1965 - Don Messer Show in Reston
Contrary to the name of this blog, todays post is about neither a brick nor a board, just historic. It came about from reading the archived Reston Recorders for the spring and summer of 1965. Over 57 years ago, the town was abuzz with a huge Canadian performer who was appearing for a show in Reston on Monday, June 28, 1965. The newly rebuilt rink would be the location as no other building in town came close to holding the number of people the Reston Lions Club hoped would attend.
Don Messer was born in 1909 in New Brunswick in and after learning to play fiddle as a child, he formed a band when he worked in Prince Edward Island at a radio station as a music director. By 1944, he and his group "The Islanders" were airing an evening show nationally on CBC radio. Television was in its infancy but beginning in 1959, Don Messer’s Jubilee was the second most watched show on CBC, right after Hockey Night in Canada. Their popularity continued through the early 1960’s and cross country tours and albums of the music were fan favourites. CBC cancelled the show in 1969 to the fury of many fans and a discussion was even held about the decision in the House of Commons. The show did continue to be broadcast through syndication for another 5 years until the death of Don Messer in 1973. The memory of his heydays and watching the half hour show on on Monday nights from Brandon CKX Channel 5 is one many of my readers will surely recall along with me! Preparations focused on selling tickets to be sure the club did not lose the "substantial guarantee" they had to pay to get the show to come. Reston was the smallest town visited on this tour and Yorkton, SK was the next stop. Seating for 2000 fans in the newly built rink? No problem! The Coca-Cola company from Brandon lent wooden Coke crates and planks were borrowed from Beaver Lumber Company in Reston. Volunteer labour was used to construct the seating and manage the crowd. There is no word in the paper about refreshments but a 2 hour show starting at 8:30 pm would have had a crew looking after that as well. Despite poor initial ticket sales, a profit of $400 was realized and the evening was cemented in the memories of over 1500 area residents forever! The Lions hosted the Messer troupe at a coffee and sandwich party at the Legion after the show before they spent a long day cleaning up. A friend tells me he still has his old autograph book signed by Don, Charlie, Marg, Johnny Forrest and a few others. He remember Catherine MacKinnon went to the bus right after the show and doesn't know if she signed any autographs. Thanks for sharing your memories!
For anyone looking for a trip down memory lane, here is an hour’s Don Messer Show viewing and listening for you on YouTube for a snowy afternoon!
I'll finish this post the same way the show always ended with the WW1 tune Till We Meet Again sung here by Doris Day.
What a thrill to have Don Messer's Jubilee in Reston. I grew up watching it as we only had the CBC until 1969 when we moved to a city and got US channels. I enjoyed it.
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