By John Williams
Well, hello again! And welcome to another exciting, fun-filled edition of Citizen at Large.
First of all, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who last week passed along words of encouragement in the wake of my first post – it was most appreciated – and to extend greetings to the dozens of new followers who have since begun to follow me on Twitter.
The last week has been a busy one for sure. In addition to my rotating shopping excursions at liquidating Zellers stores (all Metro locations have now closed while Bridgewater and New Minas outlets are scheduled to remain open until March 30), and preparing for my Saturday flea market debut at the World’s Largest Garage Sale in Exhibition Park, I’ve been doing my best to take in a bit of local culture. You know … real culture.
And so, it was in my search for an alternative to Saturday night’s typical bar-related outings – the perplexing sort I suspect still keeps retired Halifax Police Chief Frank Beazley awake at night – that I landed at the Bedford home of Bank of Canada currency expert Monique LeBlanc and her Dal prof husband Dr. George Kephart.
By way of a concert series known at the Patchwork House Concerts, George and Margaree Forks-native Monique have for years been using their home to unite talented musicians with recital enthusiasts in an intimate setting, far aware from the cacophony of the local bar scene. To date, they’ve hosted nearly 50 concerts and count among their previous guests Ryan MacGrath, Rose Cousins and Catherine MacLellan.
The suggested $20 per-person fee, collected by way of a hat-passing, goes directly to the artists, who are also free to hawk their CDs and related memorabilia throughout the course of the evening.
‘Crowds’ as large as 65 have been known to attend the concerts.
But had it not been for my pal Jeffery Straker, whose Maritime tour dates with Antigonish songstress Jenny MacDonald made my column last week, I may never have heard of Patchwork or the LeBlanc-Kepharts. But I did! And I wasn’t disappointed. Give it a try; you won’t be either.
My next brush with culture – and Halifame – came this past Monday following my attendance at Jeff and Jenny’s Company House concert. This time, it happened at Charlie’s Club, the North End Halifax watering hole at the corner of Cunard and Maynard Streets. It was here that the who’s who of the Nova Scotia theatre scene tippled following the 14th Annual Merritt Awards (http://www.merrittawards.ca/) ceremony at Casino Nova Scotia.
Chief among those I recognized was veteran thespian Hugo Dann, a long-time fixture in Halifax’s LGBT community, who that very night was awarded the Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre, an honour bestowed in 2010 upon man-about-town Jeremy Webb. Webb’s Charlie’s cameo did not go unnoticed, nor did that of GaRRy Williams, artistic director of Halifax’s Cafe DaPopo theatre troupe and a regular Saturday night show tunes provider at nearby Menz Bar.
On a more solemn note, I was saddened to read about the passing of Halifax oral surgeon, Dr. Alex Hoffman, who passed away March 24th at the age of 85. A native of Saint John, NB, Dr. Hoffman spent much of his professional life in Halifax. In addition to his many accomplishments, the former Summer Gardens condominium resident once served as President of the Canadian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. It’s worth noting that two of Dr. Hoffman’s three offspring went on to follow in his medical footsteps. Son Dan Hoffman is a radiologist at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow, while other son Ben, whose $26 million divorce from ex-wife Carrie Lamb made international headlines after he skipped the country and subsequently took up residence in the South Pacific, appears to be practicing in wealthy Coral Gables, Florida.
Speaking of wealth, there was definitely no shortage of money or power at Justin Trudeau’s March 19th fundraising dinner, held at the palatial South End Halifax home of gold-mining executive, Brad Langille.
Among the dozens of $1,000-a-plate guests – emceed by former Live at 5 co-host and present-day Steele Ford Lincoln spokesperson Nancy Regan – were Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison, who introduced the Liberal leadership front-runner to the attendees; Scott’s husband, Maxime St. Pierre; former Lt. Governor Al Abraham; realtors Carolyn Davis Stewart, Sandra Bryant and Rick Foster; former Olympic sprint canoer turned Norex web-design magnate Julia Rivard; former Gammon Gold CEO Fred George, who’s monstrous Mediterranean-style mansion at tip of monied Shore Drive can easily be seen from the Bedford Highway; Source Security’s Ron Lovett; and Shelburne CAO Kirk Cox, who’s leading Trudeau’s Nova Scotia campaign.
Langille became a household name last year after he became the target of two well-publicized home invasion and kidnapping attempts, both of which are alleged to have been perpetrated by 19-year-old Aaron MacDonald of Dartmouth.
The federal Liberals will crown their new leader April 14.
Canada’s Liberal Party isn’t the only deep-rooted organization standing on the precipice of significant change. As you probably already know, it was recently announced that The Chronicle Herald would be scrapping its Sunday edition in favour of a large, Globe and Mail-esque weekend paper and “enhanced” Sunday web presence.
In a radio interview with News 95.7’s Rick Howe last week, Herald president Mark Lever called the move a “logical step” in the “evolution of our business.”
Telling Rick he didn’t want to give away too many surprises regarding the changing face of the broadsheet, Lever did disclose that readers could expect alterations to each of the weekday newspapers, including more local news coverage and an expanded business section (even though the paper indefinitely “postponed” its advertised search for someone to fill a ten-month departmental contract position back in February).
Other changes appear to be afoot, too. According to a full-colour ad in Tuesday’s edition, the current TV listings page will no longer be published after Thursday, April 18. But for 75 cents per week, six-day home delivery subscribers will be able to add the new Herald TVGuide to their existing delivery. My eyes aren’t that great, but from what I can tell, the cover price to non-subscribers will be $1.50. Times sure have changed since the days of the Mayflower (the Herald’s weekly tabloid-sized insert of yore, not the Plymouth-bound ship that’s spawned generations of toffee-nosed genealogy buffs).
But perhaps the most bizarre of all changes to date is, as evidenced in a recent job posting for an assistant web editor, a “new company-wide policy” requiring “new hires and those taking new positions within the company” to be “subscriber(s) to The Chronicle Herald.” The policy, I’m told, has already ruffled a few union feathers and may prove problematic yet.
Well, readers, I’m off for another week! Do come see me at the flea market, but please, out of respect to my fellow vendors, leave your rotten tomatoes at home. Until next time…