South Huron District High School music director Isaac Moore leads the senior concert band at MusicFest Canada in Ottawa

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

They’re the best percussion ensemble in Canada, and they’re right here in our backyard. Led by music director Isaac Moore and coach Dave Robilliard, South Huron District High School’s percussionists won the Zildjian Outstanding Percussion Section Award at this year’s MusicFest Canada national competition in Ottawa May 22; graduating student Jon Gill of Grand Bend, who is attending UWO for music in the fall, won the Zildjian Outstanding Percussionist Award. Judge and seminar leader Wayne Toews called the group the best student percussion ensemble in Canada, and could challenge any group in the world. If that’s the case, says Robilliard, it’s because the students are fully committed to success.
“We challenge our students in a way that other percussion ensembles I’ve seen in Canada are not challenged,” says Robilliard. “We give them – and they’ve requested – very difficult material that requires extra time and rehearsal on their time. It’s one of the best things (judge) Wayne Toews has seen in high school percussion ensembles, so in his eyes, it’s world class. It’s a very flattering statement.”
The accolades came hours after performing at the nationals; the percussionists performed last and earned a gold standard, while two other groups led by Moore and fellow teacher Matt Weston – the senior concert band and senior jazz bands – performed earlier the same day, each earning the silver award.
“A lot of kids in the music program are goal-oriented students,” says Moore, “and they respond well to having a goal. Whether we go to nationals or regionals, that goal is one of the things that motivate them to continue to get better. MusicFest Canada is on a different level because you have 10,000 kids from across Canada who are passionate about music. Something really special gets created when you put them together in the same place.”
To compete at nationals, the bands had to earn either gold or high silver with invitation at the regional competition in London. When the nationals are held in Ottawa, South Huron finds it convenient to attend, and a great experience as well.
“Ottawa is a great place to play, and the National Arts Centre is one of the best concert halls in the country, as it should be,” Moore says. “The experience of playing in that building and hearing other bands in that building, it’s incredible for them. It’s probably something a lot of them won’t have the opportunity to do again, so it’s important for me that every student experience the nationals if possible.”
During the years when the competition is not in Ottawa, Moore and Weston take the music students on non-MusicFest trips, including last year’s trip to Chicago. It’s part of Moore’s mission to give a rounded music education.
“A teacher I had while at university asked, are you giving your students a fantastic four-year band program, or are you giving your students a fantastic band program for four years, as in the same program for four years,” he says.
“A lot of what we do is based on routine and tradition, and it called into question for me how you maintain tradition and routine, but also offer the kids a different experience over the four years they are here. It opened my mind to the different options of where kids can go and what they can learn. In the four years you’ve got, you can do a lot.”
This year’s trip to the nationals was the second for Robilliard, whose father Bob was music director at South Huron for many years. After returning to Canada from graduate school in Oklahoma, Dave Robilliard joined Moore and Weston – the three studied percussion together at UWO – three years ago to lighten their load.
“I am able to focus on techniques and sound concepts that Isaac and Matt can’t focus on in the large classroom or band settings,” says Robilliard, who, unlike education majors Moore and Weston, pursued performance at university. He now works with the Stratford and International Symphonies, serves as a substitute for the Kitchener and Windsor Symphonies, and performs in a percussion group called DuO. His contribution has led to great success for the students.
“We received a gold standard in 2008,” he says, “which was my first year working with percussion ensemble. There was still a large number of carryover of students this year – Jon Gill, Joe Pavkeje and Jeff Penn – and we won gold again. But we don’t do it for the awards. We want to see students grow as musicians and see their confidence grow on stage.”
While South Huron has a full trophy case – and that’s just from this year – Moore agrees that they’re not looking for pats on the back.
“The real measure of success is how we feel about our performances when we’re done. I measure our success as a teacher how we fare when we compete at a higher level (the 2008 bronze winning senior concert band competed in a higher bracket this year and earned silver). If we were not taking the kids to an uncomfortable place, it would be an exercise in self-confidence. It makes more sense to shoot a little beyond where you might be so you can develop.”
The success can be attributed to the approach of the teachers, and the commitment of the students.
“It’s a lot of practice, a lot of one-on-one with your section and Mr. Moore,” says graduating student Trish Pavkeje, who performed in the concert and jazz bands. “It helps that Mr. Moore and Mr. Weston are easy to talk to. It’s easy to ask them for help.”
“Everyone’s on the same level and enjoys being there with everyone else,” says Joe Pavkeje, a member of all three groups, winner of the national honour award for the jazz band, and SHDHS student of the year. “Our school isn’t segregated into athletic kids and music kids. Everyone is doing everything. It feels cohesive for that reason.”
Clarinet player Stephanie Pratt agrees.
“Kids from all over the school are in this, so you get a sense of diversity,” Pratt says, noting music is attractive because of the lessons you learn. “Self-discipline is important, you learn a lot of patience and togetherness.”
For Stephen Mills, who has experienced bullying at school, the inclusivity makes the music room a refuge.
“We have to work together to do anything in the band,” Mills says. “We all have to talk to each other, and when you have to talk to someone, you appreciate them for who they are.”
And that’s exactly what Isaac Moore wants to hear.
“If a student is willing to commit themselves to the educational experience, we try not to discriminate in any way. Students can find their place in the band based on their strengths and weaknesses. Without your strong players and weaker players, you can’t maintain consistency. Eventually the weak players become strong and take over the leadership roles.”
Now that many members of the successful bands are graduating, Moore, Weston and Robilliard look to the future.
“We take it year by year,” Robilliard says. “The younger students will now have an opportunity to succeed at a higher level than they’ve had in the past. We’re going to do a lot of different pieces in different styles, and give everyone an opportunity to learn and grow.”

