Bluegrass Festival breaks out the music June 14

  She is seldom in the lime light at Upper Canada Playhouse. She prefers instead to work quietly behind the scenes, in the theatre front office and on the phones, rather than out in the […]

MORRISBURG-Since she was a young girl, singing has brought her joy, and now Joanne Laurin has decided to share that joy.

“I can remember being a child in church, about seven years old, and an older couple tapping me on the should to tell me I should keep on singing, that I could be a professional one day.” 

“Then in high school, I remember being asked to sing on stage. But I was way too shy back then to let out what has been buried all my life.”

Now,” says Joanne, “here I am, in my late 40’s and finally ready to let people hear what I have been hiding.”

After receiving encouragement from a friend at work, John Mondoux, Joanne signed up for singing lessons and is now preparing to sing in public.

What she didn’t know, when she set out on this “magical” journey, was how much there is to learn and how much hard work there would be.

But Joanne is extremely happy balancing her home life with husband Mike, a demanding career as a Health Care Aid working at the Villa in Long Sault and the demands of her singing.

“After work each day, I do exercises for my throat and on my days off, I sing for upwards of four hours.”

“It’s more than I ever thought. How you learn to find your voice is magical.”

One of her first lessons involved learning where her voice was coming from. “I was actually singing in my speaking voice. There is a lot of homework and a lot of practise.”

Joanne says she owes her decision to pursue her singing to Mondoux, a co-worker and also a very talented singer and guitarist.

After Mondoux heard Joanne sing at the nursing home, he encouraged and worked with her as did Ingleside singer Candy Rutley, “who spent hours teaching me how to find my chest voice.”

“And John really helped get me on my feet. He mentored me.”

With their encouragement, Joanne is now enrolled in singing lessons with “a highly gifted and professional teacher, Siaca from Melody Makers”. She attends one lesson each week.

“It’s all about learning about your vocal chords, the do’s and don’t’s. I am learning what phrasing is, and tempo, and working on my facial expressions, making my eyes match the song. There are so many things to learn. It is so interesting. And, oh my gosh, breathing is so important when you sing.”

“There is also a lot of memorization. I started school in January, and I have now learned eight songs. So in four months, I have done a lot of work.”

“I never thought in a million years there would be so much to learn. But I love it, and I can’t wait to make this happen.”

As for finally hitting the stage and sharing her joy of singing with others, Joanne says she is taking baby steps. She says her band is named “It’s Just Joe”, that being herself, a CD, and a microphone.

“The patients (at Woodlands) are my little rookies,” she says of her first gig set for June. “They are all excited for me to come and sing for them in June. They are going to hear my summer road show before anyone else.”

At this point, Joanne’s summer road show will include a performance during a St. Lawrence River cruise with the Thousand Island Cruise Line in June, and a July 1st Canada Day performance on the Lost Villages’ stage.

She expects her ultimate experience will be when she sings a solo on the professional stage at Aultsville Hall in Cornwall next spring during the annual Festival of Music.

Down the road she would like to sing at local events, perhaps at weddings and funerals.

“The reason I like to sing is to put happiness and joy into people’s lives. I want to make people feel happy because I’m happy when I’m singing.”

“I want to sing anywhere people can hear me,” she concludes.

[…]

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission (SLPC) has announced its plans to move forward with changes to improve its offerings to visitors and at the same time its fiscal sustainability.  

Among the changes for 2012, is free access to drive along the necklace of 11 islands connected by the 11 kilometer Long Sault Parkway between Ingleside and Long Sault. 

The Parkway is home to the McLaren, Woodlands and Mille Roches campgrounds and two beach day-use area (Woodlands and Mille Roches).

For a number of years, a day-use entry fee was charged at the entrances to the Parkway in Long Sault and Ingleside even for drive-through customers during the operating season.

This change is hoped to increase traffic along the Parkway by giving more visitors and local residents the opportunity to enjoy the scenic drive’s natural beauty.

The day-use fee will only be charged for visitors stopping to use the picnic and beach facilities at Woodlands and Mille Roches Beaches of Lock 21.

“The SLPC is working diligently in Ontario’s eastern region to revitalize our unique tourism products and experiences and now, with a strong value proposition to support increased visitor engagement,” said Darren Dalgleish, General Manager/CEO, St. Lawrence Parks Commission

Other changes have been announced for the check-in procedures at the entrances to the campgrounds themselves. 

Camper registration will now take place right at the campground entrances to McLaren, Woodlands or Mille Roches Campgrounds in new storefront facilities that offer shopping for all camping essentials. 

This move will improve check-in times, reduce line-ups on busy weekends and get campers to their campsites faster.

Other infrastructure investments at the campgrounds, currently underway, include two new cabins for McLaren Campground named the ‘Santa Cruz’ and the ‘Maple Grove’ after two of the hamlets of the Lost Villages, 113 RV site upgrades also at McLaren Campground and improvements to drainage and beach facilities at each park.

At check-in, campers will be treated to two free passes that can be used for admission to either Upper Canada Village or Fort Henry during the regular season including visits to the new Discovery Centres at both sites as part of a new Reciprocal Program.  

The offer is intended to encourage visitation to the SLPC’s other attractions in the region, improving visitor experience and encouraging a longer length of stay in the campgrounds.

“The Board of Directors and I are excited and encouraged by the direction Darren and his team is taking SLPC,” said Ron Eamer, Acting Chair, St. Lawrence Parks Commission. “We have a clear and aggressive focus that aims to serve the community in a thoughtful and entrepreneurial manner.”

SLPC operates an array of attractions and recreational experiences located in The Great Waterway region in Eastern Ontario along the St. Lawrence River.

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission’s campgrounds open for 2012 camping reservations both online (www.StLawrenceParks.com) and via telephone (1-800-437-2233 or locally 613-543-4328) on February 27: Monday, February 27 – Long Sault Parkway only; Tuesday, February 28 – Long Sault Parkway and Ivy Lea Campground only; Wednesday, February 29 – all parks.

The SLPC is in the process of conducting an analysis of the adventure/geo tourism opportunities to generate new revenues through its own business initiatives and through partnerships with the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.  

Results from this study are anticipated by late spring. 

The SLPC generates approximately $100 million in economic impacts annually through its tourism operations.

Approximately 300,000 people in Ontario are directly or indirectly employed by the tourism industry. 

[…]