Freddy Vette and The Flames Perform at “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park – Gravenhurst
“Jukebox Hits Live with Freddy Vette & the Flames” is an experience unlike any other oldies show and you can experience this high-energy show on Sunday, July 29th commencing at 7:30 p.m. at “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst.
With the appealing sounds of a saxophone and a thumping stand-up base, the eight piece band led by entertainer, Freddy Vette, pays tribute to the music that started it all, ‘50s Rock & Roll !!!
The band comes alive and immerses the audience with music from Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Church Berry, Brenda Lee, the Shirelles and more.
Freddy and his Flames physically transport back to the 50s during a passion-filled, raucous show that grabs you by the shirt sleeves and takes you with it. The band is swell and the girls are sweet. And no one performs like Freddy. A true showman.
He prides himself on the authenticity of the show. “We try to give this music and the artists the respect they deserve. When people see our show that witnessed the original rock & roll explosion, they say “You guys go it, that’s the way it REALLY was.” That’s very gratifying.”
That authenticity comes from letter-perfect musical arrangements of the biggest hits form the biggest artists like Bill Haley & his Comets, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, to name a few. Also, Betty Vette (Freddy’s beloved) leads the band’s own “girl group” covering those fantastic hits like “He’s a Rebel”, “It’s My Party (and I’ll cry if I want to), “Chapel of Love” and other anthems from the likes of Brenda Lee, and even Patsy Cline.
Capture the excitement, the electricity, and the sheer FUN of ‘50s Rock & Roll with an absolute “Must See’ 50s rock Show with Freddy Vette and the Flames at “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park on Sunday, July 29th commencing at 7:30 p.m.
Collection will be taken during the evening. In the event of rain, the concert will be cancelled and not relocated to another venue for the safety of the audience and the performers.
HOBBY HISTORIAN HELPS THE OLD PRO - BIRD'S MILL PHOTOGRAPH NOW HAS NAMES
FAMILY MEMBERS IN PHOTOGRAPH
I USED TO WORK WITH CHRIS THOMPSON, OF GRAVENHURST, AT THE FORMER HERALD-GAZETTE, IN BRACEBRIDGE, WHERE WE WERE SURROUNDED BY HISTORY, AND EMPLOYED BY ONE OF MUSKOKA'S WELL KNOWN HISTORIANS, ROBERT J. BOYER. CHRIS HELPED ME GATHER SOME NAMES, TO GO WITH A PHOTOGRAPH SUZANNE PURCHASED THIS PAST WEEKEND, AT THE MUSKOKA ANTIQUE SHOW, IN PORT CARLING. THE 1925 GROUP PHOTOGRAPH, PROFILES THE STAFF OF THE WELL KNOWN BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL, WHICH WAS SITUATED ON THE BRINK OF THE TOWN FALLS (AT THE SILVER BRIDGE).
THE PHOTOGRAPH RAN IN THE HERALD-GAZETTE, JUST BEFORE I WAS EMPLOYED THERE, IN APRIL 1ST, 1976. ALL THE NAMES WERE INCLUDED WITH THE PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED TO MR. BOYER, COURTESY MRS. HOCKRIDGE, OF BRACEBRIDGE. HER FATHER, JOHN KIRKNESS IS INCLUDED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH. WHAT I FIND A LITTLE UNUSUAL, IS THAT WHEN BOB AND I WERE WORKING ON A SOUVENIR BOOKLET, WHEN WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM OFFICIALLY OPENED, IN THE EARLY 1980'S, THIS PICTURE WASN'T USED.....BUT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, BECAUSE OF THE NAMES INCLUDED. THERE IS ANOTHER GROUP PHOTOGRAPH OF THE EMPLOYEES, TAKEN OUTSIDE THE MILL, BUT THERE AREN'T ANY NAMES REPRODUCED. WOODCHESTER VILLA, OF COURSE, IS THE FORMER HOME OF HENRY BIRD SR., AND WAS BUILT ABOVE THE MILL, FOR THE OWNER'S CONVENIENCE. FROM HIS OFFICE OR UP ON THE BALCONEY, MR. BIRD COULD LOOK DOWN ON THE PLANT......AND CHECK FOR ANY UNOFFICIAL COFFEE OR LUNCH BREAKS TAKEN BY STAFF. I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY THIS PHOTOGRAPH DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT, BUT BOB WAS THE SENIOR WRITER, AND I WAS HIS KEEN APPRENTICE. HE MADE THE CHOICES AND I NODDED MY HEAD IN APPROVAL. THAT WHAT AN APPRENTICE HISTORIAN DOES!
WE WERE VERY GLAD TO GET AN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MILL GROUPING, AND DELIGHTED THAT CHRIS HAD A COPY OF THE 1976 RE-PUBLICATION OF THE 1925 IMAGE. HERE IS THE INFORMATION THAT WENT WITH THE PHOTOGRAPH, OBVIOUSLY BEEFED-UP WITH COMMENTS FROM MR. BOYER.
"STAFF AT BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL: The Herald-Gazette is indebted to Mrs. Lorne Hockridge for lending the above picture for publication. It is a picture of the staff at the Bird Woollen Mills Company Limited, and Mrs. Hockridge's father, the late John Kirkness, is third from the left in the front row. The Hockridges of course, ran the well known grocery store, on Manitoba Street, known as "Lornes Marketeria" where my parents shopped every Friday night in the 1960's.
The founder of the mill, Henry J. Bird, Sr., is at the left of the second row, (smoking cigar, with dog), and in that row in the centre are his sons, Henry J. Bird and Thomas Bird, who were in charge of the management. The former Bird Woollen Mill was for more than eighty years, a prominent industry of the town, being established when Mr. Bird Sr., came to Bracebridge in 1872. Its products of yarns and blankets were widely known. In World War I, the mill's production of blankets was purchased by the Canadian, British and French armies.
