“Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park Presents The Endless Summer Beach Band
“Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park – Gravenhurst is pleased to present The Endless Summer Beach Band on Sunday, August 12th commencing at 7:30 p.m.
The Endless Summer Beach Band is an amazing party Group, with a cool California Look and sound. They are one of Toronto’s finest corporate Dance Bands that definitely wants to have you dancing on the beach.
Craig Ruhnke, leader first made his mark on the Canadian music scene in the 70’s with his hit recording, “Summer Girl”. Disc jockeys dubbed him, The Canadian Beach Boy!
Ruhnke has showed his abiding affection for richly layered vocal sounds and upbeat musical harmonies. “I have always loved to play the music that I grew up with……the sounds that evoke warm, carefree days and endless summer nights.”
In additional to recreating the Beach Boys sounds of sun and surf, Endless Summer Live performs the greatest hits from the most popular vocal acts of the past and the present. All of your favourite artists are represented including: The 4 Seasons, The Bee Gees, The Beatles, KC & The Sunshine Band, The Temptations, Van Morrison, Bob Segar, Earth, Wind and Fire, Roy Orbison, Jan & Dean, Buddy Holly, Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.
The songs performed in the show have all been lovingly recreated to give you that great summer feeling in a snow that Endless Summer Live have taken all over North America.
You will soon be singing along to songs with the sounds of the Californian Sunshine such as California Girls, Good Vibrations, Surfing USA, and Barbara Ann.
The stunning vocals and musicianship are as close to the original performers and groups as you are likely to hear in live performance and the show is truly evocative of the Sixties Surf Sound.
Every Endless Summer Live appearance creates the feel of a fabulous Summer Night Beach Party!
Don’t miss The Endless Summer Live at “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst on Sunday, August 12th commencing at 7:30 p.m.
The concert will be cancelled and not relocated to another venue in the event of inclement weather, rain or lightning for the safety of the audiences and the performers.
THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS THE WAY I USED TO KNOW IT
WHEN WEIRD STUFF WAS KING OF THE HILL
THIS PAST WEEKEND, WE WERE ABLE TO ACQUIRE AN INTERESTING VICTORIAN ERA BIRD DIORAMA, FROM A SMALL VARIETY SHOP, SOUTH OF GRAVENHURST. I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THIS SAME DIORAMA FOR ABOUT THREE SUMMERS NOW, AT THE SEASONAL SHOP, BUT THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A "NOT FOR SALE" SIGN POSTED ON THE FRONT OF THE SMALL GLASS AND WOOD CABINET. I ALWAYS ASSUMED THAT HE HAD A LIST OF POTENTIAL BUYERS IN A SORT OF SILENT AUCTION, FOR THE DAY HE FINALLY CLOSED HIS INTERESTING LITTLE STORE, NOT WISHING TO TAKE THE BIRDS AWAY FROM THE OLD NEST. I HAD ASKED HIM ABOUT SELLING IT, AT LEAST ONCE EVERY SUMMER SEASON, AND THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS THE SAME. "NO!"
AS THE GENTLEMAN WHO OPERATES THE SHOP, IS PLANNING TO CEASE OPERATION IN THE NEAR FUTURE, ANDREW ASKED ONE MORE TIME, IF THE NATURAL HISTORY DISPLAY MIGHT SOON COME FOR SALE, AS WITH OTHER ITEMS HE HAS REDUCED IN PRICE. I HAD JUST GIVEN UP ASKING ABOUT THIS, BUT SON ANDREW BEING MUCH MORE PERSISTENT, INQUIRED IF HE WAS GOING TO TAKE THE DIORAMA WITH HIM, WHEN THE SHOP CLOSES. HE INSTANTLY OFFERED UP A PRICE, AND THAT INCLUDED DELIVERY TO OUR DOOR HERE IN GRAVENHURST. IT WAS A REASONABLE PRICE, AND I'M SURE HE DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO SELL THE PIECE, WHICH IS A REMARKABLE PIECE OF VICTORIAN ART......AS MACABRE AS SOME PEOPLE FIND THE DIORAMAS WITH MANY STUFFED BIRDS, AND IN THIS CASE, ONE ROUGH-CONDITION BAT. WE LOADED THE DISPLAY CABINET IN THE CAR, AND HEADED HOME WITH A NICE PIECE OF CANADIAN NATURAL HISTORY. I DON'T KNOW THIS FOR FACT, AND I MAY BE ENTIRELY WRONG ABOUT THIS, BUT MY SUSPICION IS THAT THESE CUSTOM CASES FOR WELL-OFF VICTORIAN HOUSES, CAME AT A CONSIDERABLE COST.....PARTICULARLY TO THE SPECIES ON DISPLAY. THAT'S CORRECT. THOSE WHO WANTED THE CASES MADE, ASKING FOR PARTICULAR SPECIES, CREATED A DECORATOR'S "KILLING FIELD," AND OF THIS, I'M SORRY FOR THE LOSS OF THESE WEE CREATURES, TO SATISFY THE URGE FOR WILDLIFE, STUFFED AND MOUNTED, FOR INDOOR ART.
