This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
It’s time to send in nominations for this year’s ORAH Awards. This will be the 6th time the awards have been given, more counting its predecessor the ODAC Awards.
With ODAC becoming North Simcoe Arts and expanding it’s focus to include the arts community from the Midland area to Brechin nominees could possibly be from beyond Orillia and surrounding townships.
Some of the categories have been renamed and there is one new category. The Qennefer Browne Achievement Award remains the same. This is a lifetime achievement kind of award. As usual I’m a floating some names I think should get a nomination. One for this category is Steve Orr. Steve is constantly opening his chequebook to sponsor concerts. He’s been a tremendous source of support for Orillia Youth Centre fundraising concerts.
Creative Experience Award is for an event, festival, exhibit, or performance. Here Kevin Gangloff, who organizes the youth centre fundraisers, is a great candidate. Another good nomination could be for the Orillia Concert Association. They bring in top tier, first call, musicians and groups to entertain us and have been doing so for decades. Their subscription price has not changed from $90 for the season in years. This year their Ellington/Basie concert with Lance Anderson was off the charts good. I am happy to report I don’t have to put in the Orillia Silver Band’s name because they won this award last year.
Youth Voice in Arts and Culture Award is new. This for someone under 25 who is a leader in the arts. Off hand I think Sam Johnston who has been leading music classes for youth centre kids who be a good choice.
Equity & Inclusion in the Arts and Culture Award is also new. It is meant to recognize an artist, initiative, or organization advancing inclusivity, accessibility, and social awareness with arts and culture. To be honest, I’m drawing blanks on this one.
Community Impact Through Arts & Culture Award has a new name, but it’s not a new. This used to be the teacher’s award, which was not limited to school teachers. That said Laura Lee Matthie and Laura Christie have done an outstanding job with all the bands at Orillia Secondary School, not just this past school year, but for several years.
Send your nomination in online by October 10, but don’t wait.
The Band Played On
One thing you cannot say about the organizing committee of the Lightfoot Days Festival is that they are lazy. They have been promoting the festival constantly since the last festival. Most recently they announced they have Tim Corey of RBC Wealth Dominion Securities on board as a major sponsor, and they also have the City, Casino Rama, Hardwood Ski and Bike, KnightVision Creative Agency, and Don Leatherdale Real Estate as sponsors.
Tickets are on sale now for The Lightfoot Band’s performance at the Opera House October 30. This isn’t some clone band like the plethora of others playing the Opera House (and I don’t mean Classic Lightfoot Live), other close by venues and flooding your Facebook news feed. This is Gord’s band with Andy Mauck doing the singing. Those who saw them last year can attest it’s almost like seeing the real thing because most of it is the real thing.
The band is sticking around for two meet the band workshop sessions October 31 at Creative Nomad Studios with special guest John Bacon. Bacon is a journalist from Michigan who has written several books about sports (mostly related to the University of Michigan – some of those were written as business leadership tomes), the 2022 Team Canada hockey team, Cirque du Soleil, and the Halifax explosion of 1917. His most recent book is The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and will be speaking about the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank 50 years ago.
The popular Memories of Lightfoot story time and music event will happen the same day in the evening.
Saturday’s feature is a showing of the documentary Lightheaded by John Corcoran at 1 p.m. This event will have family members and Corcoran present for a Q&A – and music.
Sunday at 10:30 a special service will happen at St. Paul’s Centre. And a festival wrap up party at 3 p.m. There are participating venues being line up for live music.
The Shorts
- The City of Orillia is going to try out an art project many other communities have done, paint utility boxes. In this case three traffic control boxes have been selected for treatment – Colborne Street at West Street; Coldwater Road at Patrick Street; and University Avenue at the Costco entrance. Selected artists will get $500 for their effort. You can find out submission (by Aug. 12) details here.
- The 25th annual Rotary Classic Car Show is Aug. 16 all day downtown. Crusin’ will be playing the patio at Brewery Bay Food Company.
- The Orillia Youth Centre has a few fundraising concerts happening in the fall. The Sadies with special guest Terra Lightfoot are lined up for Sept. 20 at St. Paul’s Centre; Kevin Seconds, Lenny Lashley’s Gang Of One, and Nixon Boyd play Oct. 10 at Creative Nomad, and Oct. 11 at the youth center; and Danny Michel with special guest Roger Harvey play at the youth center October22. Get tickets online.
- The Mariposa Folk Festival has their fall Mariposa-in-Concert event happening November 29 at St. Paul’s Centre with Aysanabee. He performed at the 2022 festival and is the first Native musician to win Juno Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. You can get tickets online right now.
- OMAH has a new exhibit, Yours To Uncover: An Ontario Road Trip, with works by Peter Fyfe and John Notten open Aug.2 with a reception Aug. 7 from 7 to 9 p.m.; also see Orillia: Then And Now a collection of historical photos of Orillia landmarks and buildings contrasted with recent photos of the same by Samantha Vessios, and two exhibits related to Gordon Lightfoot – a permanent exhibit of their acquisitions of items from Gord’s estate, Gordon Lightfoot: Turning Back The Pages, and an exhibit of photos taken over the years by Edwin Gailits (1970s era) and, Deb Halbot, at the Mariposa Folk Festival called Voices Through Time: A Mariposa Journey; OMAH has their summer walking tour, Gangs, Guns, and Grog happening every Wednesday evening. You can register to take part here; The submission period for the annual Carmichael Landscape Show – Tradition Transformed is open until August 22. You can get details here. Now is the best time to get tickets for OMAH’s Music For The Museum event, November 1; Jacquie Dancyger Arnold, Hugh Coleman, Ross Arnold, Blair Bailey, Laura Kelly, and Gail Spencer are performing.
- Cloud Gallery has a bunch of new art and two new artists, Candace Louise and Holly Friesen, are now part of the Cloud family… Hibernation Arts has lots of new work inlcuding new photos by MJ Pollak… Peter Street Fine Arts has photos by Mike Bailey featured this month (some fantastic shots taken in Africa)… Starry Night is Aug. 23
- Moonstone’s Nick Bellingshausen has his song, Overtime, selected by Amazon Music featured in their new series of new Canadian talent called, Northern Echoes.
- Quayle’s Brewery has Andrew Walker playing Aug. 1; Jess Bowman (aft.) and Kay Chabot (eve.) play Aug. 2; Kyle McAdam (aft.) and Don Whitman (eve.) Aug. 3; Johnnie Toonice Aug. 4; Jakob Pearce plays Aug. 9… the Hog ‘N Penny has an afternoon jam session every Sunday with Sean Patrick and others; The House Band (Sean Patrick, John MacDonald, Michael Martyn) is in Saturday; Vince Therrien plays Saturday… the Boathouse Blues Band plays the ANAF Club Saturday evening…. Lake Country Grill has a comedy night Aug. 7 with Jason Rouse, Kyle Lucey and Sai Kit Lo (tickets)… The noon hour recital at St. James’ Anglican church (every Wednesday) is with Autumn Debassige and Blair Bailey this coming week (bring your lunch).
- The Aqua Theatre roster this weekend is the Orillia Youth Centre three-band showcase (free BBQ provided by Harvey’s – until the burgers run out) starting at 6:30 p.m., Friday; Movies In The Park returns Saturday, Aug. 9 with Wayne’s World at dusk (free, collecting donations of food or cash for the Sharing Place); The Barrie Concert Band plays the Sunday evening band concert at 6:30 p.m.
- (Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: 2024 ORAH Award Event category winners Lake Country Pride and Mariposa Arts Theatre for Orillia Pride Days
