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Homecoming: The Greatest Party Ever!!

adam — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:42:53 +0000

Sometimes when a celebration reaches the giddy swirling heights of bliss and thankfulness I imagine to myself that there is a meter out there somewhere that is reading and measuring our level of celebration. If such a meter exists it’s needle must have been spiking well outside of normal ranges for the week of July 27th to August 5th because we here in Owen Sound have been feeling the party vibration! What a week! I’m exhausted, and I would imagine that the keepers of the celebration meter are totally flummoxed.

After all the organizing and planning, city coordinators and volunteers must be giving a sigh of relief that all their hard work resulted in so many people having so much fun. The Meet & Greet tent was such a nice place to be, with old friends finding one another after years, young people competing in talent shows, and absolutely stellar music being performed nightly. Doug Cleverley was everywhere doing everything and yet somehow he never lost his cool. Jan Chamberlain was always full of smiles as she perused the events she was so integral in making happen. We here at theOwen.com would like to send a huge thanks out to Doug and Jan and all of the many many volunteers and city workers who made Owen Sound’s 150th anniversary Homecoming celebrations the thing of wonder that it was.

For we here at theOwen.com however there will be no resting on our laurels. We’ve got an online rideshare board in the works, upcoming provincial elections to prepare for, Summerfolk in just two weeks, and we’re promoting and participating in an evening of live electronic music being presented by Tel Quel at the Mudtown Pottery Studio on Saturday August 11th. Tickets for that show are $5 in advance (available at theOwen.com headquarters, 916 2nd Ave. East Owen Sound) or $6 at the door. We’re not rolling over now that Homecoming is over and neither should all you amazing Owen Sounders! Go ahead, take it easy this week. Catch your breath, but be ready for fun to come!

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Emancipation Festival Begins This Weekend

adam — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:05:58 +0000

Tomorrow evening, Friday August 3rd, marks the beginning of this year’s annual Emancipation Festival. On Friday, August 3 at 7 p.m. there will be a Speakers Forum entitled, “Community, Roots & Culture – Perspectives”. It is being run in partnership with Grey Roots and will be held at the OSCVI. Speakers are Lawrence Hill and Afua Cooper, accomplished & renowned writers and orators. The Emancipation Jazz Quartet will also be performing. Tickets are $10 per seat or $5 for Seniors & those under 12 years old.

Afua Cooper

Afua Cooper, internationally established writer: An eminent and award-winning poet, author, historian, curator, performer, cultural worker, and recording artist; recent winner of the Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence; chosen by the editors of Essence Magazine (Oct. 2005) as one of the 25 women who are shaping the world. www.afuacooper.com

Lawrence Hill

Lawrence Hill is a internationally established writer: Seven books, including the recent launch of The Book of Negroes; Historian writing Women of Vision; the Story of the Canadian Negro Women’s Association and Seeking Salvation: A History of the Black Church in Canada; Speech Writer; Writing Teacher – University of British Columbia, Ryerson Polytechnic University, and The John Hopkins University from which he holds a Master of Arts in Writing; Journalist – Globe & Mail, The Winnipeg Free Press; Keynote Speaker – Association of Canadian Studies , Canadian Ethnic Studies Association, Halifax; Volunteer – Canadian Crossroads International; Former Chair, Oral History Committee, Ontario Black History Society and is a charismatic, intense, witty, intelligent, knowledgeable, a father, son, brother and friend of our global community. www.lawrencehill.com

On Saturday at 10 a.m. the Emancipation Festival will have a float in the Homecoming parade. At 1 p.m. the picnic in the park will begin with Live Music, Games, Races, Special Awards, Crafts, Food Vendors, Storytelling, Storyboards, a Black History Exhibit, Games, Races, and a Cairn Presentation. The evening will be dedicated to the Emancipation Festival Showcase: R&B, Soul, & Jazz. This show will be featuring Liberty Silver, Demo Catz, Eugene Smith, Bobby Dean Blackburn, The Bearcats, A Tribute to James “Mr. Blues” Wayner, Stan Endersby, Joaquin Nunez Hidalgo Afro/Cuban Dance Troupe & many more. Admittance is $5 with seniors and those under 12 years of age getting in for free. The parade and showcase will take place in Harrison Park.

