The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Snow Lake Music and Arts Festival held another successful Coffee House on the evening of February 21. Approximately 150 people cozied up to coffee and dainty filled tables, and were treated to over three hours of amazing entertainment from a host of talented performers. Tony Butt was the emcee for the evening and the organizers couldn't have made a better choice. With his "down east" wit and abundance of self-depreciating humour, he was as engaging as any of the performers. He kept things rolling and the audience laughing as the lengthy program unfolded. Although each entertainer stirred the audience in their own special way, there were several who stood out and truly touched the crowd. Jonathon Foord was one of these. After performing "Beautiful Silence", by Delirious, he had toes tapping and hands clapping with a Spanish number that he picked up on a recent missionary trip to Guatemala. Further on, Cheyenne Tandy could have easily been mistaken for Stevie Nicks with her flawless cover of "Landslide". Equally up to the task was Dayne Armsworthy, whose solo effort on Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" held promise of several other offerings throughout the evening. He accompanied Celine Leclair on Michelle Branch's "Breathe" (beautiful big sound from this little sweetheart), before rendering a note for note version of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters". Ashley Botten showed some excellent range in lending her powerful voice to Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine", before local English teacher, John Kerr, took to the stage in what was his first (and hopefully not his last) performance before a Snow Lake audience. Kerr's fingers dripped honey as he played through three selections on the piano. He dedicated his last offering to his wife, who was in the audience, and this brought sighs from the crowd as well as tears to a few eyes. Rianna Randall chose "May It Be" by Enya to show audience members the progress she has made since the community's last Coffee House. Her proficiency on the piano was matched only by her amazing voice. She certainly did this selection justice. Also taking a seat at the piano and a turn at the vocals was a young lady better known for her dancing than for her musical ability. Jeanelle Leclair added her beautiful honey-coated raspiness to a solo piano version of Sarah McLaughlin's "Angel". Closing out the show offered a chance for several of the accompanists as well as the emcee to get together for a medley of Beatle tunes (in addition to several others). 'Lola and Friends', which is made up of Lola Leclair, Gwen Foord, Alan Beilman, Claude Trudeau, and Tony Butt got everyone dancing in their chairs with this tight and enjoyable set. All in all, it left everyone wanting and waiting for the next Coffee House. On a sporting note, the 51st Annual Men's Bonspiel was held this past weekend. It was good to see several old Snow Lakers back in town for this event Ð and I have to tell you that old is the operative word here. MicMac, Dale Nystrom, and Craig Simpson took a pretty good shot at the Second Event of their old home town's 'spiel, but unfortunately came up a tad short Ð in more ways than one. However, all was not lost, they did go home with four dandy DVD players.
