When Kerry Peck signed off on his morning wireless show at 2BS it was time to cut a cake in recognition of 50 years in the radio industry.

However, there was a time just over two years ago when “Pecky” thought it was all over.

He was having major health concerns when his immune system started to reject his liver.

“I was on the way out,” Pecky told the Western Advocate. “I was gone. But the anti rejection drugs they gave me worked and I’ve been back on air part-time for the past 12 months.

“I’m 65-years-old now, so to reach the 50 year milestone is something special. I’ve never really had a job. It’s been a labour of love because it’s not like going off to work.

“These days I take things as they come. I’ve made a commitment to be around for the next year, but really it’s still a month by month proposition for me.

“I’ll keep doing it while I can and I have no intention of ever leaving Bathurst.”

Pecky said his time in the radio industry has been full of change.

“It’s been continually evolving,” he said.

“We’ve gone from records to tapes and recorders to the computer era. If you want to stay in the industry, you change with it.”

As for his career highlights, Pecky said being a junior rock jock when the Beatles came along in 1963 was something special.

“They changed the world in my opinion,” he said.

“They changed music, radio and society as well and I was there caught up in the middle of it all,” he said. “The music these days certainly is a lot different. I enjoy some of it, but there’s some I don’t. Each to their own I suppose.”

Pecky said he had no idea that 2BS owners Ron and Stephanie Camplin had organised a surprise party to mark the occasion.

Among the guests were former Bathurst mayors Ian Macintosh and Norm Mann and councillors Ian North and Bobby Bourke.

“The boss took me upstairs and when we came down there were all these people here,” he said.