Percussionist Jon Gill performs at MusicFest Canada

Jon Gill (right) of Grand Bend is a member of the 2010 Zildjian Outstanding Percussion Ensemble of the year (below), and winner of the Zildjian Outstanding Percussionist Award.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

When we won in 2008, it was the first time in six or seven years that any of our bands had earned gold at nationals. It wasn’t a tradition before, but over four years, we’ve earned seven golds at eight festivals. It’s a legacy of excellence at South Huron.
I still can’t believe it (the individual award). I know a couple of guys who have won it before, and I look up to them as amazing people who I want to be half as good as they are. To be compared to them on a national level, it’s mind-blowing for me.
I wanted to start playing drums in Grade 4, but my parents wouldn’t let me. They got me started on bass guitar, and then I came here to the high school. Mr. (Bob) Robilliard recognized that I had a sense of rhythm, so he gave me a pair of drumsticks and stuck me in the percussion ensemble. It really caught on and I really enjoyed playing. I bought my own drum kit and I started playing a lot.
A lot of us take lessons from Dave Robilliard, and he’s taken that percussion ensemble further than we could have imagined.
I don’t think we could do it without the help of dedicated professionals. It just gives us the real world experience and the ability to go beyond just playing. I’m hoping to be a high school music teacher (attending UWO in the fall), and I want to give back to students what my teachers have given to me.

Some of you may recognize the name Murray “Slim” Gordon Lewis from his long and storied career as a musician in Ontario and across North America. For others, like the editor’s parents, he was your insurance salesman.
Slim Gordon, as he was called, was born in 1926 in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Today, he lives alone in an apartment in Exeter. In December, he was diagnosed with cancer. A fellow reader, Diane Lovie thought you might like to hear his story.

As told to Casey Lessard
Portraits by Casey Lessard
WSM images courtesy Slim Gordon

I had my own radio program when I was six years old in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. I had been performing with other kids on a children’s program every Saturday afternoon, and the Rawleigh man came to the house one day. He was so used to our place that he just walked in. My mother played the pump organ and she was teaching me a new song I was going to learn for the program on Saturday. When we were done, my brother came into the parlour room to tell us that he was out there, so we went into the kitchen. He had been listening to the rehearsal.
I was a boy soprano and he said to my mother, “The radio station is looking for someone to star in a program, and my wife plays piano for them.” He said, “Why don’t you bring your son down some evening and let my wife hear him?” She took me down and I got the program.
I did that for two years. The announcer was also the announcer for the show with the children. He retired to Newfoundland, so they didn’t have an announcer to do the kid’s shows. He was very good at it. I remember they didn’t have an adjustable microphone. It was a set height. If they stood me on a chair, I was too tall. If they didn’t stand me on a chair, I was too short. They had to sit me on the announcer’s lap to do the program. He was adjustable.

Boston-bound
When I was 15, I decided to start my own band. I rented a country hall for $5 per night, and we made our own posters. We had a full house. We charged 25 cents admission, and made $7 each. Farmer’s helpers were working a whole month for $10.
This was 1941. We didn’t have electric instruments. Everything was acoustic. It was a rousing success.
When I was 17, we had a dairy farm and a milk route and delivered milk by the bottle. I met a customer one Sunday, and his wife told him I sang cowboy music. There was no such thing as country music at the time. John lived in Boston, Massachusetts. He said I ought to go to the radio station and get a program on the radio.
I stayed with my uncle, who lived in Boston. While there, John took me to a country outfitters. My father gave me $100 to buy western pants, a western shirt, belt and boots, and a new guitar. John took me to a photographer and I had my picture taken. He took my picture around to the different nightclubs and tried to book me. Damned if he didn’t! I played a different nightclub every night. I was 17 and too young to drink, but that didn’t matter.
He took me to WMEX radio, and a fellow named Gene LaVerne had a country band and did a country show every day at noon. He listened to me sing and told me he didn’t have any work for me, but he got me some bookings.
John got me booked on the Boston Barn Dance, which was broadcast from the Armories every Wednesday night. I did one show and then the next week. We were leaving to come back to the house, and there were three girls standing in the lobby.
One girl came over, shook my hand, and said her name was Betty Lee. “I’m going to be doing a tour of Nova Scotia,” she said. “We’re going to be doing a radio show there and we’re looking for a boy who can sing, play guitar and act as straight man for our comedian.”
How much do you pay?, I asked. “You get $25 a week, even if you don’t work the whole six days. And you won’t have to worry about the fare back to Yarmouth because we have our own car.” So I had a job.
The next year, she was planning a U.S. tour, but I couldn’t get a work permit to work in the U.S. because they were still under wartime rules. The company I was working for offered me a position in Hamilton, and I took the chance. I worked for Cosmos Imperial Mills and I ran a loom that wove felt that was 40’ wide by 200’. It was used in paper mills.

