government and airs a news/talk format with focus on community affairs and current events, plus blocks of music.

Photo credit: Mona Lisa Meade (GIS)
Photo 1: Cabinet Secretary Samuel Rose shares a moment with Radio Cayman’s Director Norma McField.
Photo 2: Julie Hutton of Flow (event sponsor) with DJs Silver Fox and Super C, keeping the crowd happy with the latest tunes.
Photo 3: This dad and daughter enjoy some water fun in the sun.
Photo 4: Radio Cayman staff Sterling Ebanks, Paulette Connolly and Raymond Singh welcome guests.