GUELPH 鈥� Local history will be told through theatrical performances, live music, film and animation during the Speed River Anthology.听
The original show, presented by students in the Upper Grand District School Board鈥檚 (UGDSB) MADE program, will be presented at the Art Bar and Bookshelf Cinema on June 19 and 23.听
It will highlight true stories including that of Stompin鈥� Tom Connors, Black journalist Melissa Smith Hesson, the Haig House, a 1940s drag queen and two celebrity sisters born in the 1860s.听
MADE, a semester-long program offered to students in Grades 10 through 12 at UGDSB high schools, combines art, music, drama and English.听
The program highlights how art can be a tool for community building, cultural development and social change.听
The annual MADE show is inspired by The Spoon River Anthology, a piece of literature written by Edgar Lee Masters, and features different historical stories each year, Guelph student Gev Rimon told the Advertiser. 听
Calvin Justin Tuuha Stein, who lives near Arthur, said the show is an opportunity for MADE students to embrace one another鈥檚 strengths and demonstrate their artistic capabilities collaboratively. 听
It鈥檚 their second performance of the semester, Rimon added, as they also presented a show in March. 听
The play is student-led, Stein said, with teachers acting as managers to keep them on track but not telling them how to present the stories.听
To gather ideas for who to feature in the show, the students spent two weeks visiting museums and other places and each student picked someone they鈥檇 like to focus on.听
The students then pitched their ideas to the class and voted to select five stories.
Rimon said they picked people who aren鈥檛 necessarily 鈥淎-listers鈥� and whose stories are lesser-known, to show that everyone has an interesting story in their life.听
Stompin鈥� Tom Connors
Students will use music to share singer-songwriter Stompin鈥� Tom Connors鈥� story.听
Connors, who was born in New Brunswick, travelled much of Canada before settling in Ballinafad, along the border of Erin and Halton Hills, where he lived for about 40 years.听
Throughout his life Connors released 24 original albums, several children鈥檚 books, two best selling autobiographies, a movie, a television series, and a live concert special.听
Stein said what stood out most to him while doing research for the show is how impressive Connors鈥� lyrics are.听
Connors was known for singing about Canadian places, culture and history.听
He died in Ballinafad in 2013 and is buried in Erin Union Cemetery. 听
Melissa Smith Hesson
Another part of researching for the show that stands out to Stein is the story of Melissa Smith Hesson, who wrote historical records about what was happening within the Black community in 色控传媒County and Guelph in the early 1900s.听
鈥淪he was a newsy,鈥� Rimon said, and Black stories were not being told by the local press, so Smith Hesson started writing them herself.听
She pitched her stories to local newspapers, but they didn鈥檛 want to publish them, Rimon said, so instead she commuted to Detroit every week to write for a Black-owned newspaper there.听
This Detroit newspaper published her stories about the Black community in Guelph and 色控传媒County.听
Smith Hesson was a member of the British Methodist Episcopal Church in Guelph, which is now known as Heritage Hall and is home to the Guelph Black Heritage Society and hosts the MADE program.听
An organ Smith Hesson used to play stands in the corner of the basement library in Heritage Hall, which the MADE students are using as a recording studio.听
Students in the MADE program created a historical film about a family who lived in the Haig House, just south of Elora, in the 1800s. Submitted photo
The Haig House
Centre 色控传媒student Lukas Rose-Janes said he first remembers hearing about the Haig House when he was in Grade 2.听
Rumour had it that people were lured to their deaths at the abandoned house on 色控传媒Road 7, just south of Elora.
Turns out those rumours are not true, Rose-Janes said.听
But they sparked an interest, and by sifting through historical records, including Stephen Thorning鈥檚 column and information at the 色控传媒County Museum and Archives, Rose-Janes was able to piece together a true narrative about the family who lived in that house long ago.听
John 鈥淵ankee鈥� Miller sold the property to the Haig family in the 1840s, Rose-Janes said, and the Haig鈥檚 built the stone house on the property.听
They were a family of six: parents Robert and Anne Grace, and children James, Robert, Annie and William.听
The students focus on Robert Jr., who did not work on the farm along with his siblings due to a disability Thorning refers to as a 鈥渂ad leg,鈥� which Rose-Janes said was likely a result of polio or congenital hip dysplasia. 听
Instead, he found work in Elora, eventually becoming postmaster, though he was later removed from this position by Conservative MP Dr. William Clarke because of his political views, Rose-Janes said.
He speculates the removal was likely also in part due to his disability.
Rose-Janes said the research process showed him how once you find a few historical details and then follow their trail, it is easy to keep finding more information, until 鈥渟uddenly this story you鈥檝e never heard of before forms in front of you.鈥�听
They will tell the Haig House story through a short film, much of which was recorded on site, thanks to the generosity of current owner Dave Marritt, who has lived on the property for 25 years. 听
The students and teachers sung Marritt鈥檚 praises, noting he took them on a tour of the house, showed them the grave of Miller鈥檚 wife, Susan, and loaned them a generator to help power their recording equipment.听
A student-made film about the Haig House will be shown at the Bookshelf Cinema in Guelph on June 19 and 23, as part of a multimedia anthology highlighting the Haig family along with four other historical stories. Submitted photo
Drag queen听John Herbert听
Students will present a live theatrical performance, staring Rose-Janes as John Herbert, a gay man from Toronto who performed drag in Guelph in the 1940s.听
Rose-Janes describes Herbert as 鈥渂asically a modern-day theatre kid.鈥�听
Herbert was arrested and incarcerated, twice, for 鈥済ross indecency,鈥� or basically just crossdressing, Rose-Janes said.听
During one of these times, a Christmas show was held within the jail, and Herbert participated by performing in drag.听
Herbert later moved to Montreal and started a theatre company with his sister. He died in 2001.听
This will be Rose-Janes鈥� first time doing a drag performance, and Guelph drag queen Crystal Quartz has been helping him prepare.听
Celebrity sisters听
For details of the story of fashion designer and Titanic survivor Lady Duff Gordon and romance novelist Eleanor Glyn, people can check out the students鈥� show. 听
Tickets for Speed River Anthology are $12 and can be purchased by emailing Gerard Gouthro at ggouthro@ugcloud.ca.听
While all ages are welcome at the show, it does have mature themes, including suicide and police brutality.
Doors are at 7pm and the show starts at 7:30.听
