Wellspring Hoedown
David Nowak has been tremendously helpful to the Six String Nation as my main point of contact with Westerkirk Capital, foundational supporters of the project. We had an opportunity to express our gratitude to David for his help at the Carlu in Toronto last night. David sits on the board of Wellspring. Wellspring is a charitable organization that operates a network of cancer support centres in Canada providing programs, educational resources and training for cancer patients and their families. Every year, they host a fundraising event called the Henderson Hoedown and David asked if we would bring the Six String Nation portrait experience to this year's offerings. As the name suggests, it's a western-themed event and we got some terrific portraits. Plus, it was great to be part of the support for such a great cause.
Thanks to David and Nancy for inviting us. Please consider supporting Wellspring online.
Posted at 10:21 AM
Reunion
Labels: Mark Burgess, Peter Williams, Stargate Universe
Now, every time I'm in Vancouver I HAVE to visit my dear friends Paolo Pietropaolo and Natasha Aziz. And whenever I can, I try to see my lovely old friend Mark Burgess. Mark is sometimes harder to pin down because he's an actor and frequently in rehearsals for something or on tour with a show or off shooting somewhere. In the last year or so he's been working alongside Robert Carlyle (Mark calls him "Bobby") in the role of Dr. Jeremy Franklin on the Stargate Universe series. Well, VanCon Stargate 2010 in Vancouver this weekend was jeopardizing my chances of seeing Mark this trip as he had to put in some appearances for the fans of the show. Then I get this text message from Mark at the event with a photo attached saying "look who I bumped into". Peter Williams (pictured) is also an actor who appeared in the Stargate Universe franchise - though never alongside Mark - and this convention brought them back together. The three of us met back in the mid-1980's when we were all working at Chandler's Restaurant in Toronto. Peter was a manager and a fantastic guy but left to pursue his acting career and we lost touch as his career took him first to Vancouver and then to the Caribbean, where he now lives. Just hours before I left for the airport, Mark, Peter and I all got together at The Reef on Main St. and it was really great to see them both. Peter just LOVED Voyageur and did a great blog about it when he got home.
Paolo and Natasha, thanks for your wonderful hospitality and Mark and Peter - great to see you again.
A Different Robbie Burns Night
Back in February, I got an email out of the blue from Rob Burns - a lawyer, actor and guitar enthusiast from West Vancouver - telling me he'd been following the story of Voyageur and wondering if I was ever out his way I might consider participating in a house concert. Well, since I was heading out this way for the conference and the house concert in Victoria, I let Rob know I could route my return through Vancouver if he wanted to set something up. Labels: Rob Burns, West Vancouver
First of all, Rob is a lovely guy and he and his daughter came to meet me at the SeaBus stop in North Van and I stayed in their spare room overnight. It was a nice, warm house with lots of guitars around and a vintage boat undergoing some TLC in the driveway. And, a generous and comfortable living room which I thought we be a terrific place for a house concert - but that's not where the concert was going to be. Instead, we drove out to Rob's inlaws' place deep in West Vancouver. Wally and Shirley are both retired doctors (though Shirley also practiced law for a while - clearly an underachiever!). Today, from their gorgeous hideaway with a wrap-around deck overlooking Bowen Island, Shirley raises Newfoundland dogs and Wally is one of the world's top orchid breeders. He took me around his operation spread over a few rooms and an outbuilding. Quite honestly, Wally and Shirley are two of the nicest, most hospitable and most fascinating people I've ever met. Their living room turned out to be the stage for the house concert.
After a BBQ supper with family, friends and guests started to arrive - including John, a guy who had his portrait taken with Voyageur when we was staying at the same B&B as Doug and me in Tlell, Haida Gwaii during the Edge of the World Festival. With the picture window overlooking the strait as a backdrop, I did my presentation about the project and then folks started to come up and play - including Rob and John and another guest who did a brilliant Stan Rogers cover.
Thanks so much to Rob Burns and his family and especially to Wally and Shirley for hosting the concert.