by Dawn Adaszynski As a devout fan of Stuart McLean, I have often commented that if you want to know Canada, listen to his show. You can imagine how I anticipated hearing what Stuart had to say about our great town, which will be broadcast on CBC Radio at the end of April.
Having spotted him at Edie Rae’s Café, and knowing his show at Evergreen Theatre that night would be recorded, it was with delight that I wondered all of the things he would say. Would he talk about The Old Courthouse, would he sample the Zunga beer from Townsite Brewing, would he query the word zunga?
So, if you attended the show, you may empathize with my disappointment as I listened to Stuart’s narration on Powell River. It wasn’t so much what he did say, it is more about what he didn’t say. To be honest I can’t recall him saying anything about the town at all. A lady called out from the audience in the question and answer session: “You left us in the ocean right after Earls Cove.” That pretty much summed it up—Stuart never seemed to arrive in Powell River.
“Did you see Lund?” a man’s voice yelled out. I had fully expected Stuart’s description of Highway 101 would end in Lund because it does. It isn’t just “more water” where it ends, it’s the world-renowned Desolation Sound. Why couldn’t the kayakers he mentioned seeing on the ferry have been headed there? They could have been going to Nancy’s Bakery—instead we heard about Cindy’s coffee from who knows where.
“Did you know that Powell River has the longest running theatre in Canada?” a lady’s voice called out. “No,” replied Stuart, “I would have liked to have seen that.” We would have liked Stuart to have seen that too. We also would have liked to tell him that it was only because the town pulled together and raised $100,000 last year for the conversion to digital equipment that it is still running.
No mention of our International Choral Kathaumixw (much more difficult to say that Skookumchuck).
Powell River Kings, our Junior A hockey team, wasn’t mentioned either. It speaks to the “community” this town has that we have a team here.
Think about all that was left out (float cabins on Powell Lake, the Sunshine Coast Trail, the wheelchair-accessible Inland Lake trail) and I apologize—there simply is too much good stuff, a great vibe and a lot happening here to catch it all.
I am just sad that Canada is going to hear Stuart McLean’s broadcast from Powell River and they are going to miss all of that good stuff. What they are going to hear is that it is expensive and frustrating to travel here and there is really no good reason to come.
Dawn Adaszynski expects she is not alone in expressing her sentiments about last weekend’s show at Evergreen Theatre.
