Month: May 2012

 

– You might not see yourself as a big time fan of country music, but Leisa Way’s new production, Country Jukebox, making its debut at Upper Canada Playhouse, will surely go a long way to converting you.

The show bursts from the gate with the Country Jukebox ‘overture’ and hits the ground running. 

“My heart ain’t ready for the Rollin’ Stones/I don’t feel like rocking since my baby’s gone/Don’t rock the jukebox/Play me a country song..”

Backed up by the incredible Wayward Wind band, Dave Wilson, Kim Ratcliffe and Bruce Ley, and supported on lead vocals by Aaron Solomon and Randall Kempf (whose individual and collective talents are stunning) singer Leisa Way delivers a show for all musical tastes.

The traditional harmonies of country artists like Loretta Lynn and Reba McIntyre are balanced by cross-over modern artists like LeAnn Rimes and Lady Antebellum. Way’s show, as she explained in an earlier interview with the Leader, is primarily designed around duets, country music match-ups that are considered gold standards. 

Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, among others, were featured artists. Bruce Ley, who arranged the music for Country Jukebox, has orchestrated some wonderful medleys blending these artists’ singles and duets. Way, Solomon and Kempf segued effortlessly from one piece to another to deserved applause.

I particularly enjoyed the Dottie West/Kim Carnes set which included “Till I Can Make It On My Own”, and “Don’t Fall in Love with a Dream”, among others. Could just be the romantic in me, of course, but as Way said at one point, music like this reflects “a true love story,  true country magic.”

Seldom off the stage (except for some striking costume changes) during the entire concert, Way is the exuberant focal point of Country Jukebox.

 Her singing voice is a powerful and versatile instrument. Whether she is singing alone on stage, or harmonizing with Solomon and Kempf, her range and energy are phenomenal.

Because she and Solomon and Kempf have worked together before, there is a musical easiness among them as they sing. They seem to be having a great time.

And when the spotlight solos in on Solomon and Kempf, these two deliver. 

Randall Kempf, (who really does resemble Willie Nelson), delivered a rousing rendition of  “The Gambler” at one point that had the audience cheering.  And Aaron Solomon, ‘knocked ‘em dead’ when he and his fiddle roared into ‘Orange Blossom Special’. As Leisa said earlier,  the man also “sings like an angel.”

Way showcases the individual members of her band throughout the production. Was there anyone whose foot wasn’t tapping when the five men burst into a boisterous “Elvira’? 

You can’t get better performers than these musicians anywhere.

Way’s Country Jukebox is upbeat, humourous and musically, a knockout. However, this is a very new show: as with any new venture, it is still undergoing some growing pains in terms of length and  editing. 

 Way makes it clear that what matters most in her show is the music:  she, and the artists sharing the spotlight with her, let that music speak for itself.

By the way, this show already had me hooked, but when it ended with Roy and Dale, well, all I can say is, what could have been more perfect?

Country Jukebox is only at Upper Canada Playhouse until May 13. Contact the box office at 613-543-3713 for tickets.   

[…]

 

 What began last summer as a good-natured Liars Derby among a group of long time fishing buddies, this year became a tribute to the memory of one of those old friends.

The 2nd annual Liars Fishing Derby was held at the Galop Canal Marina in Iroquois on Saturday, May 5, in honour of the late Garry Banford, a keen amateur fisherman. Organized by Bruce Mullin and other friends of Garry’s, the Derby drew 155 entrants with prizes of $500 going for the largest pike and the largest pickerel catches of the day. The event was capped in late afternoon by a barbecue which featured some very fresh fish on the menu.

“This event was a kind of dream for us,” Bruce Mullin said. “When we first came up with the idea of holding this derby, we really didn’t know if people would come out to support it. But the response was just unreal. We had 155 people purchase tickets, people of all ages from 10 to 70. Garry was a very close friend and we wanted to do something special for him.”

Mullin joked that the name the Liars Derby came about last year. 

“A group of us buddies just casually started calling the event the 1st Liars Derby, and the name stuck.”

Mullin had a lot of praise for the friends who helped him plan and organize and run the Derby. 

