Free summertime music series continue this weekend with Slow Sundays in the Creek observing Celtic Sunday. “The fun starts at noon and goes to 3:30,” said Graham Walker, who coordinates the performances behind Roberts Creek Community Library. The lineup July 20 features the Shamrockers Band, Two Thistles and a Rose, Harmony Fiddlers and Friends, plus Beachcombers Ukulele Group.
Meanwhile, the Gibsons Music in the Landing series features hip hop, R&B, and folk artist Bobo Violets on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the habour gazebo. On Saturday at 5 p.m., John “Pa” Rainey appears, followed by Monty Montego and the Rocksteady Crew. On Sundays, an ever-changing group of buskers play at the Winegarden Park bus shelter, starting at 2 p.m.
In Sechelt, the Coast-based supergroup Belt will reprise its performance of last weekend (when they rocked West Howe Sound with their high-amplitude grunge stylings) on Saturday at noon. The music runs from noon until 2 p.m. at the Hackett Park amphitheatre.
On Saturday, the Gibsons Public Market plans to feature live music in its atrium by singer-songwriter Michael Maser, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. On the same day, Peter van Deursen and his band will headline another outdoor Gunboat Bay Blues concert in Pender Harbour — rain or shine. The music starts on the north shore of Gunboat Bay at 3 p.m., with spectators on their own docks or positioned on boats anchored in the bay. Tips for the band and donations to local Pender Harbour charities can be directed to [email protected].
Filmmakers score second win
Young filmmakers from Elphinstone Secondary school merit a special recognition for their second win at Vancouver’s 48-hour film contest. Eleven students from the school’s television program took top prize for Best Youth Film in the Run ‘N Gun 48 Hour film competition. Their film, Detective D’Angelo and the Case of the Missing Tie, was screened at the Orpheum on July 5.
Congratulations to filmmakers Andrew Maxwell, Atala Herrera, Nathan Perrins, Mervy Mingo, Hana Fraser, Garnet Janyk, Morris Emmerson, Mason Ferguson, Connor Murawsky, Clara Fraser and Zoey Bornman. Many members of the crew were responsible for last year’s winning entry, Chad and Brad’s Musical Adventure, which was also screened by the Sunshine Coast Film Society as part of last year’s season.
Speaking of film
The Leo Awards, which recognize TV and filmmaking achievements in B.C., last week awarded three top prizes to Murder in a Small Town, the Fox Network drama that just wrapped shooting for its second season in Gibsons. (The real-life town of Gibsons bears remarkable resemblance to its small-screen doppelganger, except that the latter is situated somewhere in the northwestern U.S.)
The prizes, awarded by the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of BC, went to actress Kristin Kreuk in the category of Best Lead Performance (for the episode titled A Touch of Panic). Rhys Williams received the award for Best Stunt Coordination for the same episode. Jon Anctil and Christopher A. Smith earned the trophy for Best Picture Editing for the Season 1 pilot episode, The Suspect.
Sunshine Coast filmmakers Velcrow Ripper and Nova Ami were also shortlisted for Leo Awards, recognizing their latest documentary feature Incadescence. Their spellbinding feature-length film was recognized with nominations for direction, screenwriting, cinematography and sound.
Longhairs welcome
With the death last week of one the Coast’s most colourful raconteurs, Jon Van Arsdell, the rollicking music of the region’s countercultural history becomes more muted. Van Arsdell was an American-born conscientious objector to the Vietnam conflict who arrived in Garden Bay in 1970 only to be greeted by an anti-hippie sign reading “No Longhairs.”
Undeterred, Van Arsdell became an integral part of the Sunshine Coast’s cultural landscape. His variegated work history (biologist, rock crusher, work camp overseer), love of music (he played with the Pender Harbour Fats and the Mother Furriers), and personal triumph over substance use were the subjects of his 2023 memoir, No Longhairs: The Odyssey of a Vietnam Draft Dodger.
When the Coast Reporter’s arts and culture correspondent visited the author at his Sechelt home in 2023 to take a photograph, Van Arsdell apologized for his slow pace on account of respiratory challenges. He lowered himself into a chair by the fireplace and asked, “Would you like to take a picture of me playing my mandolin?”
Once the instrument was in his hands, the years melted away. A wry smile stole across his face, his fingers raced nimbly across the strings, his eyes sparkled with the memory of Egmont hootenannies and Pender Harbour hoedowns. He may have savoured the tall tales he revisited each week with his weekend breakfast cohort, but Van Arsdell himself should rightly be counted among the Coast’s truest legends.
