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Canadian folk stars get their own walk of fame
Michael Prentice
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, August 08, 2002
Bronze maple leaf plaques would honour the likes of Don Messer, (above), Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Cockburn.
Bronze maple leaf plaques would honour the likes of Don Messer, Joni Mitchell, (above), Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Cockburn.
Bronze maple leaf plaques would honour the likes of Don Messer, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, (above), and Bruce Cockburn.
Bronze maple leaf plaques would honour the likes of Don Messer, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Cockburn, (above).
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A stretch of sidewalk on Bank Street in Ottawa South is set to become a monument to the greatest names in Canadian folk music.
Ottawa Council has approved a plan for a Canadian Folk Music Walk of Fame on the street between Sunnyside and Riverdale avenues.
Council has earmarked $8,000 toward the cost of the project.
Councillor Clive Doucet, a strong supporter of the project, said yesterday he expects the walk of fame to open next year as part of a $5-million facelift and renovation of Bank Street from the Rideau Canal to the Rideau River.
Initially, eight folk musicians or groups are likely to be honoured with bronze plaques imbedded in the sidewalk, Doucet said. Then one more musician or group would likely be added each year, he said.
Each plaque would feature a large maple leaf, likely with the artist's name and signature.
The idea for the walk of fame came from the Ottawa Folklore Centre, located at 1111 Bank St. It is a music store and learning centre for people who want to play or sing folk music, offering lessons to as many as 1,000 people a week. The walk of fame would pass the store's door.
"Everyone I have talked with is so excited by the concept," Arthur McGregor, director of the Ottawa Folklore Centre, said. "One of the keys to the process is to give it national representation, in the candidates selected and in how they are selected."
No decision has yet been made on how to make the selection, but McGregor said one option is to conduct a nationwide ballot over the Internet.
Another option is to enlist the help of a national magazine aimed at folk music fans, which would then poll its readers.
McGregor said he plans to seek the views of organizers of folk festivals and of folk-music organizations. "But the folk music community does not have large amounts of money to spend on this, or anything else," he said.
McGregor said he would like to see a volunteer board of directors set up to administer the program and approve selections to the walk of fame.
David Taylor, an employee of the Ottawa Folklore Centre, who is working on the walk of fame project, said each plaque might cost $1,000.
Leading candidates for initial induction into the walk of fame include Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and the late Don Messer, Taylor suggested.
Doucet mentioned Joni Mitchell and Bruce Cockburn among those he would like to see honoured.
Reconstruction of the stretch of Bank Street should be completed by the fall of next year. "I hope to see the ribbon cutting for the new street and the folk music walk of fame at the same time," Doucet said.
© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen
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