Spokane7
38°
July 1, 2009 in City
‘Captain Cy’ led loyal crew of kids
Host of KREM show for little boomers dies at 79
David Cyrus Page – aka Captain Cy – gained fame among baby boomer children in Spokane in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His after-school program on KREM’s “Captain Cy” show was must-see TV for children who grew up with black-and-white TV.
Page, 79, was buried Monday in Taylorsville, Utah, near Salt Lake City. He died a week ago.
Kirke Rockwood, 84, who worked for KREM from 1957 to 1988 – including a stint as “Anchor Andy” on the “Captain Cy” show – reminisced about Page on Tuesday and about the show KREM produced live every afternoon, Monday through Friday.
The show began with Popeye cartoons, followed by Captain Cy interviewing local kids.
“He was lots of fun,” Rockwood said. “He was on KREM radio as a disc jockey, too.”
Page starred on Spokane daytime TV in an era when there were only three Spokane stations, but each station competed feverishly for children’s attention. The stars of the shows became celebrities. Captain Cy joined the ranks of Cliff Carl, star of “Bar 6 Roundup,” Jack Bainter of “Wallaby and Jack,” and Miss Florence of “Romper Room.” Rockwood also gained a fair amount of fame in the “Boge Bunny” show.
In a 2000 Spokesman-Review column, Kathleen Corkery Spencer reminisced about being on the show: “From a makeshift set that vaguely resembled a small boat, the Captain hosted a crew of local kids. Each kid who came on the show had to say a few words to the Captain. Nothing major. Stuff like your name, your age, whether or not you liked dogs. All a kid had to do was step up to the Captain’s microphone, look into the camera and charm Spokane. Simple.”
A decade ago, Page shared with Spokesman-Review columnist Paul Turner his favorite recollection from the show: “He recalled asking a 5-year-old boy where he got his red hair. ‘It came with the head,’ the kid answered.”
When Tom McArthur was researching the KSPS documentary “Remembering Spokane,” Page told McArthur that his years on Spokane TV were the best years of his life.
Though he seemed older, especially to the children on his show, Page was just in his early 30s when he played Captain Cy, Rockwood said. He spent most of his years after his Spokane TV career in Utah, where he was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a seminary teacher, Sunday school teacher and bishop.
Page genuinely liked children, Rockwood remembered. He leaves behind five children, 18 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren – and thousands of memories for Spokane children.
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teriburch on July 01 at 11:56 a.m.
My older sister and I were big Captain Cy fans. In 1959 or 1960 our mom let us go on the Captain Cy show for my sister’s birthday. We were so excited! But excitement turned to sorrow for this 4 year old when we got to the studio and it wasn’t the captain but Bozo the Clown hosting the show. I was ticked. When the clown asked “Is everybody happy.” All the kids yelled “yes!” except for me. I yelled “no!”. Bozo leaned over and stuck his big fat red nose in my face and asked “Why aren’t you happy little girl?” I didn’t answer I honked his nose “HONK”. My sister still hasn’t forgiven me.
scottbaillie on July 02 at 1:35 a.m.
Captain Cy was awesome. We never missed his show. May he rest in peace.
timlynch on July 02 at 10:12 a.m.
I was on Captain Cy probably about 1962. I remember sitting on bleachers and watching cartoons. Captain Cy handed out cards with numbers on them and we were told to “concentrate” on our card. If our number was called, we won the “Magic Treasure Chest.” I had the number 7 card and stared at it very hard, so hard that they had to call the number two or three times. Finally, I heard, “Who has number 7?” Everybody was looking around except me. I was concentrating so hard on my number 7, that I missed it being called. I looked up and everyone was looking at me. “I do,” I said. “You win the Magic Treasure Chest,” said Captain Cy. He had a huge grin on his face and said, “Let’s see what you won.” Not being a huge budget show, you couldn’t expect much in the way of prizes. Of course, there were the Hostess Twinkies and Snowball cupcakes, but the best prize was a blow gun that shot suction-cupped plastic darts. I was dangerous for a week after that until my mother told me she “accidentally” stepped on the gun, broke it, and put it in the garbage. I am 57 and I still remember that day. Rest in Peace, Captain Cy. Now you are on “Starlit Stairway” forever.