The move to Ontario
I came to Hamilton in 1948 and started my band in 1949. We were doing a Saturday night show with three other bands at CKPC radio in Brantford. The Cockshutt plow company was hosting a show and they wanted a country band. The plowing match was coming up in Paris, and the announcer thought it would be fair to run a contest for the four bands to do the job. The audience chose. We got the job.
We had sporadic work. We rehearsed in case something came up. Then the band started pestering me. “We’ve been rehearsing two to three nights a week for two years. Are we ever going to go out and get jobs working nightclubs or something?” So I thought, well, we have a big enough repertoire – I could do 500 songs myself – maybe I should go see what I can do.
We had an audition at Hanrahan’s Tavern, and we got our first job. I told him what our price was and he accepted it. We didn’t have an argument. We had a two-week gig, which was normal. The first week, I noticed a guy came in and sat at the bar. He looked like a businessman. He came again the next night. He said, “I’m Harold Kudlutz, I book bands.” He became our agent. He booked us for quite a long time.
I had a good paying job because not a lot of people can weave felt. Now I had a problem. Halfway through the second week at Hanrahan’s, I was bushed. I went to my factory manager and explained the situation. I asked for Wednesday mornings off to get a day that I could sleep in and catch up. I didn’t want to quit what I was doing because I had been working toward it for a long time. He agreed to it.
Then, by golly, we started getting bookings in Toronto. So I went back to him. “Now what do you need,” he says. “Well,” I told him, “I’ll make it short and to the point. Can I get a six-month leave of absence?” It’s quite a question to ask someone. He said, “I suppose if I don’t give it to you, you’re going to quit.” I told him, “I guess you’re right.” He gave it to me.
That was the end of working in a factory. I never went back.
By this point, I had been married a long time. Since 1950. We met when I was trying to start a show in Hamilton at a supper club with a dance floor. I was hoping it would be a success, but it bombed. We ran it for four nights. My best friend was putting up the money for it, and he wasn’t a rich man.
Rita Muir was a girlfriend of my competitor, Mike Patoma. He came to one of the shows, and brought her and her girlfriend.
He took me down and introduced me to her. It was a mistake on his part, if he was serious. But then, it was a big mistake on my part because I married her. We were married for 12 years. Twelve years of pure hell. We had three daughters, but the last one, Leslie, wasn’t mine. That was the end of the marriage.
That didn’t stop me from loving the little girl. She had nothing to do with it. When we broke up, Rita took Leslie with her.
Last January, one of my daughters died of cancer. The night of her memorial, some of the family came and Leslie came, too. I said, “The last time I saw you, you were 10 years old.”
She said, “I remember the last time I saw you.” I asked how old she was, and she said 52. I said, “I haven’t seen you for 40 years.” She looked the same. I couldn’t believe it. Forty years. And she still felt like my daughter. She threw her arms around my neck and stood there and cried. It had to be 20 minutes. I haven’t seen her since.

Hit the road, Slim
(After my marriage ended,) I did a tour with George Jones and one with Hank Snow, each for a month. I’m still playing nightclubs, but now I play Toronto a lot. We didn’t have a holiday for two years, so I went back to Oshawa, where I bought a house. I gave Rita the house in Hamilton to take care of the girls.
I used to run Saturday night shows in the Red Barn. In the fall of ’64, a fellow came who owned a dude ranch north of Kirkland Lake. He wanted to know whether the band and I would do a TV show from the ranch as a form of advertising. We settled on a price for Sunday night.
The guy was going to try to pull a fast one on me. If you’re in this business long enough, you get wise to this stuff. He wrote me a cheque that night when the show was finished. I was up the next morning when the bank opened and I went into the bank. The teller told me they couldn’t honour any more cheques from him. I could see his idea of the TV show, but not with my money. Back to the ranch.
I pull into the yard of the ranch, and he’d just come out of the ranch house with a metal cash box in his hand, heading for the bank. He said, “Where’ve you been?” I said, “To the bank, they wouldn’t honour your cheque.” He told me to come back into the ranch house and he’d give me cash. All smiles, I told him that would suit me just dandy. His wife stood there gritting her teeth.

We wound up in Hearst, the last jumping off point in Ontario. You either have to turn east or west; you can’t go north, no highway. I met a guy who came and asked if he could play banjo on my show. His name was Smiley Bates. Not too many guys running around playing the five-string banjo. Hard to play.
He said, “I play everything. If it’s got strings on it, I play it.” And he did. He played them all equally well. I needed a smaller band to play nightclubs, so I thought I’d hire him. Before I left Hearst, I had a booking at the Franklin Hotel in Kirkland Lake.
I had two weeks off and I was in Oshawa. My agent called and said the band playing the Queen’s Hotel in Seaforth was from the United States and their banjo player ruptured his appendix. They can’t play a show without him. He asked if we would fill in. And here I thought we’d have two weeks off.
We had a ball. The second night we were there, Smiley said to me, “Did you see the blonde that came in here?” I said, “I’m not bothered with women, I just came through a bad marriage.” He said, “She’s really something. She’s got blonde hair she can sit on.” And she did. I like long hair.
He said he’d take me down and introduce me during the break. That was his mistake. I sat and talked to her until my break was over. She had a good head, and she was real pretty. Her name was Lydia Roelofs. Dutch. She was a dandy.
When we got married, she was 20 and I was 40. They told me I was robbing the cradle. We were married for 34 years. Had two kids that made us proud. Their mother, I give the credit for that because I was on the road all the time.
I took three weeks off, and thought, I can’t subject Lydia to life on the road. If I take her to Oshawa and dump her in my apartment, I don’t know when I’m going to get back and that wouldn’t be fair to her. I thought if she could stay in Exeter, that would work out because she has friends here, went to high school here.

