Sarah Smith appeared with her band, The Joys, this past Thursday (July 19th) in the second instalment of the Canada Southern Concert Series. She smiled, rocked and glowed her way through a crowd-approved performance in the Anderson Dining Hall with the comment, “Thursday night rockin’ in St. Thomas feels good.”

Part-way through the show Sarah noted, “We haven’t done this for a while but we’re going to do this – if you’re a Beatles fan, don’t get mad.” They launched into “Oh Darling Please Believe Me” - the crowd definitely didn’t get mad and most were on their feet by song’s end.

Doing a concert at the CASO station would appear to be a happy novelty for musicians. Sarah introduced “Down and Dirty” with “Let’s do down and dirty at the railway station tonight!” After performing several numbers with her very talented band, she sang a few songs solo, at a slower pace, then asked permission to “rock it up now” to finish the show. She thanked opening act Jason Mercer, Bob the sound guy and organizer “Mark whose last name starts with G”.

Mark Girdauskas is co-organizer of the show and should be congratulated on bringing  high-quality, interesting music to St. Thomas for this series. “Thursday night rocking in St. Thomas” does indeed feel good.

Upcoming are Jim Nestor: Pocket Rockets (July 26th), Robbie Antone (August 9th), and The McCartney Years (September 6th). Visit www.canadasouthernconcertseries.com for more info.

Note: Relish Elgin interviewed Robbie Antone in the 2012 March/April edition. His stellar blues vocals, amazing harmonica playing, and stage presence are not to be missed! 

Entertaining Elgin
By David J. Ferguson

If a title or caption contains the word ‘sex’ or ‘sexy’ it is a sure-fire way to add enough zip, zing and zowie to grab the attention of most. But once you have titillated the naughty side of the mind the onus is now upon the performance to deliver.

The Port Stanley Festival Theatre bares their bloomers in the breeze with the third instalment of the 2012 season as “Sexy Laundry” is displayed on the stage.

The North America Railway Hall of Fame aims to provide a flavour of the importance of the Canada Southern Railway, and also to honour North America railway heritage. The diversity and richness of that history was on display on Friday evening (June 22) as presentations were made to the nineteen 2012 Hall of Fame inductees. 

(Photos by Mark Girdauskas)

Gordon Lightfoot appeared at the Timken Centre in St. Thomas on Sunday evening (June 24), and  fans were given the chance to hear a Canadian legend and to test out the Centre as a large-scale music venue. Most in attendance would probably rate both performance and venue highly.

St. Thomas Public Library’s is still proud to show off the newly revitalized library which re-opened earlier this year. Jeff Yurek, MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London dropped in this past Friday (June 15, 2012) for his official tour with library staff.

Being married for a number of years, or not being married at all, can put one in a terrible predicament when it comes to the task of dating again. Life does toss you a turn or two and when couples separate or people have never gotten immersed in a relationship, they may find it difficult to turn the page to the next chapter of their lives.

"Dating by the Book", written by Uwe Meyer, brings a calamity of dating mis-haps  to the Port Stanley Festival Theatre stage from June 13th to June 30th.

Director Simon Joynes has assembled a cast whose members dovetail together  fluently, appearing to the audience as though we are looking in on the private lives of Carolyn, Evelyn, Herbert, and Mark.

The Elgin County Railway Museum and the CASO Station are working together to present St. Thomas Railway Nostalgia Weekend from 10am-4pm, June 23rd and 24th, 2012.  It will combine the always popular annual Strawberry Social at the CASO station plus Railway Nostalgia Days into a collaborative affair which will include more to see and do than ever. 

Re-live the great railway adventure at the Elgin County Railway Museum and discover local railway heritage with interpreters in vintage costumes.

Additions to this year’s collaborative event will include classic car displays, guided tours of the CASO Station, a Strawberry Social (Saturday morning), displays of nostalgic toys and dolls, and Heritage of the Rails dramatic vignettes (Sunday).  

On the railway lands between the Elgin County Railway Museum and the CASO Station there will be antique farm machinery and equipment displays and a train-themed people mover for visitors to ride around the event!

The historic BX Tower on Moore Street will also be open for tours 10 am-4pm during Nostalgia Weekend.

Enter at the The Elgin County Railway Museum located at 225 Wellington Street or the CASO Station, 750 Talbot Street. Event admission is $7 per person, children under 12 years old are admitted free.   For more information, visit www.ecrm5700.org or call Dawn Miskelly, Museum Manager at 519-637-6284. The Elgin County Railway Museum gratefully acknowledges the Ministry of Heritage Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program for their support of Railway Nostalgia Weekend.

Here’s a unique opportunity to celebrate fathers in a way that fathers will enjoy – with a St. Thomas Beer Tasting and Historical Hotel Walk. The Father’s Day event is the undertaking of a partnership of Railway City Brewing Co and the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario with assistance from St. Thomas historian Steve Peters.
 
Fathers (and perhaps some of Father’s lucky friends and relatives) are invited to join in the tasting and historic walk on Sunday June 17 at 2pm. It will trek past such renowned drinking establishments as the Talbot Hotel, the John Scott and the Midtown. Many others such as The International, Union Jack, Killarney and Devil’s Half Acre will be remembered with historical anecdotes from the extensive Steve Peters repertoire.

Entertaining Elgin
By David J. Ferguson

Whether you can recall, remember or even existed ‘Back in ‘59’ does not really matter. Resistance is futile – you cannot ignore the music that was at the birthplace of rock n’ roll. Harmonies by the Everly Brothers, love songs with girl and boy names, tunes about relationships, love that will never be, losing your true love or even downright silly songs that lasted an average of two minutes, still are,  the cornerstone of music today.

“Back in ‘59” at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre, is deliciously directed by Thom Currie as he serves up a stellar cast with a believable storyline filled with a steady diet of sing-along music. The four part cast is made up of Miranda MacDonald as Crystal, Anna Hurshman as Leanne, Clayton Labbe as Charlie and Glen Mills as Dave.

It’s 1812 at the Backus-Page House this weekend. The grounds of the museum will come alive with sutlers, reenactors, reenactors, First Nations history interpreters and live entertainment. This annual event always makes for a perfect country excursion, with the adventure of a trip back in time thrown in.

The event opens with Education Day programming on Friday May 25th. Visitors experience the life of an early 1800s settler in Upper Canada along the Erie shoreline.