In 1977, when Greg was 17, he ended up working for Paddy Conklin, the man who ran the midway at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). The Ex was the biggest fair in Canada – home to the Flyer, Wild Mouse, and Tilt-a-Whirl. It had the Food Building, Whack-a-Mole, sideshows, and rock concerts that became part of music history. He is now Vice-President with North American Midway Entertainment – he’s still working at the Ex.

I Was Here is a podcast and photo series featuring older adults who have interesting stories about, or long histories with, spaces and places in Toronto. Their stories reveal many events of social, cultural, and political importance to our city’s history. 

I Was Here was created with generous financial support from The Accessibility Project at Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

A very special thank you to Programs for 50+ and Community Engagement at The Chang School, who supported this endeavour to give these storytellers a much-needed platform and audience.