End of the line
In 1970, I got booked in Vietnam, so I took it. The money was damn good. I was going to be entertaining American troops.
It was busy. You flew somewhere every day of the week. If you couldn’t fly, you took a train or a van. I was by myself, no road band. A lot of clubs had house bands. You want to talk about bands? Get a Japanese or Filipino country band; as good as anything in Nashville. Couldn’t speak a word of English. Well, there was always one guy who could speak enough that you could get by, but other than that, no. Did that for 17 weeks.
The closest I came to being in danger that I know of, I was flying from Manila in the Philippines to Taipei, Taiwan. When we got there, my road manager came running as I came down the gangplank. He said, “We were really worried. We didn’t know if you were going to get here or not.” I said, why?
He said, “What time did you leave Manila?” Quarter past twelve. He said, “Well, they blew up the airport at 12:30.”
I was over there in 1970 over Christmas, New Year’s, and my birthday, December 30. I missed my family, and I thought this is a stupid damn job. I’m 10,000 miles away from my family at Christmastime. I should start doing something else. I don’t think I’m ever going to be a big star. Just a little star. This is after 31 years in the business.
I came home and didn’t do anything for a month. I told my wife I wasn’t going to do anything for a year. I was going back to college for woodworking. I’ve always loved woodworking all my life. I took a course in fine carpentry and cabinet making. I loved it. Made loads of stuff.
I built my own house. I knew how to do that because we did it at school. I worked in insurance for 18 years until I retired. I lived in that house for 25 years.

A sudden change
In 1999, Lydia died. Heart stopped. She hadn’t been sick. Doctor didn’t know there was anything wrong with her.
It was two days before Christmas. Twenty-third of December. She was laying out her pies because we were going to have both of the children with their families. She said to me, “When you have your sandwich, could you go uptown and get the Christmas turkey?” Holtzmann’s had called and told us our fresh turkey had arrived from Hayter’s.
It was 2:20 because I looked at my watch. I went uptown, got the turkey, came back home, and my wife was dead on the floor. That’s all the warning we had. The end of a happy marriage.
I couldn’t believe it. It was days before I could think it wasn’t happening. A bad dream; I couldn’t wake up.
Phoned the kids and told them. Thursday. Thursday afternoon. Couldn’t believe it. Thought I was safe. I’m going to die first, for sure, because there’s 20 years between us.
I lived eight years in the house by myself. I was lonely there. The house had everything we wanted. Took me six and a half years to build it because I was working in the insurance office. All beams in the ceiling. A huge backyard. Four thousand square feet. Five bedrooms, pool room, a bar with more booze than some of the clubs I played in. But it became too much for me.
I never thought I’d wind up like this (living in an apartment). I thought my wife and I would live in our house.

A new battle
In December, I wasn’t feeling that well. I had trouble with my throat, and I went to the doctor. They decided to run some tests.
First, they did an ultrasound. Then they found something. They did an x-ray and a CAT scan. The CAT scan nailed it down. She said, “You’ve got cancer.” In my kidney.
I thought, you can haul one out and leave the other one.
I went to the surgeon in London, Dr. Chin. He’s the top surgeon in London. I told him I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, so I don’t take blood. He said, “Just a moment. You don’t have to worry about the blood because I’m not going to operate. You’re 83 years old. Most people don’t realize how complex a kidney operation is. It’s a hell of a shock to your system. I think the shock would kill you.” Shit.

So here I sit. I’m looking at alternative medicine. Conventional medicine won’t look at that at all. It’s a hell of an attitude. They’re killing people doing that.
It’s a pain in the ass, no, the kidney. When it comes to alternative health, you can control it through what you eat. The guy I’m dealing with now is Dr. Julian Whittaker in California. He’s been using this system for 30 years and never had a failure yet. I could be number one.
I’m not cryin’. I’m a Jehovah’s Witness. I’m not afraid of dying anymore. I was apprehensive before, but I’m not afraid now. There’s no such thing as hell.
I’ve got nothing to complain about. I’m happy I lived in the time that I lived. From 1926 to 2010, that’s a hell of a long time. Look at the changes I’ve seen. I think I’m pretty lucky.

Pinnacle of a career
In 1962, I was running shows at the Red Barn in Oshawa Sunday nights in the wintertime. I was bringing in talent from Nashville and Wheeling; both had 50,000-Watt stations. I had booked Skeeter Davis, who had about five gold hits by then. She was going to be flying in Saturday evening. I couldn’t go pick her up because I was doing the radio show, so I sent my wife down to pick her up at the airport. She brought her up to the station, so she was there when I signed off. I had written and rewritten the signoff about five or six times. “Mama, put the kettle on, I’m coming home.” Thanked the people for listening. Skeeter is listening to this, and when I got finished, I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. She said, “That’s the most beautiful close I’d ever heard. Could you do that again on a tape not going out on the air?” I did it.
She took it home to Ralph, her husband, an all-night DJ at WSM Nashville. She played it for the board of directors. They said, that’s our next DJ.
I got a telegram from WSM at the end of October asking me to come to Nashville September 2, 1962. Nashville voted me Mr. DJ USA. I’m the only Canadian that ever got that award. I did a one-hour broadcast as a DJ from Nashville. We had five or six Opry stars lined up for my show.
Later, I walked out on the stage to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In the floor of the stage at the Grand Ole Opry, there’s a circle there about 8’ to 10’ in diameter, where it’s new wood. That’s where all the stars perform because that’s centre stage. Walking out there, when you see that circle and you know you’re going to stand there, it gives me teardrops. You feel about two inches high. Really humble. I did a song, “I’ll Pretend There Was No Yesterday”.
That was the pinnacle.

