There are some weekends you almost can't keep up with all the things going on in the Niagara Region, and for me personally, it will be filled with events from start to finish. If you have some time this weekend, you might like to tag along and enjoy some great entertainment.
Perhaps I should qualify this first event as far as the 'entertainment' value is concerned, but it is for a very good cause. Saturday morning I and a couple hundred other like-minded male souls will be converging on the Pen Centre for the 7th annual Walk a Mile in HER Shoes event, to benefit Gillian's Place in St. Catharines. Gillian's Place, formerly Women's Place of North Niagara, is now located at the former Victoria School on Niagara Street and provides a wealth of services for women in need throughout the community who suffer at the hands of an abusive partner. In addition to providing shelter from domestic violence, the agency also provides counselling and other services to assist abused women and children in the community. In the last year alone, they received almost 1,700 crisis calls; Niagara Regional Police, however, responded to over 7,000 domestic violence calls in the past year. So not everyone either knows about or chooses to use the services provided at Gillian's Place, but those who do find understanding, compassion and considerable assistance to break the cycle of violence and make a new life for themselves. It is not easy hearing some of the stories each year at the Walk a Mile event, but it serves to drive home the need for Gillian's Place and other like-minded agencies in this day and age.
So, about 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, about 200 or so men will 'walk the walk' in high heels at a fun event that raises money and awareness for Gillian's Place and the services they provide. It is a fun event, certainly, but more importantly it helps to raise a lot of money needed by Gillian's Place to simply maintain the services they have. Last year, for example, about $ 83,000 was raised at the event; this year organizers are hoping to break through the $ 100,000 barrier in order to help those in need. I will be among the walkers, of course, as I have been most years since the event began seven years ago. If you would like to come out and support us guys we would appreciate it; pledging to help out the cause will be appreciated even more. We'll see you there as we start out from Sears Court to walk the one-mile distance around the Pen Centre just after the noon-hour. Should be an adventure!
There have been a lot of events planned in Niagara this year to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, of course, and it really ramps up this weekend with events at Brock's Monument at Queenston Heights Park on Saturday, and a special 1812 Bicentennial Celebration Concert to kick off the Niagara Concerts season Saturday afternoon at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls. The event, starting at 3 pm, features Maestro Kerry Stratton and The Toronto Concert Orchestra with guest clarinetist Kornel Wolak in a concert that will feature a musical composition commissioned by Niagara Concerts in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Queenston Heights. There is also a gala dinner following the concert, with tickets for just the concert or concert and dinner still available by contacting Niagara Concerts at 905-358-6174 or emailing niagaraconcerts@cogeco.ca.
Also getting underway this weekend - actually opening night was Friday night - Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects launches their much-anticipated new season at the Seneca Queen Theatre in downtown Niagara Falls. Their exit from the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in downtown St. Catharines last season raised a few eyebrows, I gather, but if the audience is willing to follow them to the new location in Niagara Falls, everything will work out fine. The quality of productions staged by Lyndesfarne is always first-rate, and this season-opener, directed by Artistic Director Kelly Daniels, promises more of the same. It is, however, a rather unnerving play by Stephen Mallattrat titled The Woman in Black, based on the Susan Hill novel of the same name. The thriller deals with the story of a young lawyer who travels to a remote village to settle the estate of a widow, Alice Drablow. There, he discovers the vengeful ghost of a woman who is terrorizing the locals with horrifying consequences. Just in time for Hallowe'en, too, this play!
I am looking forward to catching a later performance of The Woman in Black, and if you plan to as well, it runs through to October 28th from Wednesday to Saturday evenings and matinees on Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 and Saturday/Sunday at 2pm. For tickets and further information, call Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects at 905-374-SHOW or go online to www.lyndesfarnetheatreprojects.com.
Finally, on Sunday afternoon the Niagara Symphony (nso) presents the first of their Pops! concerts for the season with Music Director Bradley Thachuk conducting a concert titled Light Opera to Broadway. The concert, starting at 2:30 in the afternoon, features as special guest artists the father and daughter team of Richard and Lauren Margison. Richard, of course, is one of Canada's brightest lights in the operatic world and his daughter Lauren is now following in his footsteps. Together they will present a programme backed by the nso that will feature a lot of lighter material designed to be easy on the ears. This will be a great way to kick off the Pops! series this year at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University.
As always, I will be in the lobby before, after and at intermission with a wealth of great music available for purchase through A Web of Fine Music, so I hope you will stop by the table to say hello and perhaps make a purchase or two.
Tickets for the concert are still available by calling the Centre for the Arts box office at 905-688-5550, ext. 3257, or you can pick them up at the door. Keep in mind, though, with most of the Pops! concerts now being held just on the Sunday afternoon, seats will be more at a premium this year.
So, just a few of the many events planned throughout the Region this weekend. If you ever laboured under the misconception there is nothing to do around here, this weekend should certainly dispel that notion!
So, everything from high heels to batons this weekend in Niagara. Enjoy the fun!
October 12th, 2012.
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