Creator of iconic Calgary children’s show, Ron ‘Buck Shot’ Barge, dies at 87
Ron Barge, the creator of the Calgary children’s program The Buck Shot Show, died Saturday at the age of 87.
Barge played “Buck Shot” on CFCN in Calgary from 1967 to 1997 alongside Jim Lewis, aka Benny the Bear. Other characters with Barge included Clyde the Owl and Heathcliffe the Dragon.
The pair worked at the CFCN station and came together to perform the show at the noon hour.
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At the time of the show’s cancellation, it was the longest-running children’s show in Canadian history.
With his well-known white cowboy hat that he continued to wear to events around the city, he entertained children as young as pre-school age with songs and sketches with his animal pals about such topics as fire and water safety and renditions of songs including “Sixteen Chickens and a Tambourine.”
The theme music for the series was a version of Beethoven’s “Turkish March” called “The Elephant Never Forgets.”
Barge said in an interview with a KSPS production about Calgary in 1998 that the name for his character was conceived from a suggestion box that anyone could add a name to, with some names “he can’t repeat.”
The Buck Shot Show ran six days a week, Monday through Saturday, until 1992, when Barge and Lewis’ characters moved to Saturday and Sunday mornings on Tune In.
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After the characters were off the air, the duo of Buck Shot and Benny stayed ever-present in Calgary’s community by performing at events and popping up around the city.
Being an integral part of Calgarians’ childhoods for three decades, a petition was created by organizer Karen Durrie in 2015 to get a statue to honour the Calgary icon. The newly built Sam Centre on Stampede Park put Barge’s famous cowboy hat on display in May as part of a cowboy hat exhibit.
After the news was shared on social media by his family, many Calgarians shared their experiences and love for the longtime children’s performer and icon, members of a fan club conceived in the 1960s.
Among the many messages of love and adoration for Barge were Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and NDP leader and former Cagary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“For decades, Buck Shot and his sidekick Benny the Bear brought joy, laughter, and countless memories to generations of children and families across Alberta,” Smith said.
“Rest in peace, Buck Shot. Thank you for all the smiles and laughter.”
“I never got on the show when I was young but always got a thrill when I would meet him around town as an adult. Rest in peace, Ron, and love to your family and friends. We are all so grateful for your legacy,” Nenshi’s post reads.
Barge and Benny celebrated 50 years of The Buck Shot Show in 2017. Lewis died of cancer in 2023.
