Darrell & Joan Atherley
Toronto, Ontario

I worked for Ontario Hydro for four summers(1969-1972) in the Canyon as a summer student. Those were great years!!! I secured a position in inside sales with Westinghouse Lamp Division in March 1973; was promoted to a Sales Merchandiser in February 1975 and moved to Sudbury in July 1975 as a Sales Representative responsible for Northern Ontario. I was then transferred to Calgary in October 1977 handling southern Alberta.

I reconnected with my high school sweetheart Joan in December 1977 and we were married July 1, 1978 in Kapuskasing. We bought our first house as well in 1978 and that fall I went back to night school at the University of Calgary for 4 years.

In October 1980 our first son Davin Darrell was born and boy what a thrill that was. Our life changed from our ability to take weekends in Banff skiing to staying around home and doing things that we could include Davin in. I continued to work for Westinghouse and was promoted to Manager of Alberta in 1981 and transferred to Edmonton in March 1982. We settled in St. Albert, a great community just north of Edmonton. Joan was pregnant with our second child at this time and Rylan Douglas Garnet was born in May. We had a great time in St. Albert with our family and friends.

In February 1983 Westinghouse was sold to Philips Electronics and I was now an employee of Philips. These were exciting and challenging times for me going through a corporate takeover. I started to get itchy feet and was ready for a change in my career. So in January 1985 I joined a struggling young communications company called CANCOM. I was responsible for launching Direct Broadcast Satellite(DBS) in western Canada. Or as my wife said to Davin one morning when he asked what DBS stood for, "Daddy Better Sell"!!!!

In January 1986 I promoted to Western Regional Manager of all Divisions of the company still working out of our Edmonton office. Of course this meant an awful lot of travel and Joan and the boys didn't see much of me most weeks Monday to Friday. We then were presented with an opportunity to transfer back to Ontario with the company and this was always in the back of our minds so we jumped at the chance. I headed back in February 1987 and Joan and the boys followed in May. We managed to buy a home in Oakville where we have raised the boys and we now consider home.

This was when we really started to get involved in the community. Joan was involved with the boys' school and served on the Parent Teacher Organization while I was involved with coaching baseball for each of them, was a Cub leader and also helped coach their hockey teams. What a great time in our lives that was. We miss it now that they are men. I had many changes in my career with CANCOM and really enjoyed my time there.

Again an opportunity presented itself to us and we accepted the position as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Family Channel in February 1993 where I have been ever since. This position has provided lots of challenges but every bit as many rewards too including the launch of TELETOON in October 1997. What a thrill it was to have this service hit the television screens of Canada with such popularity. Joan and I love to travel and have been fortunate enough to be able to, enjoy playing golf, skiing occasionally and entertaining.

Darrell Atherley,
VP Affiliate Sales and Marketing,
Family, TELETOON, Game Show Network
181 Bay St., P.O. Box 787,
Toronto, ON M5J 2T3
Phone:(416)956-5401 Fax:(416)956-2035