"From the people in the picture, our guess is that it was taken about 1929 or 1930. (The date written on the back of our photograph is 1925). Those in the photograph, from left to right, as listed by Mrs. Hockridge: Back row, left to right, Jean Gibbs, Flossie Hayes, Dorothy Bombay, Elizabeth Banks, Eva Mackenzie, Millie Mason, Nora Newark, Wilmetta Mereweather, Rachael Hammond, Amelia Burbridge, Leo Couture, Milton Bailey, Earl Vincent, Emma Ashdown, Bertha Smith, Winnie Newark, Wilma Wesley, Ethel Green, Stella Leeder. Second row, left to right; Henry Bird Sr., Lillian Henderson, Muriel Rawson, Carmen Hewitt, Irene Wesley, Grace Pearson, Henry J. Bird Jr., Tom Bird, Dorothy Clarey, Edna Hammond, Oscar "Pete" Simmons, Marg Wyman, Vi Green, Ethel Goheen. Front row, left to right; Wilson Wadsworth, Alf Coleman, John Kirkness, Ernie Collins, Bill Forth, Bill Furlong, Archie Arbic, Tom Robinson, Elwood Campbell, Charles Hampson, Lem Davis, Henry Chamberlain, Ed Brazier, John Schiach, Norm Simmons, Bert Banks, and Bill Ross."
Suzanne picked up a bargain Bird's blanket at the same antique show, from the same folks who sold us the photograph, and she now has the challenge of repairing a small hole. She buys a lot of vintage wool and threads to match colors of the old quilts and blankets she repairs each year. We are looking to buy more Bird's blankets in the future, as her repairs are getting caught up......and we really feel a part of the whole Bird's industry. As I mentioned in a previous column, and a whole series of articles on my Bracebridge blog, our family was part of the Woodchester and Museum start-up, and I go all the way back to the late 1970's, when I was one of the directors on the first board of the Bracebridge Historical Society.....with a mission of saving the octagonal Bird family home, on the hillside above the falls. I was president in the late 1980's, and its operating manager for the last two years of the decade, before resigning due to unbelievably serious issues with Town Council, about the museum operation......which we did largely without a staff. I got tired trying to operate a terrific musuem on a shoe-string budget. I was however, successful during this time, of working out an agreement with Muskoka Arts and Crafts, for the opening of the Chapel Gallery, in the rebuilt former Presbyterian Church on the property......a gallery that is still operating today, much to my pleasure. This move helped shave off a lot of costs for the museum each year, but in the end, it didn't save it from structural problems on the exterior, that have kept the museum closed for most of the past four years. What a shame. I offered to help as a volunteer, but seeing as I'm kind of a mouth-piece "activist," they figured it would be a tempest in a teapot, having me anywhere close to town councillors, who I might lecture about the protocols of historical conservation. They would be right to have thought this. But there is a time to be conciliatory, and it is certainly now, when the museum hangs in limbo.
So the next best thing, seeing as they don't want me nosing around the site, is to become more involved in the care, restoration and re-sale of the Bird familys' great blankets, that were, by the way, incredibly durable......and it should be no surprise that they've survived into this new century. I haven't owned a military Bird's blanket, but I'm hopeful one will show up some day, even if it's in rough shape. I remember, quite a few years back, a family brought me in a portion of a rare black plaid-type Bird's blanket that had been in a fire which had completely destroyed the house. They saved a portion of the blanket for me, because they knew we sold them at our little shop, on upper Manitoba Street, in Bracebridge. I was delighted they did this, and we have shown this example hundreds of times over the years, to explain Bird's diversity, and expertise in the blanket-making industry. This same family gave us a dozen skeins of original Bird's Wool, all with the company label. Suzanne is using some of it right now, to border a blanket she has been restoring here in the back rooms of Andrew's Music and Collectibles, on Muskoka Road. Talk about historic re-enactments.
How many main streets in Canada, can boast having a blanket and quilt restorer working within the contemporary businesses. Of course, how many communities have a Civil War re-enactor, riding his horse through town on a regular basis. I'm referring to our Civil War Historian, Tom Brooks, who I have enormous respect, for all the research he has compiled on the Canadians / British citizens who fought in the Civil War, on both sides of the conflict. He often travels to the United States, and will take small Canadian flags, to adorn those soldiers' graves, who died in battle, or the result of injuries sustained during the conflict. Of course he was also in the movie Gettysburg, and actually is shot twice, in two different charges. Tom told me to watch for this, and sure enough. I was so pleased to have him sign our copy of the movie video, which is one of my favorites.
I digress as usual. Thanks so much for joining today's blog. And many thanks to those readers who took the time to send messages about our recent loss of Smokey-the-fat-cat, who died peacefully in my arms, on Tuesday afternoon at about this time.......just after 2 p.m. Your kindnesses bestowed, means a lot to us. Named after one of our favorite Algonquin Lakes, "Smoke Lake," Smokey looked like what a chimney sweep would have on the end of his long cleaning brush. He purred almost to the end, and that gave me some peace as well. Smokey used to sit at my side while I wrote my columns for the regional press, and I must admit, his purring then, always calmed me down, especially if I was on a tight deadline, and trying to rush copy to the editor. We have other cats, but none of them with the purring power of the late, great, Smokey.
Please visit again soon. The William Henry Smith music video, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the naming of Gravenhurst, will be published online in time for August Ist, along with a brief history of the relationship between our town and a British poet, philosopher. Please join me for this special presentation. Not a dime of taxpayer's money was used to fund it either.
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