Ontario School Adventures 2: Oakville
A day off after Uxbridge and today it was off to Munn's Public School - a part French-immersion school in Oakville, between Toronto and Hamilton.
We actually did two presentations at Munn's, one for the older kids and one for the younger. Thanks to some useful critiquing from my friend Dan Kershaw, I modified the presentation just a little bit to provide a bit more detail for students about what "oyster shucking" is (it's always fun to talk to little kids about oysters, because you get good laughs for saying it's like the most delicious snot you've ever tasted!). Just to make sure the new description worked, Dan accompanied me to sit in on the presentations, which is handy for another reason. Because although you might know Dan as a Sheridan College instructor or for his work with SOCAN, Dan also happens to be one of the country's finest songwriters. So although we had Warren, Spencer and Nathan (pictured) on hand to play Voyageur for the older kids' session and Spencer alone for the younger kids, we were also lucky enough to have Dan step up and favour us with a tune at each session. For the older kids it was "Blue Moon of Kentucky" but for the younger kids it was a perfect seasonal sing-a-long, "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer", which the whole assembly performed brilliantly!
Thanks to Principal Carol Thompson and the staff and students at Munn's. Thanks to Spencer, Warren, Nathan and Dan for the music and to Dolores Anderson at Mariposa In the Schools.
Posted at 6:30 PM
Ontario School Adventures 1: Uxbridge
I was warned in advance of my visit to Uxbridge Secondary School yesterday that it was a school known more for its sports than its arts. Sure enough, when we arrived in the gym where I'd be doing my presentation, the stage was occupied by a class of weightlifters! But you know, I've always found that Voyageur connects with all kinds of people with all kinds of interests. And there is enough sports history (hockey, basketball, skiing...) built into the guitar that it connects with jocks as much as it rocks!
And just because the stage was filled with barbells, don't think that means they don't know how to put on a show. It's a big school and for this assembly they filled the gym plus the gallery that ran down one side of the room for spectators. We had the sound and the LCD projector all working just fine when I suggested things would look better if we could kill the first couple of rows of lights in front of the screen. One of the tech assistants said: "we'll get the follow-spot on you". I laughed - just assuming he was kidding - but next thing I know they've got the house lights off and a follow-spot operator in the crow's nest. Unbelievable!
The presentation went really well and - just to prove the point about the meeting between arts and sports - it was the weightlifting coach who came up to me afterwards and told me it was the best presentation he'd seen at the school.
Thanks to Karen Doble for instigating this visit and the rest of the staff and students at Uxbridge Secondary School - especially Mickey Wilbur (pictured) who played beautifully and had a genuinely great voice. Thanks as usual, also, to Dolores Anderson at Mariposa In the Schools.
Posted at 1:05 PM
Home for the Holidays
Not my home, in this case.
When I knew I wanted to reflect Thunder Bay's Finnish community somehow in the materials of Voyageur, I asked my T-Bay-born friend Cynthia Kinnunen what might be a good representative piece to get. She instantly replied: "You've got to get something from the Hoito!".
The Hoito Restaurant, in the basement of the Finnish Labour Temple at 314 Bay St., Thunder Bay, is Canada's longest running restaurant and operates as a co-op today - as it did when it opened in 1918. Cynthia sent me on the adventure of getting a soup paddle from the Hoito, which now forms a couple of internal struts in the guitar. And yet, Cynthia had not held the guitar until last night at her home in Waterloo, Ontario.
Cynthia (that's her in the picture with the apron her mother made for the occasion) and her husband Ben have an annual Christmas party (distinctly devoid, I should say of mojakka, hernekeitto or Finnish pancakes!) and seem to invite the whole neighbourhood. This year, they invited me to join them and do my presentation with my computer hooked up to the TV in their living room.
At first I felt bad that the party hushed when Cynthia introduced me but it quickly became genuine focus and attention and I felt very warmly received. Ben is a bass player but a couple of his guitar-playing friends (and former bandmates) got up to play and pass Voyageur around for photos while I enjoyed the miniature marshmallow and peanut butter squares!
Thanks to Ben, Cynthia and all their friends and neighbours in Waterloo.
Posted at 1:35 PM