Chapter Twelve Don Messer and The Islanders Since the early 1930's there is evidence that the Canadian Radio broadcasting Commission (as the CBC was known then) realized the scope of traditional music on Prince Edward Island . Traditional music in the twenties was flourishing on the Island and CFCY was largely responsible for keeping it alive. The old-time fiddlers like Jay and Weeks used to broadcast from our home. The Outports pro¬ gram was mainly old time music, and of course, Chappelle's "Merry Islanders", Colin Boyd , Jack Webster , Al Dowling, Alyre Gallant and a host of others kept traditional music vital. In 1926 a mammoth fiddling competition was held at the Strand Theatre in Charlottetown . The first prize was a paid trip to Boston to represent the Island in an international competition. Play-offs were held from one end of the Island to the other, culminating in the finals in Charlottetown on March 30. Special train excursions brought crowds in for the event. Snowfall was so heavy that tunnels had to be dug across main streets, and a big crowd from Souris was snowbound on the train for several days, prolonging the finals. The theatre was packed to burst¬ ing as over 1,200 people crowded into it to hear Neil Cheverie from Souris win first prize. CFCY carried the entire show, thrilling thousands all over the snowbound Island, and James M. Cameron , Nova Scotian historian recalls that when he was about twelve he heard this broadcast. He was standing outside the music store in New Glasgow , Nova Scotia on a Saturday shopping night. Traffic on the main street couldn't move because of the crowd in front of the loud speaker. When a fiddler would 95