Sunday, August 5th the Emancipation Festival features the BME Gospel Explosion featuring Gary Beales of Canadian Idol fame, Lisa Toussaint, Director of UofT Gospel Choir, Bobby Dean Blackburn, and many Special Guests & Friends. This event will take place 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the BME Church in Owen Sound.

For more information visit the Emancipation Festival Website. It is a fantastic site full of photos of past events and quilting patterns.

community, events, homecoming, music, participation, theowen

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Upcoming Homecoming Meet & Greet Concerts

adam — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:31:12 +0000

There are just three more concerts left in the Homecoming Meet & Greet tent concert series. So far the shows have been an unmitigated success, with attendances high and the music sounding glorious. Here’s a little rundown of what’s yet to come.

Thursday night the Meet & Greet tent features the Mr. Blues Revue, a group brought together to celebrate the life and music of Legendary Owen Sound blues man James Wayner. His remaining Bearcats have assembled a super-group of local and not so local blues musicians for what promises to be a rockin’ night of blues. The Bearcats, Kevin Dandeno, bass guitar, Dave Fearnall, keyboards, Dan Jeffares, guitar and Neil Raynsford, drums will be joined by Rod Ramsay on the harmonica and by one of Canada’s premiere musicians Steve Kennedy on sax. The great Bobby Dean Blackburn and legendary blues musician Eugene Smith will also be joining the Bearcats on stage. That show is free with your registration wristband or $5 at the door.

On Friday night the Meet & Greet tent will be hosting two younger bands made up of musicians from the area. FDR&M will be opening the evening at 8 p.m., with Backwoods Justice closing out the show from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. FDR&M is made up of Scott E Farmer on the keys and vocals, Pete Devlin on lead guitar and vocals, Adam Reese on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Joel Morelli on bass, mandolin and vocals. For Friday’s appearance the fellas are hoping to play with Wiarton bass phenomenon, Johnny Grove, who hosts a spirited open mic jam at Jazzmyn’s on Wednesday nights. FDR&M feature heartwrenching harmonies, rollicking alt country grooves and smart instrumentals created by some of Owen Sound’s brightest stars.

Backwoods Justice plays music together in a four piece band based in the city of Toronto. Coming from Owen Sound and other Ontario towns, they chummed around in schools and rock clubs until they decided to write and sing about shared and personal experiences together. In 2006 they released “Flowers Grow Around the Stones”, an ep self-recording. The original line up of Rob Blank on guitar and vocals, Tim Carson on guitar and vocals, and Tyler Wagler on bass, guitar, and vocals, recently added Christian Inglevics on drums. Their music is a sort of art-rock, with lurching rhythms reminiscent of Tom Waits, haunting harmonies and intelligent lyrics.

Saturday night is the last night in the concert series and features Steve Dickinson revisiting old Bob Seeger classics. Steve can mimic Seeger to a tee, and has in fact toured with the Silver Bullet Band. He will be accompanied by a very capable group of musicians. The opening act for the night, The Gregg Dechert Trio is without question an act not to be missed.

Gregg is the one of the most epic and psychedelic keyboard players I’ve ever heard. He and Trevor MacKenzie used to play a weekly gig at the Copper Ridge restaurant up on the top of tenth street west and they were absolutely jaw-dropping. Gregg has toured with Uriah Heep, David Gimour and Bad Company. Trevor is a local legend. His huge goatee has been greeting customers across the counter at Fromager’s Music for many years now but his live show is what he’s really all about. His style definitely shows the influence of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimmie Hendrix, but Trevor is on a level all his own. I would argue that he is comparable to or perhaps better than either of his idols. Gregg and Trevor will be accompanied by another well-loved local legend. Jesse Clements will be holding down the bass end for the trio with his full walking blues bass style. This opening act comes highly recommended!

So that’s the run-down of all the music left to come at the Meet & Greet tent. The shows thus far have been spectacular and are only looking to get better. So come on down to the Bayshore for some evenings of music. I look forward to seeing you there!