Sunday, March 21
2 to 4 p.m. – Trivitt Anglican Church, Exeter
Celebration launch of Bach Music Festival of South Huron and Bach’s 325th birthday. Concert, birthday cake and door prizes. Free to attend. RSVP to bachmusicfestival@bellnet.ca or 519-235-2565.

A teaser of what’s to come in July 2011, the Bach Music Festival of South Huron’s celebration launch will feature organist Janet Heerema and cellist Christine Newland. A year of concerts and special events for area residents and visitors from across Ontario will culminate in the first week-long international festival July 11 to 17, 2011.
The goal of the series is to attract music aficionados to South Huron as an important and accessible location for concerts, and the caliber of the music is expected to enhance the local economy. For more information, contact executive producer Louise Fagan at l.fagan@rogers.com or call 519-851-0393. Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration launch March 21 to get a taste for what is in store for next year’s festival.

It’s already been a big year for Zurich musician Lance Bedard, most recently nominated for best Pop Artist/Group of the Year in the London Music Awards. The nomination and growing radio play are early highlights of 2010 that Bedard and his band hope to build on as the year progresses. They are currently wrapping up a six-song EP album after industry advisors recommended a better quality recording.
“The last EP, Restless, got great feedback,” Bedard says. “Industry professionals told us the recording was not near up to par for prime time radio, but that the songs are good.”
Taking the feedback to heart, the band recorded four new songs and was ready to press it, but decided to add two more before releasing the EP.
This spring, Bedard plans to release the song “Sunday Afternoon” on iTunes, and the band is strategically planning to coordinate fan purchases in one day to draw industry attention to the song’s popularity.
The band’s popularity has translated into the London Music Award nomination, but he can’t win without fans voting for him. To vote, visit the contest website at http://www.londonmusicawards.com. Other local bands nominated include River Junction Band, Vintage Moments, and Brownsyn Jerome.
In the meantime, plan to attend the band’s “Post Recording Party” Friday, February 26 at the Zurich Bluewater Community Centre. Brownsyn Jerome is the opening act. Tickets are $5 in advance, or $7 at the door; the event starts at 9 p.m. Proceeds go to support a Performing Arts Society of Ontario scholarship for a student at South Huron District High School.
To learn more about Lance Bedard, visit his website at http://www.myspace.com/lanceromance01

SHDHS receives $10,000 CARAS instrument grant

Story and photos by Casey Lessard

Music students at South Huron District High School are blowing new horns after the school’s music program received a $10,000 equipment grant from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
“You’d be surprised how much equipment costs,” says music director Isaac Moore. “We were able to refresh every section a little bit and that helps us out in terms of the longevity of the program’s equipment in general. We got three flutes, three clarinets, three trumpets, three trombones, one new baritone, one tenor sax and two alto saxes.”
Close to 70 senior band members use a school instrument, and the intermediate band adds more users, so the need for decent equipment is high.
“Having one that works well makes a huge difference,” says saxophonist Trish Pavjeke, who uses her own instrument. “Some of the older saxophones are gross. They’ve been used for 100 years. The keys stick and the necks swivel back and forth. I’ve tried the new ones and they’re really nice. They work perfectly.”
While Pavjeke’s 100 year estimate is a bit off, former music teacher Bob Robilliard says some of the equipment was due.
“When I first came here, the equipment was one year old,” Robilliard says, noting the program started in 1986. “Most of that equipment is still here and still being used. Most school line equipment has a life of 25 years. It gets a lot of use.”
CARAS issued 60 MusiCounts Band Aid grants across Canada in 2009, and South Huron is one of the only rural schools in Ontario receiving the grant. Letters of support from the community were key to getting the grant on the first attempt, Moore says, noting some schools try many times unsuccessfully.
“It came around at a nice time for us,” he says. “The instruments have been heavily used. I wasn’t sure how we would pay for new ones. Having good equipment for the kids to play is really motivating. Without this, I’d have to build a case to the board, which has been very supportive of us, but its budget is finite like ours.”
As a result of the grant, some of the school’s older equipment will be transferred to another school in the board.
The band showed off the equipment for the first time at this weekend’s school concert, but Moore suggests the audience may not see a noticeable difference in sound, but it certainly makes playing easier.
“It’s like buying a new car. It’s not like it takes you anywhere faster, but it’s a more enjoyable experience and lasts longer. Eventually things need to be replaced. Plus, the older it is, the more you have to put into repair, so that will save us a lot.”
And while the actual sound may be the same, music council president Joe Pavjeke thinks the musicians will sound better because they’ll have more confidence.
“It’s like we’re getting recognized for our work. The students notice that. It shows that what we’re doing is a big deal.”

Father Brad Dunbar has been rector of Trivitt Memorial Church in Exeter and St. John-by-the-Lake in Grand Bend for the past two years, and recently presided over Trivitt’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

As told to Casey Lessard
Photos by Casey Lessard

Trivitt has begun to recognize that we live in a post-Christian era. The days when everyone went to church Sunday mornings are gone. Families are way too busy. So what’s been happening is a looking back to the early church and trying to do the things that started Christianity: feeding people, housing people, and trying to be a voice for people who don’t have one. It’s active, not passive.
We have a three pronged approach: we look to our world, we look to our region, and we look to the town of Exeter. With our global view, Trivitt has been active in the construction of an AIDS clinic in South Africa, and that’s been a big project. In our area, we’ve been sponsoring Huron University College to support their trans-cultural projects. And in a big way, we’ve worked aggressively in being part of the town of Exeter. The money raised at our Thanksgiving celebration went to the Habitat for Humanity in Exeter. We have a weekly Alpha program that includes a free meal. There’s a free monthly meal hosted the third week of the month for the needy, and we go to the different agencies that help people who are on social assistance, and the end of the month is a tough time for those people, so Trivitt tries to feed them.

