This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
Saturday and Sunday the Port of Orillia and Centennial Park are venues for the Orillia In-Water Boat Show. This is an opportunity to walk the docks and check out what’s new in boating from eight boat dealers and all the things that go along with boating.
Of course the boardwalk will be lined with vendors and food. There will also be inflatables for the kids to play on. Saturday’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Chamber of Commerce operates the port and the events taking place in the vicinity throughout the summer. They have a new event called Orillia’s Got Talent. As the name suggests it’s a contest that takes place over three Saturday’s starting July 5.
The first two weeks are preliminary rounds happening from 4 to 6 p.m. with the finals happening July 26 at the same time. You can find out more and register participate online.
There are other things happening on Saturday. The Orillia Museum of Art History has two new exhibits opening at 11 a.m. and both are about Gordon Lightfoot. Gordon Lightfoot: Turning Back The Pages is in the smaller gallery on the main floor and features acquisitions from the Lightfoot estate auction that happened last fall. The Museum received these items as an anonymous donation.
In the upstairs gallery see photos from Mariposa Folk Festivals of the past, way past, and from recent iterations. Voices Through Time: A Mariposa Journey features pics from the 70s by Edwin Gailits and more recent years by Deb Halbot. Not all the photos on display are of Gord, but the photographers have chosen ones that are meant to convey the atmosphere of Mariposa.
There was a preview on Thursday for museum members and Mariposa folks that was well attended. A few of Gord’s relatives were on hand as were Barry Keane and Rick Haynes. Barry and Rick did a story time, Q&A session in the smaller second floor gallery. Here’s a gallery of the event.
MFF’s Chris Hazel, Barry Keane, Rick Haynes and MFF’s Pam Carter 
Deb Halbot, exhibit instigator Ted Markle, Edwin Gailits 
Gord’s artefacts (Juno Award on left) 
Several items from Gord’s writing room
At 1 p.m. the Lake Country Pride Parade happens downtown. Mississaga Steet will be closed for the duration. The parade ends at the pavilion in Couchiching Beach Park where many activities and a BBQ are planned for the afternoon starting at 2 p.m.
With June being Pride Month there is also an event Mariposa Arts Theatre is having at the Brammer Drive rehearsal hall Saturday and Sunday The 3rd annual Queer Cabaret features a number of performances; tickets are sold out.
There is also a screening of the documentary Pride vs. Prejudice and a discussion panel afterward at Georgian College June 18 at 5 p.m. It’s free, but they’d like you to register to attend.
Also happening is a reception for David Crighton’s work at Hibernation Arts’s at 1 p.m. There is also a lot of new art hanging around by gallery members.
Peter Street Fine Art is featuring photographic work of Mike Bailey’s many travels to Africa, and it’s called Out Of Africa and the opening reception is Saturday at 1 p.m.
One more thing, Lake Country Grill has a comedy night happening with Jimmy England, Dair Shendale, Matt Lund, Jake Leland Bryon Johnston, Rochelle Bechard and Owen Yaz at 9 p.m. You can get tickets online.
Mr. Pachter Goes To Jail
Not really, but he now has 8 of his artworks hanging at OPP General headquarters.. Maybe hanging isn’t the right word, and I’m sure in that gigantic building there must be at least a holding room so the sub header stays.
There was a reception in the cafeteria where three of the pieces are on display. Charles told me he was out there for something a while ago and couldn’t believe that there was no art on the walls. “Look at this,” he said, sweeping his arm around; it’s like a gallery waiting for art. And it is, with big walls and nothing on them, until now.
Some of the pieces are on the walls of the main concourse near the cafeteria. There were about 50 people on hand for the unveiling.
Charles Pachter at OPP headquarters 
Pachter’s Iconic Canadian Flag painting 
Two more Pachter pieces outside the OPP cafeteria
Silver Band and the Silver Screen
Last Saturday’s Orillia Silver Band concert at St. Paul’s Centre was really good. Because all but one pieces of music are from movies they had a video presentation accompanying the playing – complete with a countdown for conductor Neil Barlow so the music and pictures/video clips matched up. The visual stuff was put together by Erin Birt.
