Who really is No. 2 from Timmins?

Posted by Werner Bergen

One  of the funniest comedy pieces is Derek Edwards explaining how he tried to buy $10 in gasoline in Moncton during the last gasoline price spike. With quivering voice and a hand as shaky as Don Knots he attempts to demonstrate how difficult putting just $10 into the tank at a self-serve station.

Edwards is a 14-year veteran of the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and the only Canadian to win the prestigious Vail, Col., Invitational Comedy Competition.

He will be at Showplace Peterborough on Dec. 6, 8 p. m. Call 745-7469 for tickets.

He is originally from Timmins and has been billed as the second most famous person from Timmins. Understanding that it is the promoter and publicity folk that do the billing, you can't fault Edwards too much for that. But really, who after Shania Twain do people most associate with Northern Ontario's Gold Belt region?

It is Frank Mahovlich, or maybe his kid brother. Or maybe Bill Barilko, it all depends on which generation you are in.

Don't forget that Frank Mahovlich was a Calder Cup winner, winner of six Stanley Cups, an inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame and now a Senator on Parliament Hill.

Officially, of course, Mahovlich is from Schumacher, an annexed suburb to Timmins, so maybe he doesn't "officially" count. Schumacher is to Timmins as East City is to Peterborough, but Timmins also has South Porcupine, Mount Joy, Dome and Dome X in that mix. It was at one time the biggest city in North America, in area only.

Barilko, then 24, scored the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 in 2:53 of overtime against the Montreal Canadiens on April 21, 1951.

The Leafs wouldn't win another Stanley Cup until the early 1960s. Hockey fans of that generation may have made him Timmins' No. 1.

Good luck  Derek, we're not blaming you. And after seeing him in action, maybe Edwards does qualify for No. 2.

Thanks to the Tragically Hip for keeping Barilko's memory alive.

The Tragically Hip's Fifty Mission Cap lyrics

Bill Barilko disappeared that summer

He was on a fishing trip The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the cup They didn't win another until 1962 the year he was discovered

I stole this from a hockey card I keep tucked up under My 50-mission cap I worked it in to look like that

Cuba tonight

Try not to miss the Alex Cuba concert tonight at Folk Under the Clock.

He is an extraordinary guitar player who left Cuba as a teenager and immigrated to Canada.

Canada has become something of a haven for Cuban musicians, witness the success of jazz great Hilario Duran and members of his band.

Cuba is a two-time Juno Award winner and received the SOCAN Hagood Hardy Award for overall success in jazz, instrumental or world music. It's a prestigious honour.

Show time is 8 p. m. at The Market Hall, 336 George St. N. Tickets are $29 in advance and $35 at door, students pay $15 at door, available at Showplace box office at 742-SHOW, Moondance and Titles Bookstore.

THE ARTS Stage Café

Some of Peterborough's elite musicians have played the stage at The Stage Café at the Kingswood Life Centre...Beau Dixon being one of them.

The café gives young musicians and singer/songwriters a chance to perform in front of a live audience but not face the pressure of performing in a club or auditorium. It's the seasoning process that young or inexperienced musicians need to tone their craft.

The Stage Café operates once a month. The next show will be on Friday, Dec. 11 when it presents Our Wonderful Christmas Show at 993 Talwood Dr., at 8 p. m. Tickets are $5 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 p. m.

Music will be presented by Missy Knott and Sam Ferguson along with Austin Capell, Taylor Bradley, Kaitlin Lawler, Elizabeth Basciano, Maria DeCiccio and the Stage Café Band.

Guitar draw

There's an acoustic guitar up for grabs thanks to the generosity of Yamaha Canada and the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra.

The PSO is holding a raffle for a Yamaha guitar. This acoustic guitar has been autographed by the Tragically Hip. Tickets can be purchased at a number of locations around town and at all PSO concerts. Tickets are $10.

I heard the guitar being tuned and played by Tim Rowat, a publicist with the PSO. Rowat, if you don't remember, was an original member of Tanglefoot.

Tanglefoot is a folk band from Ontario, formed in the early 1980s by schoolteachers Joe Grant, Bob Wagar, and Rowat to play traditional music.

The band has had many changes over the years and Rowat said the present configuration is "very smooth."

The band's song subjects are largely derived from history, especially Canadian history. Subject have included the Frank Slide, The War of 1812 and Laura Secord, the First Flight in Canada, and the tale of Sir John A. Macdonald's wife Agnes Macdonald riding the cowcatcher across Canada.

Rowat said a lot of Tanglefoot music got played at the schools he taught at.

But after performing for more than 25 years, Tanglefoot will be ending its run at a sold out show at the Roxy Theatre in Owen Sound on Saturday, Dec. 5. Singer Al Parrish said that there was no bitterness in the breakup; the time had come to call it a day.

Werner Bergen is entertainment editor at The Examiner. He can be reached at ent@peterboroughexaminer.com.

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