Spirituality’s important, and how it is expressed can be varied. We’re trying to bring a message of hope and good news to Exeter, but being creative about it. We’d like to make our physical space available for the town when it’s needed. We want to be a civic church and a centre for the community.
I’m involved in Fresh Expressions (www.freshexpressions.ca), and the idea is to find new ways to meet people half way. The folks who are in their 20s and 30s don’t necessarily have a church memory, but they have a strong spirituality. If you go to Chapters, the best sellers on the shelf will all be books on spirituality. So it’s important for people. What we’re trying to realize and live out is the traditional method isn’t going to work in the reality we live in. We’re looking toward the church of 2050 as opposed to the church of 1950, and I think that’s going to look quite different.
The building will still exist – it’s architecturally significant. The church will look different. The interior will not look like it does today. Just like banks and schools have changed in the last 100 years, so will the church change to meet the needs of the community using it. What the people in their teens and 20s are going to look for is different than what it looked like in 1950. You can’t avoid technology, and I think it will be a big part of how the church looks. Kids today are the generation of the screen. They work and learn and play using the screen. It will be a significant change for the Anglican church. New churches look more like gymnasia than churches, and it’s intentional. People are more comfortable walking into a gymnasium than they are walking into a church. Our building will show the history of the church, but will change to meet the needs of the emerging generation of churchgoers.

For a lot of people, walking into a church building – and we look like a traditional church – can be a very intimidating thing. It can be a barrier for people, so when we hold concerts and shows and other events, and people are able to come in and enjoy, they get a little more comfortable with coming into our worship space. If they don’t go to church, it’s a gentle way to say, Hey, we’re here. If they have something in their lives that makes them need to speak to a pastor, we want to be an option they consider. We also see it as a benefit to the community; we have the physical space to put on big productions and we would like to bring them to South Huron, and we don’t think you have to drive to London for that.
We’re looking at a couple of very contemporary services that we’re hoping to start in Exeter at a different time than Sunday morning. Often, that’s the only time of the week you can relax, sleep in and have bacon and eggs or whatever. We’re going to offer church in a worship sense at different times of the week. We’re also looking at programs that feed someone’s spirit but don’t seem like traditional worship.

The parish spent some time doing some soul searching, and we discovered that music was very important to us and to Exeter. In bringing music director Janet Heerema in, we’ve brought a music professional in full-time and she has made a dramatic impact right from the start. She does an adult choir, children’s choir and a hand-bell choir, which are community based, and the Trivitt choir. The community choirs have people from various churches in the area, and some who don’t go to church. As a church, it’s a gift to the community: we pay her salary and she spends a great deal of her time working on music for the community.
We have an aggressive arts agenda over the next 10 months. We created an arts and culture community and started brainstorming what people might enjoy in the area. The Three Cantors came up on the list, and they work out well for us because they donate from the proceeds of the show to the Huron Hunger Fund, which is affiliated with the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund. It becomes a charitable event, and they’re a big draw, so it will sell out.

Future concerts include a children’s choir concert Dec. 6, and a Christian rock concert in March. The Three Cantors (www.3cantors.com) perform Wed., Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 available online (www.trivitt.ca).

Inspired by Brian Dale’s Miss Grand Bend, a group of radio listeners is fighting to win CBC’s Great Canadian SongQuest

