CAPREOL—Nine-year-old Caden Pickard, who is originally from Gore Bay made his television weather debut last week. Mr. Pickard was the first youngster selected to fill the role of ‘Weather Star’ on the Thursday evening weather with Katie Behun.
And boy, did Caden look dapper, wearing a tuxedo for his debut. “He was the first kid picked to appear as the Weather Star,” said Caden’s mother, Karol Pickard. “He was super excited, a little nervous at first, but walked in and owned it.”
“I think other kids should try it,” Caden told The Expositor. “If you put your mind into it, it can happen.”
Caden said, “I was nervous, happy and excited. It was a fun experience to.”
“Caden wants to be a comedy actor in movies when he grows up,” said Ms. Pickard, who pointed out Jim Carrey is his favourite actor and stars in his favourite movie, ‘The Mask.’
Ms. Pickard explained CTV had put out an advertisement in February calling for applications to be the next weather star. “They had a lot of applications. To apply, you have to go online and provide a description of the person applying, and send them a photograph. “Then they called us and said Caden was selected. Some of the members of the crew at the news station visited us at home Wednesday for an hour. Then he was taken on a tour of the studio on Thursday and was on the air that night.”
“One of the girls from CTV is also a drama teacher and helps coordinate school plays in high school and was giving him tips on how to relax,” said Karol. “Now he wants to go to high school to be an actor.”
“Caden was signing autographs last night,” said Karol last Friday. “They gave him pictures of him and Katie (Behun) doing the weather and he was signing them to give them away and as a keepsake. He brought one of the autographed pictures to his school to hang up, saying that if he becomes a big star, they will have this picture.”
“He was very, very happy to be on T.V,” said Karol. “When he went to school (C.R. Judd in Capreol) his teacher asked if the class could watch it in class and he said absolutely.”
Caden looked like a natural with weather girl Katie Bethun, delivering the weather with her. As for his tuxedo, “he wears a dress shirt and tie just about everyday to school,” said Karol. “So it was not out of character for him wearing a tuxedo. In fact his old (tuxedo) doesn’t fit, and we had to go out last Friday and find a new one for him. He had to have a tuxedo and dress shoes.”
“No, he is not shy at all,” said Karol. “At the very end of the show when we were leaving, he told everyone, ‘if anyone gets sick or goes on vacation, I could fill in for them. I could do this every day.”