Of all creatures hunted for sport, more so than for food provisions, I am not a supporter, and never have been. The contradiction for me, is that I am willing to show this diorama in our antique section of Andrew's music store, at the old Muskoka Theatre, on Muskoka Road. It was done at a time, when it was never assumed, the species being harvested might have been endangered. It didn't really enter in to it, that live creatures were going to be sacrificed, to decorate the Victorian home. On the other hand, it provided income to those in need, at the time, and it was part of a local and regional economy. I have always restricted myself to allow history its place, without trying to censor or sanitize what these truths of yesteryear represented. In the case of this diorama, this is exactly the case. It was probably created in the 1880's or 90's, although I stand to be corrected, and provided homeowners a sense of the "wild fascinations" of nature still being explored. They marvelled at travel and adventure, if means allowed. This diorama was part of this fascination with nature, but evidence they didn't have much interest in the fact, these live woodland creatures had to be harvested and killed for their kicks. Still, it is history. It is an important reminder of what we did to our wildlife for entertainment, and striking, compelling home decor. Like the horrible collection of ivory, we have learned just how inhumane we have, and continue to be in some cases, just to feel fulfilled, and endowed by something rare and beautiful.
When someone would ask about the diorama, (as the visitors used to frequently), during guided tours at Woodchester Villa and Museum, in Bracebridge, where we had three large bird dioramas, our staff answered openly and honestly about how they were created by the Victorians. The preserved birds, positioned in a special setting of dried moss and branches, were not only in keeping with the interest of Victorians, but in this case, the provenance of the octagonal house, known with affection, as "The Bird House." The founder of the estate, was local woollen mill owner, Henry Bird, and his office in the restored house, looked out over the mill site, on the shore of the Muskoka River. A lot of folks were disgusted by the bird display, and many others felt it was frightening, and parents were known to shield their youngsters' eyes from the display cases. I did feel this was silly, because my two young lads were fascinated by them, as they are today, with the diorama just acquired.
Our tour guides didn't lie to anyone who asked, about the way the birds were harvested, to complete the bird displays. We'd like to think these wee beasties all died of old age, but that wouldn't be very efficient, for the makers of the dioramas, who had many orders to fill, and no time to wait for death and recovery of the species their customers wanted in the exhibits. This does have a sobering effect on people, but again, this was the way of the times.....the trend of Victorian decorations, and although they weren't in everyone's home or cottage, it was a popular natural edition to the parlor furniture, the photographic portraits and art panels, bordered by heavy curtains and ornaments harvested from around the world. This is of course, a generalization, as it wasn't the standard, but a popular trend, and in the case of the dioramas, it did mean an untimely demise for many beautiful birds. I wish I could go back in time and kick their asses but suffice to say, it's just a rigor of history, and climate of the time. Just think of the number of lions and tiger, bears and moose, not to mention buffalo, often shot from passing trains or roadways, to be used simply as trophies for the "game room." I prefer the game room of today, versus the one decorated by the big game hunter, with animal heads hanging from the wall. I have sold moose heads but from hunt camps and fishing lodges, where I knew the meat had been consumed, and nothing, including the antlers, left to rot in the ground. Shooting an animal just for the head is something we hope is long-passed, yet we hear about this happening for elephant tusks......a life snuffed for a chunk of ivory.