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Homecoming Meet & Greet Music

adam — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:16:12 +0000

~Photo Provided by Roger Flood

Well, we’re halfway through Owen Sound’s 150th anniversary Homecoming celebrations, and it has been quite a party! The energetic height of the affair came on Tuesday night as Clock Strikes Music brought out the punky side of ska and whipped their all-ages crowd into an absolute frenzy. The kids were all right, moshing gleefully to the driving, pulsating rhythms of Angus Cruikshank on the drums, the pounding bass of Johnny Kulwartin, the strident anger of Ben Harris’ politically charged vocal delivery and the slashing skank rhythms of guitarist Dave Snider-Man. Clock Strikes Music truly rock out! To hear two sample tracks from their newly released self-titled CD just follow the link provided to their Local Musician Profile.

~Photo Provided by Roger Flood

The show was opened by longtime friends and touring partners No Other Way. This reporter saw these two bands play together three years ago at Jason’s pub and was blown away by each of them way back then. On Tuesday night both bands showed serious progress.

I picked up a copy of the new Clock Strikes Music CD and have spent the morning listening to it. I love it. Many of the grooves take me back to old The Specials albums and The Clash’s album, “London Calling”. The production value is stellar, and their live energy is very much present. I’ve sent out a request to the fellas to find out where the new CDs are available locally. You can connect to Clock Strikes Music’s Myspace page through our Local Musician Profile and from there you can send them a CD request. When we find out more we’ll post the information.

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Homecoming Obstacle Course

adam — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:41:36 +0000

**Update** For those of you planning to run the obstacle course, we neglected to mention in our first release of this article that the hours of operation for Thursday are different than the rest of the days. On Thursday Aug. 2nd the obstacle course will be open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience this omission may cause. **

Think you have what it takes to be a soldier? Or maybe you just love a challenge? If pushing yourself to your physical limits is your thing, or maybe you just feel like sauntering through some different terrain, the Grey Simcoe Foresters have set up an obstacle course in the field to the north of the Marine & Rail museum.

~Pte. Dietrich guides us through the course

The obstacle course will be open from Wednesday Aug. 1st to Saturday Aug. 4th. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. they are keeping things casual. However, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. the event gets casually competitive. To cater to working families the hours are switched on Thursday to run from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. There are two identical versions of the course set side by side and so during the competitive time slots event-goers can race against one another to win a prize. I went there yesterday with my media pass and got a chance to meet the young men who are running the event, Privates Dietrich, Selinger and Pedrosa. All three of them were extremely friendly, and we had a great time doing a photo shoot. The following is a photographic map of what to expect on your race through the course.

Step 1: Running the Log

~Pte. Dietrich Runs the Log

The first stage of the course is to run down this 10 foot long log.

Step 2: Running Through the Tires

~Pte. Dietrich runs through the tires

The second stage involved running through tires. It’s just like a boot camp movie, isn’t it?

Step 3: Overleaping the Hay Bale

~Pte. Dietrich Barrel Rolls the Hay Bale

The third stage is to surmount this hay bale. In this instance Pte. Dietrich chose the advanced “barrel role” method!

Step 4: Crawling Through the Wires

~Pte. Dietrich crawls through the wires

At this stage of the course you must wriggle your way under the wires. Don’t forget to keep your rifle dry soldier! Also , if you want to go hard on the course and you’re planning ahead, wear long pants that you don’t much care for because you’re bound to get some grass stains or cut knees at this stage of the course.

Step 5: Overleaping the Hay Bale (redux)

~Pte. Dietrich displays the leaping method

At stage five of the obstacle course you will face another hay bale. Here Pte. Dietrich shows us another way to get ‘er done!

Step 6: Ducking Through the Tires

~Pte. Dietrich crawls through the tires

At stage six you will crawl through a series of tires located under a camouflage net. Another reason to wear clothes you’re not concerned about!

Step 7: The Hot House

~Pte. Dietrich enters the hot house

At stage seven you will run through a small house complete with two target enemies to be taken out with water pistols.

Step 8: The Swing of Doom

~Pte. Dietrich swings over the pit of wet

The last stage of the course is to use a rope swing to swing over a pit filled with muddy water. Yet another reason to wear clothes you don’t mind trashing!

Once you’ve completed the swing you’re finished! Have fun out there Homecomers! Watch the heat when you’re pushing yourself to get through the course at your personal best speed! Just to let you know, I completed the course (and got grass stains on some fairly nice pants!) in good time and I have a bad back. This is just to say that you needn’t be intimidated to try the course. It will be fun for all ages!

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