Ok, so the title kind of says it all. The performance at the Kearney Regatta is cancelled. It really has been a weird summer without Belleville, and now no Dwight or Kearney. This is the kind of response I have gotten from some of you guys about the Dwight Firefest being cancelled.

“Holy Cow! Big Whoop about the fireworks – don’t they realize you are the main attraction?”

So I take it you guys think they should have us perform and forget the fireworks, huh?

So the complaints about my recent lack of blogging were starting to add up. So I will attempt to give you all the latest details.

It seems like we have been crazy busy this last week. We have had 4 events in 5 days this past week. On Wednesday we were in Sundridge doing a workshop for Almaguin Highlands Community Living and the community kids. We had quite a turn out and the day was perfect. Thursday we had rehearsal and on Friday we were in Bracebridge playing at James St. Place for a Diabetes Association fundraiser BBQ. Saturday we were in the Band Shell at River Mill park in Huntsville. The Band Shell is a movable tent shell. It makes for great sound but it was really hot due to the lack of breeze in it and then on Sunday we were in Emsdale at the Fern Glen Lily Festival. It’s really nice to have rehearsal off tonight. We could use the break.

This crazy hot dry weather has been great in terms of the fact that we don’t have to worry about being rained out of a performance but it is tough playing in the heat. You have to drink or should I say chug water. Think about it even if we are in the shade we are dancing for up to 3 hours on some days. You have to keep hydrated.

As I said the dry has been a benefit to us in some ways but it also means some bad news too. We just found out this morning that the Dwight Lake of Bays FireFest is being cancelled due to the extreme fire restriction that the district of Muskoka is under. We are all very disappointed about this latest news. I understand the risk of fire is too big, but we are really going to miss this event! So far they tell us Kearney is still on but it might be cancelled for the same reasons too. I will keep you posted as I found out more.

The last couple of weeks have been busy for us. Not only are we gearing up for summer, we also have been doing a few school workshops. We spent the best part of the other week in Burk’s Falls, teaching the entire school. It was quite involved but well worth it. We ended up teaching 13 classes of 17 students each and then at the end of the whole thing some of the kids got to perform the song they had learned for the school at an assembly.

This week we have a small group at a wedding and next week is our first full orchestra performance of the summer. It is in Newmarket (we have never performed in Newmarket before) for Dundee Investors. It is going to be a little different from normal because it is a private event. Usually when we do private events they are small groups, so this is going to be interesting. Our first performance that is public is going to be on June 16th at the Parry Sound Dragon Boat Festival. Hope to see you there.

Hi everybody. Rumor has it that we are going to have a pretty busy summer. I’m wondering where we are going to be. We did hear that we will not be in Belleville for Canada Day this year, something about MP Daryl Kramp spending the day in other parts of his riding. Which, since it’s him and his party that brings us down to Belleville that means no Belleville for us. I wonder what their celebration will be like without us? If you go to the Belleville Canada Day celebration let me know what it is like and what people say. I wonder where we will end up this Canada Day.

I also heard that we are going to be doing a school workshop in North Bay at the beginning of next month. So it looks like the summer is starting even if the weather is not summer weather yet.

The weather has been absolutely crazy. In the span of a week we have had 2 blizzards, below freezing (well below), rain and today it is clear and sunny. As a matter of fact rehearsal was canceled on Monday due to the weather. The rain was starting to freeze and it was just not good conditions to travel in. I don’t mind winter, I actually would like it if we ever got consistent weather. Although it is kind of nice to know we are on the back end of it. Which means performances are near. OK, maybe not just around the corner but 4 months give or take. Usually we start in the middle of May. I don’t know when the first one will be this summer, but I am looking forward to it.

I know it’s been a while since I blogged and I’m sorry about that. I can’t really claim lack of time so I’m going with the excuse of same old, same old. We have been doing A LOT of detailing on old songs. You would be amazed at how easily your brain changes things and you don’t even realize it. We were going over Toco Band the other night in rehearsal and I tell you I thought I was playing most everything OK. Well when you single the sections out I realized I could use a whole lot more practice. It’s really hitting home that you can never practice enough, there is always room for improvement. So what you do is give 110% and keep on going.

Happy Thanksgiving. OK a day late, I know, but maybe I was a little busy eating pumpkin pie. Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving which meant no rehearsal. I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I know I did. There is always something that we can be thankful for. Even small things can have a huge impact. So my challenge is make Thanksgiving an everyday holiday and now is your chance to start. I want you to tell me something your thankful for and think outside the ordinary. No saying family or friends, you have to think of something specific. I’ll start…hmmm…OK I am going to go with technology. Yup, that’s right. If it wasn’t for technology (the web) I wouldn’t be able to to write to you. So I guess it’s a no brainer. I am thankful for technology & the web which makes it easy for us to stay in touch.

We took a short break off from rehearsals and now we are back at it. I really enjoyed the break after the full summer! Rumor has it that there might be a new song coming. Of course that is a rumor so who knows when it we would get it, but I definitely would like to learn something new. I absolutely love the last song we learned (High Mas). It feels like it took us to a whole new level and I can’t think of one person in the orchestra who does not love it. I know that when we perform it you feel even more energy. ENERGY, that’s the best word I can think of to describe it. It’s a crazy feeling to try and explain. It’s a thrill and the fact that you are sharing that with 69 other performers makes it even cooler. You look around when you are playing, you make eye contact with someone and you just know.

As a kind reader pointed out the link I had put up for the podcast sure did link you to a CBC podcast of the “The World This Weekend”. It just so happened I linked it to the wrong one. I have fixed the previous link and here it is again. CBC PODCAST. Thanks for the heads up!

Come on people, no comments? Your going to make me think you don’t like us. OK, not really but don’t make me resort to making aliases and comments on my own posts. People have told me that they like the blog and they find it fun to read, well you could also say it in the comments so that other people know. SPREAD THE WORD! Tell me what concerts you have seen, what your favorite song is and think of it, you won’t just be telling me you will be telling the world that you are a true blue fan! I know you’re out there.