Antique dealers are often faced with this dilemma, of having something in their shops, or mall displays, or even their private collections, that might offend someone or other, because of its nature or character. I remember reading about a KKK hood and robe, complete with gunshot hole and dried blood being offered for sale, and wondering who the hell would buy something so terribly offensive. Well, there are people who thrive on this stuff, just like bird dioramas, and it might disgust us, but as long as there is no violation of the law, national or international, these items will continue to represent a good portion of the antique and collectible business. I thought it was a borderline violation, to sell a dinosaur bone, with a plastic dinosaur mounted on the bottom. Until I found out that these actual dug-up bones, had been sold as souvenirs in Alberta for years, and that it was okay to have them in your possession. I knew they were souvenirs, but I thought they had probably outlawed the sale of them, and frowned on resales today, because of the precedent of selling our natural history. Gads, how naive was I? There is a huge selection of natural history for sale to the highest bidder. And keep in mind, that for decades, buying and selling Egyptian relics, including the mummy to go with the gold treasure, was tolerated and accelerate for years, even after laws were tightened, by unscrupulous tomb robbers. Many collectors and dealers have been prosecuted for selling items they shouldn't have been, and the penalties today can be quite severe.....even life threatening if you are caught trying to smuggle these items out of the country.
I have had many occasions myself, when I have had to refuse items offered to me, because of the sensitivity involved, and questionable provenance. I had a chance to purchase a one hundred year old, beautifully carved wood grave marker, that stood about six feet tall. If the marker was replaced with a more durable tombstone, and I was aware of this for sure, then one might feel a little different about this memorial offering. The fact there was no history attached to the acquisition, and I couldn't be sure it hadn't been removed against family's approval, I couldn't take a chance. He did sell the piece, and if I had purchased the marker, it would have lasted in the shop about two days. There is a demand for funerary antiques. I'm okay with this, if grave robbery hasn't been employed to get the subject piece. For example, those art lovers, who used to visit Tom Thomson's gravesite, in Leith, Ontario, were actually harvesting the brass letters, inset on the stone, as memorial keepsakes. Although they weren't doing this to sell the letters, as they do today to salvage the metal, the problem arises years down the road, when a family member, or auction goer, purchases these letters with a note, and the next thing you know, they're being offered for sale, in an online auction, or taken to a dealer interested in such articles. So it becomes a real dilemma. Even though these items weren't stolen by the person offering them up for sale, they were still acquired by theft.....even if it was two or three generation earlier, that the crime was committed.
Today there are reality television shows dealing with incredible and unique finds, and a wide array of funerary articles of the past, which are part and parcel of the commonplace collecting trends these days. Finding a coffin in a storage locker makes for a good audience. What's inside? You never know. Maybe a lot of money. Possibly someone who should have been buried, but wasn't. Fans love this stuff. The more wild and crazy, the bigger the audience seems to grow. I like seeing some of the finds, but that doesn't mean I'd ever be tempted to buy these items, versus the traditional fare we have been buying and selling for years......furniture and china, glass and art work, books and historic paper. Pretty bland eh? Well, then there's my bird diorama.....of which I offer a belated apology for any suffering the Victorians may have caused, with their decorating interests.
Here's another example of weird items that catch the public's attention. There was an online auction featuring a vintage acoustic guitar that interested son Andrew. He called me over to see it, and informed me that it wasn't just another old guitar he wanted.....but one that allegedly possessed a little something extra. Yup, someone was trying to sell a haunted guitar. There was a huge write-up with the listing, and by all accounts, unless the seller was a hell of a story teller, the guitar could play with or without a human.....plus other attributes of the paranormal. I do believe in this kind of attachment to certain antique pieces, and I have lots of stories about haunted photographs, books and both cradles and children's toys. So I was curious about the piece, and the story was really neat. At that point, only a few hours from the end of the auction, it was at about $45.00, and we thought the guitar, even without the story, was worth more than it was going for at that moment. So we started to bid.
