David Imrie retires from CTV Kitchener after 38-year run

CTV Kitchener: David Imrie's last day After 38 years at CTV Kitchener, David Imrie is calling it a career. Nicole Lampa looks back at his tenure.

One of the most familiar faces at CTV Kitchener is hanging up his microphone.

David Imrie, who has been with the station formerly known as CKCO since 1977, is retiring this week.

It ends a 38-year career, including nearly 20 years spent as the station’s farm director and as host of Agri-News.

During that time, David developed two separate reputations which would linger through his career. Farmers came to trust him as an authority on southern Ontario’s agricultural sector, while children knew him as the first face they saw after The Flintstones, the show that aired immediately before Agri-News.

In 1995, a restructuring at CKCO led to the elimination of the farm editor position and the cancellation of Agri-News.

David was moved to the news division, where he continued to report on agricultural matters from time to time – but crime, politics, business and other types of news mixed in.

On any given day, he could find himself interviewing anyone from the prime minister to astronaut Chris Hadfield to a woman who was illegally keeping a duck in her apartment.

He covered some of the biggest stories of the past two decades, including the RIM Park inquiry and the trial of Pigeon King International founder Arlan Galbraith.

More recently, he has been the driving force behind the Local Hero segment, spotlighting ordinary citizens making a difference in southwestern Ontario.

When not in front of the camera, David developed a reputation for being kind and generous with his coworkers, especially when it came to sharing his knowledge and tricks of the trade with younger reporters – and for pulling the occasional practical joke on his colleagues.

Originally from central Ontario, David graduated from the University of Guelph with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture prior to starting at CTV Kitchener.

While he is retiring from broadcasting and plans to travel, David isn’t done with the working life just yet. He plans to keep on farming for the foreseeable future.