The combination had the effect of making the music fly by. I noticed this when they played the Feather Theme from Forrest Gump, which seemed to end as I was getting into it. I was not disappointed with the arrangement of the playing of John Williams’s The Cowboys )last before halftime) and something called Saint-Saens Variations when they returned, arranged by Phillip Sparke using themes from the Organ Symphony.
The true character of the OSB, their attention to detail and general level of execution of the notes on the page was most evident when they played Respighi’s The Appian Way from the Pines of Rome. You may know this piece as the theme music from ABC’s Wide World of Sports. It has one of the longest crescendos of any piece of music, bars and minutes of crescendo – except for maybe Bolero. It just builds and builds and builds until the triumphant and loud ending. It’s very easy to get too loud, too soon and spoil the effect, but the OSB did it right.
You just don’t get to hear music this great (all the selections) done so well in Orillia very often.
All the visual stuff concluded with the ending of each tune, like a plan you might say, except for the closer, Gonna Fly Now from Rocky; that one had a hangover video clip of Rocky doing his little dance on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which kind of added some heft to the music we just heard.
The Shorts
- Anne Walker’s Coulson Concerts series is happening again this summer. the schedule is: Katherine Wheatley and James Gordon June 22, Gathering Sparks (Eve Goldberg And Jane Lewis ) July 27 and Anne September 28. All concerts are at 2 p.m. and you can get tickets online.
- Arts For Peace is back. it will happen June 22 at the Leacock Museum from 1 to 4 p.m. This time around they have a rain location at St. Paul’s Centre. This is a family event with lots of activities for kids. Admission is free, but they will take donations.
- The celebration of life for Suds Sutherland is June 22 at Hawk Ridge Golf Club from 1 to 4 p.m. there will be a graveside service at 11 a.m. at St Andrew’s/St. James’ Cemetery the same day.
- The Coldwater Studio Tour is June 21 and 22. 40 artists are participating at 8 venues. You can get more details abot who is where online.
- Sunday evening band concerts at the Aqua Theatre start June 22 with the Orillia Concert Band. There will be music every weekend of the summer starting at 6:30 p.m. There will also be music on Friday nights starting in July, and there will be an artisan market too; vendors can still apply to be part of the market.
- The Orillia Youth Centre has another fundraising concert June 27 at Quayle’s Brewery. The Ronnie Douglas Blues Band and the great duo of Andrew Alli And Josh Small from Virginia will be playing. It’s outdoors in a tent I’m told is about the size of the pub tent during the early years of the Mariposa Folk Festival. You can get tickets (selling well) online. Another fundraiser, Farm Fest, is happening June 29 with Andrew and Josh, along with Kay Silver (Kayla Elizabeth’s band) out in Sebright; get tickets online.
- The Canada Day committee has updated their website and it’s time to sign on as a volunteer, or apply to be a vendor.
- Bleeker has a new video out and you can watch Florida on youtube.
- Battlescarred is entered into an online contest called America’s Next Top Hitmaker and you can vote for them here. Their new album, New Era, is out and you can find a way to listen to it here.
- The 47th annual Orillia Scottish Festival is a little more than a month away, July 18, but now is the time to get tickets for the Friday night Ceilidh at the legion with Fully Licensed (Cyndi Devereux, John Mac Donald, Sean Patrick, Don Wood) supplying the music.
- The Orillia Museum Of Art And History has the 28th annual International Women’s Day Show in the main floor gallery. 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; 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’s Collector’s Corner features works by Kerry Walford.
- Quayle’s Brewery has My Missing Piece in to play June 14; Springwater Duo June 15; Erin Blackstok June 19; and Ron Whitman June 20 … the Hog ‘N Penny has an afternoon jam session every Sunday with Sean Patrick and others… Lake Country Grill has a comedy night happening June 14 with Jimmy England, Dair Shendale, Matt Lund, Jake Leland Bryon Johnston, Rochelle Bechard and Owen Yaz. Get tickets online… Jim Cronk plays the ANAF Club June 15…
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied)
