Tickets for the Ralph Murphy show are now available from the Wallaceburg Museum and 99.1 CKXS. Tickets are $25 each.
A 30-year-old Wallaceburg institution, the Wallaceburg and District Council for the Arts, is back. After a brief hiatus, the organization met Wednesday evening to re-organize, re-tool and get back to the business of enhancing the arts and culture scene in Wallaceburg and area.
Well-known community builder Dave Elliott was elected president of the new-look Arts Council, replacing longtime volunteer Dave Babbitt, who will stay with the organization as a Director. Kim Murray was elected vice president, Jean Elliott will serve as interim secretary and the group is on the hunt for a treasurer. Other directors include Cathy Cogghe, Mike Wilder, Jay Smith, Rebecca Davis, John Gardiner and Jane McGee.
The resurrection of the Arts Council has been in the works since the spring, when Dave Elliott and John Gardiner met to see if the popular Glass Onion Folk Club series could be started again after a three year break. Over its 15-year run, the Glass Onion brought some of the top performing acts in Canada to Wallaceburg. These initial discussions resulted in last Wednesday’s meeting and the decision to reinvigorate the Wallaceburg Arts Council.
Plans are already being made for the organization’s first show which will be held on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. in the Jeanne Gordon Theatre, and will feature Wallaceburg’s own Ralph Murphy – who was recently inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, after a lifetime of working on behalf of the country music industry, both in Canada and the U.S.
Murphy will perform alongside two other outstanding singer/songwriters, Bothwell’s Jay Allan, and Richard Knechtel of Walkerton, Ontario – the three will form a songwriter’s circle on stage at the Gordon Theatre and Murphy will share many of his much-loved songs, some of which have been major country music hits.
The Arts Council has applied for a matching funds grant from the Community Futures Development Corporation and is working on other funding sources. It will proceed cautiously in the initial stages of development, but is looking at a variety of shows for the new year. There was discussion about starting a performance venue for the many excellent young musicians in the Wallaceburg area, re-starting the once popular children series and getting involved in other cultural initiatives in the community.
Key to its success will be the support of the community. “We’re going to try to do some really good things in Wallaceburg,” said director John Gardiner. “We can do some fun things and have a really positive impact on Wallaceburg, but we need people to come out and get involved. We’re going to be holding a membership drive and we need people to come out and support our shows. Without community support, we won’t last long.”
Tickets for the Ralph Murphy show are now available from the Wallaceburg Museum and 99.1 CKXS. Tickets are $25 each.
Depending on the success of that first show, and with available funding, the Arts Council will move to organize a full series of shows for the coming season and names like Rick Fines, Jamie Warren and Valdy were mentioned in the discussions.
Next meeting for the group is Wednesday, November 7 and more volunteers are needed. If interested, please call 519-627-5978 or e-mail gardiner@kent.net. You can find the group’s Facebook page by CLICKING HERE – details pertaining to the group and their events will always be shared within the online portal.