2015 Happy Trails Country Hoedown Music Jamboree
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It was hard to tell who was having more fun at the 15th annual Happy Trails Country Hoedown Music Jamboree at Sand Hill Park on the weekend – the musicians, the audience, or co-organizer Leonard Bastien.
"People have fun, they remember it," said Bastien, who was managing the sound system Sunday afternoon. "The main thing is... it's fun for people. That's why I have it."
There was a time not that long ago, however, when he thought the 2015 jamboree might not happen. About four weeks ago, Bastien, who lives in Tillsonburg, suffered a fall. Confined to a wheelchair, and with his left arm in a sling, he wasn't going to be able to set up equipment.
Bastien credited Tillsonburg's Mark Hasson, a performer at the Happy Trails jamboree for at least eight years, and Judy Vangulck for stepping in to keep it going. Hasson brought his sound equipment, set it up, and the show went on.
"He (Bastien) was in the hospital," said Hasson, who had heard rumours the jamboree was off this year, "and he was saying, 'I'm going to have to cancel the jamboree.' We said, 'no you're not.'"
"Without their help, I wouldn't have been able to do it," Bastien admitted. "This is very therapeutic for me."
"We're here to have fun," said Hasson.
Their music venue at Sand Hill Park, located on Lakeshore Road 42 between Port Burwell and Port Rowan, changed this year. The park owner built a pavilion to accommodate their two-day show, but the jamboree organizers were concerned about exposure to the sun.
"It's huge," said Hasson. "But it's more of a night stage. We didn't want the entertainers to be in the sun all day. They said, 'Do you want to try the barn?"
So they moved it indoors, giving the 2015 jamboree a 'barn' flavour. Most of the audience sat indoors, but some set up lawnchairs outside near the doors. About 20-25 musicians performed Saturday and Sunday until 6 p.m. each day.
"It's the 15th year and still no rain, but we're inside," Bastien laughed.
The jamboree was also appreciated by the musicians, many of them coming back to Sand Hill Park year after year.
Lydia Barker-Chapman, who started playing a Hawaiian guitar when she was 11 and graduated to a Spanish guitar at 15, showed her appreciation by presenting Bastien one of her paintings. It was Barker-Chapman's husband, Ray Chapman from Vittoria, who painted Bastien's original Happy Trails jamboree sign.
"I gave it to him because he keeps country music going," said Barker-Chapman. "He keeps this thing going when a lot of people are cutting off country."