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Community concert brings local artists together

The concert was one of two major events happening on April 17.
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Nikki Cole of Puppets on the Move performs on stage with some help from members of the audience. Cole was one of several from the area to perform at the concert.

Sunday was certainly a busy day for the sunny community of Nakusp.

The Arrow Lakes Arts Council’s (ALAC) held its Community Artists’ Concert at the Bonnington Centre, a fundraising event meant to offset some of the operating costs of the ALAC’s concert activities, gave our fellow Nakuspians an opportunity for a cultural respite, running in parallel with the afternoon part of the CBT Initiatives proposals at the Arena.

The event was skillfully presided with Larry Parkes as the master of ceremonies.

The program consisted of a delightful blend of the seven arts. The Senior Serenaders proved that indeed some people like wine are better with age, with their endearing version of Zena Zena Zena and The Happy Wanderer, complete with kazoos.

Cassia Parent’s intermediate ballet class graced the first part of the show, with her intermediate hip hop group providing a dance intermezzo in the second part. The Fauq Singers brought the Lower Arrow Lakes’ talent to the forefront with their version of California Dreamin and Maid of Amsterdam, while Shirley Weatherhead and Eric Faulks, two of this community’s strongest soloists, moved the audience with their respective performances.

Nikki Cole and her Puppets on the Move performed with some support from a few willing audience members, and Leroy joined Danny Wiebe on stage for an extraordinary appearance in this setting. Leah Holden and Marilyn Massey graced the stage a few times, as part of The Arrow Lakes String Ensemble for a duet of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 24 for Violin and Piano, and as part of the Arrow Lakes Community Choir. The latter group performed a four song spring medley that can be heard again at the Senior Centre’s event on April 29 for those that could not make it out for Sunday’s concert.

The afternoon ended with a rousing rendition of Ty Klassen’s proposed anthem for Nakusp’s 125th anniversary in 2017 “Nakusp Is a Great Place to Be” performed by the blended voices of the musical groups, followed by the 50/50 and the raffle draws, won by Jackie Phillipson, and Bob and Elaine Bauman, respectively.

The raffle prize was a wonderful piece by local metal artist and welder Kate Tupper. It was raffled off in support of another piece to go at the Galena Bay Ferry Terminal. That the name and contact information of the artists’ very own parents should have been extracted from amongst the raffle tickets makes for a fitting end to the journey of this piece through the cultural realm of Nakusp.

Overall, this event made for and with Arrow Lakes residents of all ages brought forward a lovely variety of acts, and the organizers were extremely pleased with the support of the community, especially given the other events competing for everyone’s time on a weekend at this time of the year.