“Ron Monroe, Gary Locke, Doug Byers, Ron Baker, Gary Jarvis, Lynn Dillabough and Danny McLaughlin all got involved. Then Aaron and Ann (Banford) came in to help as well with ticket sales.”

The Derby raised $4,000 for the organizers.

The proceeds will allow two scholarships, in Garry Banford’s name, each for $500, to be given to Seaway District High School in time for the fall graduation. Organizers were also thrilled to be able to present the Iroquois Marina with a donation of $1,700.

The entire Banford family took part in the Derby.

“I thought this was a fantastic idea when Bruce came to me with it,” said Ann Banford. “Garry was one of the fishing buddies and he would have loved this event. Bruce and his group are really to be commended. They put so much work and effort into getting the Derby together.”

Many people, who were not actually planning to fish, also approached the organizers with donations. 

Prizes of $500 were awarded to Ernie Beckstead for the largest pike, weighing in at 10.12 lbs and to Kevin Sabourin with the largest pickerel at 8.3 pounds. Ernie donated $100 of his winnings back to the Derby.

Gary Locke took second prize in the pike category while Jeff Adams took third. Ron Gillard received second prize for his pickerel and Rob Barkely went home with third.  Bert Fawcett came closest to the Hidden Weight while Kevin Keyes was ‘honoured’ with the Skunked Trophy.

The weather co-operated for the day.

“It was a bit cold and windy when we started out at 7 a.m.,” Mullin said, “but sunny and getting warmer by the time the deadline arrived. I guess it was a challenge for the guys out there, but we brought in 160 pounds of fish. And that doesn’t count the ones that were released. The fish were all caught in the immediate area. Some bass and some bowfin were also hooked.”

Are any good fishing stories coming out of the 1012 Liars  Fishing Derby?

Well, it seems the winning pike is still gaining weight as the Leader goes to press…

Organizers are already looking ahead to next year’s Derby. 

[…]

 

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Constable Pete Robertson when asked about the status of a break-in at the Morrisburg Golf Club.

On Sunday, May 6th, some time after club hours, the Morrisburg Golf Club was broken into and the contents of its safe were taken.

When club manager Anita Cooper arrived at work Monday morning the alarm was still activated. For this reason, she didn’t suspect foul play when she noticed the storeroom ceiling had been destroyed.

She said it wasn’t until she went to retrieve the cash from the safe and saw that the safe was missing that she realized there had been a break-in.

According to Cooper, the thief or thieves entered the building through the roof. “They pulled the vent off, shimmied down in through the vent hole and took the safe out.”

Having gone through the roof, Cooper said, they were able to avoid setting off the alarms. 

She pointed out, however, that a neighbour’s dog went into a barking frenzy some time around 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. Cooper suggested this could point to a possible time line for the theft.

According to Robertson, police “were advised of the break in around 6:30 a.m. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken.”

Cooper reported that the safe was found empty in some hedges on club property. The safe, small and compact, had been bolted down in the storeroom.

She also confirmed, as of May 8th, that the amount of money stolen was still unknown.

According to Robertson, the police are asking anyone with information about this crime to come forward by calling their local detachment or by contacting Crime Stoppers.

[…]

 

Although three area apple growers say their orchards were affected by the unusually heavy frosts that occurred on the weekend of April 28-29-30, the jury is still out on how this fall’s apple crop will fare.

Also in jeopardy were the ‘strawberry’ plants which are expected to be in bloom within the next week or two and ready for harvest by mid June.

It all began with the unseasonably ‘hot’ weather in mid-March which put most plant-life into early bud production.

It culminated on the frosty final weekend in April, when the apple trees and berry plants were a bit farther along in their bud production than would be normal for the time of the year, and therefore, more susceptible to frost damage.

“We have had some damage, but what is left on the (apple) tree is still sufficient to support a normal crop,” says Paul Dentz at Dentz Orchards and Barry Farm located on the Brinston Road north of Iroquois.

“But we can’t afford to lose any more. At this point, we are very optimistic that we will still have a normal crop.”

Bill Barkley at Barkley’s Farm on the Robertson Road north of Morrisburg agrees. “It is hard to know until September, but when the apples start budding they can take some frost. You can check them at this point, but you don’t know what is going to happen.”

