After two years of postponement, the municipality of West Nipissing and Dream Catchers Theatre finally got to join forces for a day-long Canada Day celebration with many events. Starting at 10 am with a community market held in the Sturgeon Falls arena, followed by a community concert in Marcel Noel Hall, the day ended with a fireworks display over the upper Sturgeon River.
The celebration was a success thanks to plenty of planning, and despite pressures and challenges. Katherine Clark of Dream Catchers says the concert preparation was complicated by unforeseen circumstances, such as one of their bands disbanding just before the event. She also mentions the sudden loss of Sylvain Langlois, one of their volunteers and husband of April Langlois, a committee member of the theatre. Sylvain was also set to be a performer at the event. The community concert was dedicated to his memory.
Working through setbacks, the theatre continued to hold auditions, replaced the band with a DJ, and managed to pull off a great show. “We’re good at working under pressure when things come crashing down,” describes Clark. In the end, they managed to attract 42 vendors to the market, and approximately 270 people attended the concert.
Back in 2020, the Dream Catchers Theatre was approached by the municipality to hold a talent show at the Sturgeon River House Museum for Canada Day celebrations that were ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2022, it was Dream Catchers that approached the town to get access to venues for Canada Day events. Instead, they offered a partnership to organize the events, with Dream Catchers taking care of the market and concert, and the municipality doing the fireworks.
