PARRY SOUND - The energy was incredible as many local musicians and poets gathered to share their gifts with the community to support Doctors Without Borders in their Haitian relief efforts February 27.
The sanctuary of St. James United Church was transformed into a coffee house complete with candles and coffee donated by Mad Hatter.
Despite freezing rain and the expectation of an exciting Olympic hockey game on television, close to 200 people came together to support Haiti.
The evening began with a welcome from Reverend Joe Gaspar and a poem about Haiti by Katerina Fretwell.
Steven Duff put the current situation into a broader context giving a summary of the incredible trials the Haitian people have faced - civil unrest, corruption, hurricanes - and now a major earthquake.
During the four-hour event, a powerful slide show depicting the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti played, showing the group why they needed to show their support.
Poets
Other poetry topics throughout the evening ranged from Haiti and social injustice to the beauty of Georgian Bay and the plight of a car sick cat.
The poets were Katerina Fretwell, Wes Morris, Sandra Harris, Barb McIsaac, Jenny Partridge, Dianna Allen, Marie Oickle, Willy Schenk, Jacqui Morrison and Shelley Hazzard.
Craig and Bob Harley and Thomas McGown put all of the rigging in place and ran the board to help musical performers sound their best. Genres ranged from quiet folk to pop and rock. Annie Clements started off the music with New Day, a song she had written to remind us that when you have troubles, a new day can bring hope.
Solo acts
Solo acts to follow included 13 year old Jazzmen Brown, Ruth Downs, Lucy Crookshank, and Gord Rempel who all gave inspiring performances. In addition, there were a number of bands.
C-Cast (Celine Cascanette, Caleb Downs, Stephanie Turgeon, and Meghan Morrison) performed Lean on Me - a great reminder of why we came together, and Caleb Downs and Catherine McArton followed as a duo. Kick Ptarmigan (Duncan Bell & Martin Jenkins), Red Canoe (Dave Bartlett, Sarah Lake, Jeff Tough, Steve McDowell and Bob Wallace entertained with music as well as their wonderful sense of humour. Craig Harley, John Kidd, Craig Moorhouse and Thomas McGown did an upbeat set together. They were followed by Craig Harley and Jamie Ward who ended the evening with a haunting rendition of Never Grow Old.
Surely the audience had a wonderful evening - particular thanks go out from the community to Pam Moorhouse, Mary Hachigian and Les and Judy Kovacs for their organizing and on-site efforts. Of course, there were numerous people behind the scenes baking, serving and taking donations.
Mary Jane Zissoff donated a painting to be auctioned and by the end of the evening, the grand total to be sent to Doctors Without Borders was $2,600. We all hope that the result is a bit of comfort and a hand up for the people of Haiti.
One of the wonderful aspects of the evening was the broad range of age and backgrounds of the performers, the audience and the volunteers.
This was truly a community event. And many times throughout the night, the question was asked, “When can we do this again?”