Well, if you know how some of these auctions accelerate toward the end....if the piece is worthy at all, this is what happened that particular night.....times ten. We kept upping the price until we hit a hundred bucks, and there didn't seem any way of stopping the upward mobility. We obviously had inspired reaction, which is okay. As online sellers, we always hope for bidding action like this, to help us out. It was at this point that we started to get emails, warning us to back-off bidding on the item, or else. This was our first auction threat, but I understand it does happen in some cases. When we answered the email, which we shouldn't have, suggesting he had no right to threaten us, things went from mild to hot in a matter of several minutes. They other bidder wanted us to back away from the "possessed" acoustic guitar, if we knew what was good for us. Finally, without any more nasty emails, we just let the item sell to the bidder in question, and decided that we didn't need another ghost in the house, riding an old guitar. The guitar finally sold for just under two hundred dollars, and other bidders had come in at the last minute.....possibly too late to be intimidated from bidding the item up. I thought we should have complained to authorities about the threat, but then, the guy had probably been reprimanded previously for the same kind of email threats. So do I advertise our antique wares as haunted, just to increase the price. No, I don't need to do this. The pieces that fall into this category don't go for sale. I wouldn't inflict a ghost on a customer. We did this once with a local theatre group, loaning a Victorian portrait of a young lady, we called Katherine, and boy oh boy, did they ever have some neat stories to tell, after the event, about the little girl who refused to hang straight. I had quite a laugh when the stage manager brought it back to the shop, and asked about a dozen questions about the portrait, and what was wrong with it......that would make it so obstinate. "She's a little cranky, and hangs the way she wishes, not the way you might wish," I answered. You can read more about Katherine on my Muskoka and Algonquin Ghost Blog if you wish. I had lots of offers to sell her, but I just couldn't do it! She hangs straight at Birch Hollow, as I suppose our differences have finally been resolved.
There are many relics that surface from 9-11, New York, that dealers are regularly asked to purchase or sell on consignment, and each vendor has to debate the moral aspects at the time. Each circumstance can be a little different but the tragedy is the same. I don't wish to involve myself in anything of the kind, yet once again as a contradiction, I might also be willing to buy and sell Titanic relics. There are many situations in an antique dealer's day, week, month and year, that involves moral fortitude, yet good business sense. I can admit to you openly and honestly, that I could easily sell old carved, wooden grave markers......if they weren't actually stolen from the graves to get them in the first place. It's history, and history sells. An example of this, is the silver plaque that once adorned "Cecil Thompson's" coffin before the turn of the century. The family had the plaque installed, and they inscribed, by knife blade, his name, age, and date of his death, and with a silver cross also attached for the funeral.....yanked them off, and kept them at home as keepsakes, before the coffin was committed to the earth. Most of these memorial plaques were buried with the body, but a lot were held onto by the family, and passed down with the photo albums and family papers to unsuspecting relatives. Sooner or later, comes either the end of the family line, or a grandchild who wishes to profit from good old Cecil. I remember buying the two pieces at a local thrift shop, and the clerk being horrified when I told her.....following my purchase, that they had just sold me two funerary collectibles. They didn't know what they were, when they slapped that dollar price tag on both pieces. There is a surprisingly big market for funerary heritage. I sold a portable embalming device some years ago. What a great conversation piece it was, to have on the store counter. Even those who were shy of the piece, couldn't stop looking at it, once they adjusted to the presence of something with macabre vibes. It was just a mechanical pump. When it came right down to it, there wasn't anything sinister within, and it certainly wasn't haunted, because it sat beside my chair for quite awhile......and it didn't vibrate on its own or glow in the dark. This wasn't quite as collectible as Cecil's plaque and cross.
This is part and parcel of the business, even if you don't like haunted wares, or funerary collectibles. There isn't a dealer with any significant tenure, who hasn't been offered something weird and questionable. It doesn't mean they sell these pieces, but they will, at some time, be confronted by the dilemma, of buying it, or refusing to get involved. I bought this bird diorama because it contains natural history, from a period I wasn't alive. And you weren't either. While the gathering of the birds to make this diorama wasn't nice or humane, it was what the period and conscience allowed, and the good quality of the piece, above all, is that we get to see what these creatures looked like, and what size they were, almost a hundred and twenty-five years ago. The Victorians did value nature, but they wanted to own it.......and that led to dioramas like mine.
Thanks so much for joining today's blog. Please join me again soon.
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