Editor’s Note: I asked Spectator contributor Don Clarke to write something about what’s happening in his neck of the CBRM these days and here’s what he had to say.
Making music
Last week, I spoke to Glace Bay musician Aaron Turnbull about the local music scene and his personal musical interests.
“There’s a really good music community in Cape Breton,” he told me, “especially in the Glace Bay and Dominion area…We have Doug Johnson,… Aaron Lewis, Mario Colosimo. There’s a lot of respect for other people. There’s not a lot of jealousy…that’s something I really like.”
Evan and Aaron Turnbull (Source: Facebook)
He’s particularly excited about a Sydney-based group called The Ashbys whose lead singer, Ashley Buckingham, is actually his vocal instructor. Turnbull says she’s “an incredible singer [and] an amazing instructor” who has performed with the Privateers as well with the band at the Highland Arts Theatre.
Turnbull’s musical influences are varied and some—Frank Sinatra, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash—I found quite surprising, given he is 19 years old. His first album (like mine) was Meatloaf’s “Bat out of Hell.”
He and his twin brother Evan perform as The Turnbull Brothers, following a traditional route: lots of covers with some original songs. He says his twin (an accomplished guitarist) “used to be a huge Metalhead” and his now “the biggest Merle Haggard fan you’ll ever see.”
Turnbull can also be found performing at the Highland Arts Theatre. “I’ve learned a lot from doing it actually,” he told me, “Anything you can do to get yourself out there and get over the anxiety of performing in public…that’s a great place to start.”
I applauded his effort and told him something my brother, also a musician, once told me: “Some of the greatest guitar players in the world you will never see. They won’t get on a stage!”
Turnbull says anyone can learn music and cited the example of a man who learned to play at 40 and became a truly great guitarist, leading me to suspect there may even be hope for me.
The Turnbulls play locally and will be on the bill next summer at Rock the Hill, a concert to mark the opening of the Hawks Dream Field in Dominion.
Speaking of which…
Hecky the Hawk
The work for the Hawk’s Dream Field project continues. Laying the infrastructure took some time but the rest of this massive undertaking is taking shape
Hecky the Hawk
The field is now enclosed by excellent fencing. David Attwood from Attwood Surveys was there the last time I visited collecting data to ensure the fencing was all up to code. The new bleachers provide much greater seating capacity and the higher rows offer shade to those with medical conditions who need to be shielded from the sun so they can truly enjoy watching a game.
I am excited by such an enterprise here in Dominion, a town far more accustomed to losing infrastructure than gaining it. The Hawks Field renovations are creating a facility worthy of our town’s rich sporting history but the Dream Field will be great for the broader region as well. The various facilities—accessible baseball diamond, walking track, concert space, bocce court, splash pad—are sure to attract people from other communities. Many events, including fireworks displays and concerts, have been held here over the years and I’m curious to see what these will look like in the new facility.
The design of this field is unique within the CBRM, which has no other venue for wheelchair baseball, and its inclusive nature speaks to the “every child gets to play” philosophy of long-time Dominion baseball coach, Walter McNeil, whose daughter Lisa McNeil-Campbell is the driving force behind the project. As she told me back in March, Hawk’s Dream Field will honor his memory by serving the entire community.
The Hawks Dream Field mascot is Hecky the Hawk who, McNeil-Campbell said, was “born with one wing shorter than the other.” Hecky also wears glasses (a trait he shares with the Cape Breton Spectator’s hawk!) which is “a big issue for little Hecky” because “when you’re a hawk, you’re supposed to have good eyesight.” Hecky takes his name from legendary Dominion baseball player and Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Famer Clarence “Hec” Andrews, whose story can be found on the Hawks Dream Field website.
Everyone in CBRM will likely appreciate the vision McNeil-Campbell and her committee are working tirelessly to advance.
Santa in the Bay
The Christmas parade is always the same in Glace Bay, it is a familiar tradition.
Scratch that, this year’s was not the same, it was better.
There were so many people out, more than I’m used to seeing around town outside of rush hour. They braved the cold (even when the weather is unseasonably warm in Glace Bay, as it was this year, the wind from the Atlantic blows cold) to be part of this shared community experience and I was struck by the number of newcomers in the crowd.
Photos by Don Clarke.
There were families out walking, joyfully waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa, whose enthusiastic bellows of jolly cheer could be heard long before he appeared.
I saw parents smiling as they walked with their children skipping along beside them, mothers with strollers parked at the end driveways, families and friends strolling along or staking out a vantage point from which to watch the parade go by. They all conversed excitedly with great anticipation. Some had hot chocolate, or cups bearing the logo of that oh-so-Canadian-turned-American company that will have to pay me to advertise their name.
I do love my coffee, it warms me up. But so did being outside with all the other people, mixing and mingling and being active. It was great to see such a turnout. Many thanks to the volunteers who made this happen!
A “military brat,” Don Clarke finally put down roots in Dominion, Cape Breton. A graduate of CBU (Communication) and NSCC (Business Administration), he has been active in the local theatrical community for years, having performed and directed at the Boardmore Playhouse and Two Hoots Productions. He has worked in film and television, directed a Canadian Short Film and published poetry in Caper’s Aweigh, Poetry.com and The Caper Times, where he also served as editor.