Story and file photos by Casey Lessard

Only days remain to vote for Grand Bend (or its competitors) in CBC Radio 2’s Great Canadian Songquest, a contest to choose one town from each province to be immortalized in song. Grand Bend made it into the top five for Ontario thanks to some aggressive voting by enthusiastic radio listeners, including Brantford resident and Klondyke Park trailer owner Frank Beattie, University of Western Ontario sociology student Heidi Klopp and others.
“It’s about getting Grand Bend noticed and recognized,” says Klopp, 20, a Zurich veteran who now considers Grand Bend home. “It’s an awesome small town with as much to offer as the big towns.”
Beattie and Klopp thought the contest would be a good way to promote their favourite iconic song about the village, Brian Dale’s “Miss Grand Bend”, which is now available on Dale’s peace/love/waves/song CD that came out this summer. Plans to promote Dale’s music changed somewhat after nominations began and the nominators realized the contest wasn’t to recognize songs that already existed (vis-a-vis “Miss Grand Bend”), but rather to find 13 places across Canada that would be written about by an artist from each province. For Ontario, the artists are Jully Black (R&B/soul), Hawksley Workman (alternative), Shad K (rap), Lynn Miles (folk/roots), and Justin Rutledge (alt-country).
“It’s too bad they’re not using local artists like Brian, Greg Gallello, Natalie Tobin,” Klopp says, “but it’s still a good thing for our town.”
It’s a misunderstanding shared by early Grand Bend bid supporter Frank Beattie, 56, who heard about the contest from a friend.
“All I could think about was Brian’s new album, released after all these years, and thought maybe this is a place to suggest ‘Miss Grand Bend’ as a candidate for the contest,” Beattie says. “They had a few blogging tools that allowed you to create a blog to promote your place. Every time you logged in, you could nominate your town, so on the first day while updating the blog, I voted enough to get us off to a pretty good start.”
A good start is an understatement. At times, Grand Bend was in the lead, and finished in the top five, good enough to be a finalist. After a week of voting, says CBC Radio director of music Mark Steinmetz, Grand Bend was fourth after Algonquin Park, Sleeping Giant (Thunder Bay) and Toronto; Picton was fifth. It’s a proud accomplishment for Beattie, who nine years ago had no idea where Grand Bend was.
“After finishing a big project at work, my boss said we needed to get away,” he says. “There were eight of us involved in that project, and our entire company was dependent on our group, so he decided to leave them on their own while we went away during the middle of the week. We rolled in on Wednesday night. I remember calling my wife and saying, ‘This is unbelievable. It’s an hour and a half away from home (Brantford) and it’s got everything we want.’”
Two weeks later, he brought his wife for a stay at the Oakwood.
“We sat in the dining room for a late dinner and the sunset coming down Oakwood Drive hooked us.” Later that summer, they bought a used trailer at the Klondyke Trailer Park. “Best investment we’ve made,” he says.
His passion for the village is apparent, and his love for local music – among the reasons he and his wife decided to stay – makes him want to promote it across Canada.
“Brian has been adamant since this started that we promote the town, not him. To me, Grand Bend is a secret and a gem. It’s priceless and not well-known. Do we want to lose our paradise? The answer is no, but I’ve been promoting Grand Bend for eight years and the only person to ever take me up on my offer, my neighbour at work, is now my neighbour at the park. He and his partner just love it.”
“It’s a town for everybody and every age group,” Klopp says. “No matter how old or young, there’s something for you.”
For Klopp, the people are the main attraction, then the location. And of course, there’s the music.
“We’re a very musical town, and everyone feels the music. Even if you can’t get up and dance (at a Gables jam night, for example), you can bop to the music.”
For Beattie, the location is the inspiration.
“The beach, the lake, sunsets, the strip, the atmosphere. It’s like Gravenhurst, but it’s 40 minutes from London and an hour from Stratford.”
That’s why CBC Songquest is a good fit, Klopp says.
“I thought it was exactly what Grand Bend needs with the new downtown and beach renovations. What’s the point of spending those millions of dollars if no one comes? Tourism has definitely been down these past few years. It’s great that the locals get to enjoy it, but we want to share it with everyone else as well.”
Just the type of message CBC hopes will come out of the contest, in addition to raising awareness of a recent format change at Radio 2.
“We wanted something to engage Canadians, the artistic community, and our people here to come up with 13 new songs commissioned by the CBC that represented towns across the country,” Mark Steinmetz says. “Rather than us dictating how it was going to go and who we would commission, we thought it would be great to open it up to Canadians.”
While expecting major urban centres to make the top five for each province, he notes that smaller centres are leading the pack. “It’s a tight race right now for what people are voting for,” he says. “It’s a way to discover new artists in this country. We play a diverse range of music, and there are so many great artists out there that don’t get played on private stations.”
Plus it’s a good way to create new music about Canada.
“I don’t know if you know this, but Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Canadian Railroad Trilogy’ was actually a CBC commission (for the centennial year, 1967),” Steinmetz notes. “We’ve commissioned many types of music. That came from internally. Now Canadians get to help us decide who we’re going to commission. And who knows, one of these songs could become a song that gets embedded in the nation’s consciousness.”
Local listeners hope Grand Bend inspires that song. The final days of the contest will be tough, but Beattie remains as optimistic as he can.
“I think it’s going to take a miracle now to win. Toronto has a few million people, while we have a few thousand. Brian Dale says it right: to be successful in the music business, you need luck and connections, and for us to win this contest, it’s going to take a lot of both.”
“Vote as much as you can,” says Heidi Klopp. “You can vote once a day. Tell everyone you can. Listen to CBC radio, and spread the word.”
To vote, visit: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/songquest/

The Band In You is building a following for bands that might hit their peak 10 or 20 years from now

