Lasting Tribute to Jane Ewing

  There was music playing quietly in Elsie Gallinger’s bright studio, light coming into the room from many sources. The studio walls were hung with the noted artist’s works, predominantly oils: but scattered amongst the […]

 “This community is fantastic,” said Bill Britton, as he greeted people at the fundraiser held for his family on Saturday, March 7, at the Morrisburg Legion. “All these people have come out to show that they care, and it’s just overwhelming. Many of these are people Ethel and I don’t even know, but they have called us and mailed notes and donations to us. Thank you is just not enough for this kindness. We are very thrilled.”

Bill and Ethel Britton lost their barn in a fire on January 27, an accidental blaze which also claimed the lives of a lama and several breeding angora goats. A horse, other goats, pot-bellied pigs and lamas were rescued at the time. There was no insurance to cover the loss of the live-stock and the structure.

At this point, Kim Lalonde and Lindsay Wells, co-workers of Ethel’s at the Woodland Villa, stepped up to organize a fundraiser called Help the Brittons, which took place at the Morrisburg Legion all day Saturday, March 7. With the help of many other co-workers and volunteers, the event was five weeks in the planning and featured live entertainment, a silent auction, a yard sale, baked goods, a home-made chili dinner, raffle tickets and a table for donations. Saturday’s event raised $12,229.30  towards the cost of a new barn on the Britton property. However, funds are still coming in, and donations can still be made at gofundme.com/10yk64.

“Ethel and Bill are really kind-hearted people who have always given to others,” said Kim Lalonde. “We felt that it was their time to receive.”

The organizers were also overwhelmed by the response to their fundraiser. “It’s been an unbelievable turn-out. And the support from the community was just amazing. We had 140 auction items given to us by businesses and individuals, and there were all kinds of things at the yard sale. The generosity of the community just blew me away. We are thrilled with the support shown to this fundraiser. Everything we raised will go to the barn building fund.”

There were several entertainers on hand throughout the day. Marc Rivette did an Elvis tribute, John Mondoux provided karaoke, Graham Jacques and The Sons of Gord entertained with songs live on stage. “The entertainment was terrific,” Lalonde said.

Ethel Britton found it hard not to have tears in her eyes as she talked about the fundraiser. “The organizers of this event are angels,” she said. “Small towns are just great places to be. What a wonderful community.” She hopes that the foundations of the old barn are still good, but the burned remains on the site will have to be buried. “We are really hoping for a spring start to re-building,” she said. “Actually, everyone we’ve talked to wished that the community could turn out for an old-fashioned barn raising.”

The rescued animals are all doing fine, the Brittons said. They are currently keeping six bottle baby angora goats in their home. Friends and neighbours took in the Britton animals following the fire.

“The pigs went to Kemptville, the horse and sheep to Toy Storage. The male goats are at the Tuxedo Llama Ranch, the females at Greg DeJong’s. Some of our animals were taken in by the Vanderland Petting Zoo,” explained Bill Britton.

The fundraiser brings the hope of a new start in the spring for the Britton family.

“I’m still overwhelmed,” Ethel said, tearfully. “There has been such kindness and love shown to us, with people constantly saying, what can we do for you. We’re going to have a lot of ‘paying it forward’ to do in the future.”  

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“Norm Foster is a Canadian gem,” said actor Melanie Janzen, who will be starring in the Upper Canada Playhouse’s production of Here on the Flight Path, on stage at the Playhouse starting July 5. “His plays can be almost deceptive, light and hilarious, but there is real meat to them. Norm looks at the need for men and women to connect and to find meaning in their relationships.”

“The main reason that Norm gets laughs is no one writes battle of the sexes comedies like he does,”  said  Playhouse artistic director, Donnie Bowes. “He’s a funny, funny writer, and when you watch the audience, you can see that both men and women are totally enjoying the play. I think a real case can be made that Norm Foster should be recognized as Canada’s national playwright.”

Audiences should eagerly anticipate one of Foster’s most delightful plays, Here on the Flight Path, which opens at the Playhouse next week. As well as Janzen, the production stars Jamie Williams as John,  with direction by Walter Learning, both of them familiar names and familiar faces to area crowds.

This is, in fact, the third production of Flight Path Walter Learning has directed.  (“And I mean to keep doing it until I get it right,” he declared to much laughter at the press conference). He described the upcoming show as “a joy”, and “enormous fun” and is delighted to be working with Janzen and Williams again. The three previously shared the Playhouse stage in The Long Weekend and There Goes the Bride.

Here on the Flight Path takes place on two side by side fourth floor balconies, very near a major airport. John, played by  Jamie Williams, is a journalist with a “fantasy about writing a novel,” the actor explained. “He’s newly divorced and rather easily distracted by women. On a superficial level, he is interested in dating the three women who move into the apartment next to him, but with each woman, the relationship will go much deeper.”

Foster’s play presents an intriguing challenge for its female lead. All three of the women in the show are played by the same woman.

“It is incredibly exciting, bringing three characters to life,” Melanie Janzen said. “They are three very different women, with three very different personalities.  When you play a single role, you sort of ‘hack into’ the motivating factors. The challenge here is that each of these women has a different motivation. And I have to establish each woman with the audience right away.” 

Costuming (controlled by experienced stage manager Jackie McCormick) and the swift changes made on Sean Free’s innovative set during the show, help in the illusion that these are three different ladies.

“I have 14 costume changes,” Janzen laughed. “It’s lots of fun for the audience to see them. I think all those clothing changes will be fun for me too…eventually,” she added to laughter.

Melanie Janzen and Jamie Williams are husband and wife in real life. With their 10-year-old daughter, they make their home in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Both have worked extensively in theatres around Canada and at Stratford and the Shaw Festival. They describe Upper Canada Playhouse as a theatre that they love coming back to. 

“Actually, the Playhouse is as close to a repertory theatre as I’ve seen in regional theatre,” director Learning said. “We have actors working here over a period of time, developing a sense of ease with each other and a shorthand on stage. There is a real feeling of family here.”

“In a great show like Flight Path, people will laugh hysterically throughout the play, because Foster is simply so funny,” Donnie Bowes said. 

“Foster’s writing in Here on the Flight Path is so good, we actors just have to do our job,” Williams added. “His dialogue is wonderful and realistic and the laughter is right there in his words.”

 Norm Foster’s comedy Here on the Flight Path runs from July 5-29 at Upper Canada Playhouse. For information and tickets for evening shows and matinees, contact 613-543-3713.

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