Remembering Buck Shot and his show

His name is Ron Barge, but I did not find that out until I was an adult, long after I stopped watching his children’s show.

Barge, who played the title character and host of “The Buck Shot Show” died a few days ago on August 17.

He was 87, 10 days short of his 88th birthday.

Anyone who grew up in the ‘80s in Southern Alberta will remember “The Buck Shot Show”.

"Buck Shot" had a children's show on

CFCN Calgary Channel 13 all through the '80s .

Source: Facebook/The Buck Shot Show

(May be subject to copyright)

The show
Everyone simply called it “Buck Shot”. Wearing that unique, beat up cowboy hat, Buck Shot aired every day from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. on CFCN Calgary, Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial. It was local programming broadcast straight from Cowtown. Wikipedia reveals it ran for 30 years, from 1967 to 1997, which is incredible if you think about it.

The show also featured several puppets, most notably Buck Shot’s sidekick “Benny the Bear”. It also included Clyde the Owl, Heathcliffe the Dragon, Dafney the Dragon, Foghorn the Firefly, Rodney the Rodent, and Farley Frick from Maple Crik. The main puppeteer was Jim Lewis.

Buck Shot’s target audience was elementary school children. Beyond the fun, games, and activities, I remember him doing stuff on fire safety, water safety, bicycle safety, community events and performing music and song.

Buck Shot celebrated birthdays, and there were also children on every episode that Buck Shot would talk to. When I got to university, I met a woman named Dana Dueck, who I would go on to work with. She actually was the only person I ever met who was on “The Buck Shot Show”.

Truthfully, because I took the bus to school, I never saw “Buck Shot”, unlike the kids who went home for lunch. That was unless I was home sick from school, or in the summer time.

Although, if memory serves, “Buck Shot” may have taken a summer break.

The song
Another very distinctive part of “The Buck Shot Show” was the opening music. Wikipedia reveals the song is actually called “The Elephant Never Forgets”, a version of Beethoven’s “Turkish March”. I have to tell you, I just listened to it on YouTube, and it takes me right back to the “Buck Shot Show”.

Parting thoughts
Buck Shot was a part of the formative years of generations of children in Southern Alberta. As my Mom would say, his show was nice and it was clean.

It also had an impact that went far beyond just when we were kids.

When I started working at the Claresholm Local Press, one of the first events I covered was a fundraising golf tournament for a literacy organization called Project Read. The organizer was legendary Canadian rodeo announcer and author David Poulsen, who organized celebrity golfers.

My editor at the time was named Rose, who was a few years younger than me. She was filling me in on the history of the event before I went to cover it for the first time.

Then she outlined some of the celebrities, emphasizing this was a big deal.

“Buck Shot came,” she said.

She had reverence in her voice.

What more can you say?