Photos and story by Casey Lessard

Sitting outside a basement studio in the Dalton Subdivision south of Grand Bend, four teenagers wait their turn in Ken Dinel’s domain: his professional music recording studio. Surprised by the success of his project, The Band In You music school, Dinel has had to abandon basement space to expand the studio and the lounge, which is still in the renovation stage.
“I thought I might get five students and teach a little music,” Dinel says. “I didn’t expect a big turnout, but it just took off. And it took off fast. I didn’t do any advertising other than in the Strip, and the word of mouth spread. Kids started telling their friends they were in a band. My five-year-old group members are six now, and they went to Florida for a month; they drove their mom nuts telling everyone they’re in a band.”
Their passion for being part of something bigger than themselves has led to performances by The Band In You students at various community events this summer, including at the Canada Day celebrations and the Relay for Life.
“It’s different from what I’m used to, but a good different,” says 14-year-old Blake Percy of Grand Bend, a guitarist in the band Sweet ‘N’ Toxik. He joined the school after his mom saw the ad in this paper.
“I’m learning a lot of new things. Before I would learn how to play the guitar and go home and practice for hours and hours. Here, you’re learning how to play with other people in a band. The timing is a whole different thing. It’s like comparing an individual sport like tennis to a team sport like soccer.”
The band members range in age from three to 18, and there are seven bands in total. Band members come up with the names, such as Famous, Victim, and Rocket Stars. Everyone is involved in songwriting, which is the main thrust of the school.
“They come in and sit down, and we start writing,” Dinel says. “We’ll rewrite together until the song’s somewhat complete, and then it’s introduced to the band. If the bands are less capable of writing, we each take a turn writing a line and then it’s edited that way. The Rocking Kids are five years old, and they all wrote me a bunch of lyrics about being rock stars and I put it together for them. With Sweet ‘N’ Toxik, Kyla came in with a semi-finished song (“Building My Time Machine”), and we tore it down and rewrote it with new elements. Then we sat down and worked on the music for it. It all came together very quickly.
“From there, we go into the studio and lay down a bed track where the band performs the song together to a click track. Then we just start replacing parts one at a time. We redo it until it’s radio-worthy.”
That level of professionalism and solidarity is what attracts Dinel’s students.
“I thought I was the next Taylor Swift,” says Sweet ‘N’ Toxik singer Megan O’Brien, 15 of Zurich. “But then I got into the band and this is so much cooler because you get to share the hard work and pride with other people. I really want to hit it big with the band. I love sharing our music with people. When I’m listening to the radio, I’ll hear a song that makes me say, ‘I’m so glad they wrote that.’ I want to share that with people.”
Sharing the music is part of the appeal for Kyla Hunt-Beach of Grand Bend, also a singer with the band.
“I like being able to perform and entertain,” says the 17-year-old. “I like being able to work in a team as a band. It’s been really amazing.
“The highlight is playing at concerts,” Kyla says. “The first one at the Grand Bend Public School Family Fun Day was amazing. I loved how there was a big crowd and how enthusiastic they were. I loved how they came up afterward and complimented us.”
Blake Percy agrees.
“It’s great seeing people come out to watch you play because I’m not used to that. Our band is good, so we get good applause and that’s a rush.”
Dinel estimates the school’s show has about 200 loyal fans, so he’s looking forward to taking the bands on tour locally. Coming off well-received shows this summer, Dinel has started picking up paying gigs for his students.
“The original goal of the school was to teach them how to write songs and record them,” he says. “Now that the school’s full, we’re going to develop a show. They’ll write and perform originals and covers, and each band will have its own set.
“We’ve been promised radio. Next year, I want to take these kids on tour locally. Then it’s TV. They’re very young, but there’s an It factor. We’ve performed with some bigger bands, and the bigger audience seems to be when the kids are on. We don’t see kids play, so it’s a rarity. And it’s coming out of Grand Bend.”
That said, the performers are still kids, so they’re not polished professionals, although there are a few prodigies. For Dinel, career longevity is the key, and that comes from accountability and desire, even if their age sometimes shows in the lyrics and sound.
“There’s a lot of editing at this stage,” Dinel admits. “But they get better each time they do the process. They’ve been here six months, so imagine them in two years. Grand Bend’s going to have some serious music out of this. Victim is a very committed band; my daughter’s in that one. They’re the real deal, and in two years they’ll only be 10!
“Most garage bands typically envision these ideas (touring, recording, etc.), but don’t go any further because they don’t have anyone to help them get there. I always push them to look forward. It’s more of a preparation mentality than a practice mentality.”
“I had lessons before,” adds Megan O’Brien, “and you go home and play, but it’s not fun. With a band, people are depending on you. We’re looking at the bigger picture.”
Mom Yvonne O’Brien is impressed.
“On several occasions, our daughters have been jamming and performing with other friends who have a lot more formal or traditional training. Their experience with The Band In You’s format was very apparent, and helped produce a more confident performance.”
Shannon O’Brien, 13, plays drums and is learning the bass. She agrees that the experience has helped boost her confidence in performance.
“Before, friends would come over and I’d be totally lost,” she says. “Now I can play with bands and it’s a lot better.”
“Ken is phenomenal,” Kyla Hunt-Beach says. “He’s really good to work with and easy to get along with. He gets you on track when you need to. It’s really fun and you don’t even realize when you’re practicing because you’re having so much fun. You get lost in the music because it’s so much fun.”
Dinel believes his process helps students relax, creating a desire to come back for more.
“When Kyla came in, she was conservative, safe and tense. Now, you see her in there and she’s a whole different person.
“I’m trying to put together bands that really get along well. There’s no inner dating. They’re respectful to each other. For the sake of longevity, they have to share the limelight, be respectful and encouraging to each other.”
That was a challenge at first for Kyla and Megan, who share the stage as singers in Sweet ‘N’ Toxik.
“At first, when we didn’t know each other, we kind of competed,” Megan says. “Not too bad, but we’d almost scream trying to get over each other. Finally we said, we want to sound good, and we sound good together. We’re both equally in this, so let’s just do it. Now we hang out all the time. We’re good friends. It wasn’t like that before, but now it is.”
Together they are stronger, they say, and they’re in it for the long haul.
“I want our band to get big and become well known, ” Kyla says. “ To be able to travel and tour. I just hope it grows. It’s going to be hard, but that’s how you get big.”
Thirteen-year-old Shannon’s prepared for the ride.
“I’d like to see people know our band. That would be the coolest thing.”
For Dinel, the end result is up to his students.
“It’s a self-defined experience,” he says. “We have a great time, but I do have expectations. If they don’t come in prepared, it’s not cool. As a band, they all feel part of something greater than their everyday life.”

The school’s roster is full, but has a waiting list that could be drawn upon in the fall. To join the waiting list and be part of the process, contact Ken Dinel at thebandinyou (at) hay.net

Late night television fans have the opportunity to see Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night house band, The Roots, when they perform at the Cutting Edge Music Festival August 2 at the Motorplex. Named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “twenty greatest live acts in the world,” The Roots are releasing a new album this summer. The eight-piece Philadelphia hip-hop band has performed with such greats as Paul Simon, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and Mos Def.