“You need at least five per cent of your blossoms and you can still get a good crop,” said Barkley.

Sandra Beckstead at Smyth’s Apple Orchard on County Road 18 west of Williamsburg, was slightly less optimistic. 

“A lot of our blossoms were frozen,” said Beckstead. “As soon as you get the tip, that’s the blossom and that’s the apple.”

Beckstead says their trees “were a month ahead of schedule. It goes back to that one week in March when everything jumped.”

Although she says there are still going to be apples, “it is now just a wait and see.”

In the meantime it is business as usual. “We are getting the bees in tomorrow (Friday, May 4), and we will do all of the normal work. You have to look after it and hope for the best.”

The Smyth Orchards are the largest in the area with some 30,000 trees on 120 acres.

At the Dentz Farm, Paul and brother Calvin, did not leave the fate of their berries and apples to mother nature.

With the weather predictions leading into the weekend, they watched the temperatures closely and were prepared to take what action they could to assist.

They explain that both wind and cloudy conditions help prevent frost as both help to hold the escaping warm air closer to the ground.

According to a Ministry of Agriculture printout “frost occurs when the temperature around the plant drops blow 0º Celcius (32º Farenheit). At this temperature, pure water forms ice crystals on surfaces which have fallen below the freezing point of water. Plant sap is not pure water; therefore, strawberries have a lower freezing point than 0ºC

On the weekend in question, “the wind saved us on Friday night.”

“The stage we were at with the buds (apples trees) was that they could take temperatures to -3,” says Paul. “But it went to -5/-6.”

“By 8 p.m. on Saturday evening, we were reaching critically damaging temperatures at ground level. So at that point, we got our irrigation system going (on the strawberries), and we ran it for 12 hours, overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning,” says Paul. “We did the same thing on the Sunday night and into Monday morning.”

“The long and short of it is, we were able to save our strawberry crop.”

“While spring frosts are generally less threatening to the apples than they are to strawberries, on occasion you do have a situation,” says Paul of the weekend in question.

 “As the sun leaves, the warmer air radiates upwards and warmer temperatures are found at 30-40-50 feet,” explains Paul. “ So how do you capitalize on that?”

“Ten to 15 km per hour wind is enough to keep it mixed,” says Calvin, but when there is no wind, intervention is required.

And so, for the two cold mornings in question, a helicopter was rented.

 “Beginning at about 3 a.m. (both mornings), the helicopter flew at seven mph at an altitude of 50 feet, pushing the warmer air back down to the ground where we needed it,” says Paul.

Because apple trees produce more buds/blossoms than they can support as apples, a limited amount of damage to a portion of the buds may not necessarily affect the quantity of the harvest.

Temperatures on the weekend of April 29-30 did vary throughout the area, and the cold was experienced throughout Ontario and into Quebec. The extent of the damage will vary in all areas depending on how cold it got and at what stage the apple bud was at.

The trees at the Dentz Orchard were in stage four, the tight cluster, of their bud development at which the temperature dipping to -3.9ºC  would result in about a 10 per cent loss. At -7.9ºC you could expect bud damage at about 90 per cent.

As the bud progresses into the next stages in the next couple of weeks….first pink bud, full pink, first bloom, full bloom and post bloom…they become more sensitive to low temperatures. Through these critical stages growers do not want to experience temperatures approaching anything near -2ºC to – 3ºC  range.

Damaged or not, the crab apple and apple trees are now heading into first and full bloom. Even those that have been damaged will blossom, but the tips (within the clusters) that were damaged are unlikely to produce fruit.

Area growers are now looking for good pollination weather which means good flying weather for the bees and after that a summer of normal rainfall and normal sunshine to fill our apple baskets.

[…]

 

On April 26th, at approximately 3 p.m., an SD&G OPP officer stopped an eastbound Pontiac on County Road 2.

The driver was reported to be driving 133 kilometers per hour in posted 80 kilometer per hour zone.

According to Constable Pete Robertson,   the penalties for driving more than 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit could include a seven day license suspension, the vehicle being seized for seven days, and possible fines ranging anywhere from a minimum  of $2,000 to a maximum of $10,000.

[…]