orillia article and pic

[charlene]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=136102&catname=Local%20News&classif=News%20Alert

Gord mentioned during the show that he would be doing some songs at a church but he was hard to hear where i was and I didn't get all he was saying. If I'd known I could get a ride back home on Sunday I would have made proper plans and stayed overnight to go and see him.

[ December 05, 2005, 08:22: Message edited by: charlene ]

[charlene]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=136102&catname=Local%20News&classif=News%20Alert

Gord mentioned during the show that he would be doing some songs at a church but he was hard to hear where i was and I didn't get all he was saying. If I'd known I could get a ride back home on Sunday I would have made proper plans and stayed overnight to go and see him.

[ December 05, 2005, 08:22: Message edited by: charlene ]

[Auburn Annie]

What a fabulous article! - though if *my* math is right (no calculus involved, LOL) his sister Bev married REALLY young.

[Auburn Annie]

What a fabulous article! - though if *my* math is right (no calculus involved, LOL) his sister Bev married REALLY young.

[Sheryl]

What a great article. Gord looks great, too!

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by Sheryl:
What a great article. Gord looks great, too! Unhelpfully the Orillia Packet article was only on line yesterday but for those who might have missed it the trio picture that I had the perspicacity to save was:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United _church_Orillia_4_december _2005.jpg
Unfortunately I omitted to save the caption (very naughty of me especially after I had criticised Blackberry John re lack of captions for his recent display
(but then how was I to know that the whole shooting match would shortly disappear!)
Correct me if I am wrong but it went something like Gordon Lightfoot at St Paul's United Church yesterday with Rick Haynes and Terry Clements
John Fowles
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by Sheryl:
What a great article. Gord looks great, too! Unhelpfully the Orillia Packet article was only on line yesterday but for those who might have missed it the trio picture that I had the perspicacity to save was:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United _church_Orillia_4_december _2005.jpg
Unfortunately I omitted to save the caption (very naughty of me especially after I had criticised Blackberry John re lack of captions for his recent display
(but then how was I to know that the whole shooting match would shortly disappear!)
Correct me if I am wrong but it went something like Gordon Lightfoot at St Paul's United Church yesterday with Rick Haynes and Terry Clements
John Fowles
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by Sheryl:
What a great article. Gord looks great, too! Unhelpfully the Orillia Packet article was only on line yesterday but for those who might have missed it the trio picture that I had the perspicacity to save was:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United _church_Orillia_4_december _2005.jpg
Unfortunately I omitted to save the caption (very naughty of me especially after I had criticised Blackberry John re lack of captions for his recent display
(but then how was I to know that the whole shooting match would shortly disappear!)
Correct me if I am wrong but it went something like Gordon Lightfoot at St Paul's United Church yesterday with Rick Haynes and Terry Clements
John Fowles
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by Sheryl:
What a great article. Gord looks great, too! Unhelpfully the Orillia Packet article was only on line yesterday but for those who might have missed it the trio picture that I had the perspicacity to save was:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United _church_Orillia_4_december _2005.jpg
Unfortunately I omitted to save the caption (very naughty of me especially after I had criticised Blackberry John re lack of captions for his recent display
(but then how was I to know that the whole shooting match would shortly disappear!)
Correct me if I am wrong but it went something like Gordon Lightfoot at St Paul's United Church yesterday with Rick Haynes and Terry Clements
John Fowles
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times

[<Test>]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/npimages/newsphotos/file1252005121905AM.jpg

[<Test>]

http://www.orilliapacket.com/npimages/newsphotos/file1252005121905AM.jpg

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by &lt;Test&gt;:
http://www.orilliapacket.com/npimages/newsphotos/file1252005121905AM.jpg OK clever clogs
I tried in my post to show the picture as stored on my own site at:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United_church_Orillia_4_december_2005.jp g because I could not find it on the Packet site which you obviously did. would you mind saying how???
John Fowles

[ December 07, 2005, 13:16: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by &lt;Test&gt;:
http://www.orilliapacket.com/npimages/newsphotos/file1252005121905AM.jpg OK clever clogs
I tried in my post to show the picture as stored on my own site at:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/LIGHTFOOT/St_Paul's_United_church_Orillia_4_december_2005.jp g because I could not find it on the Packet site which you obviously did. would you mind saying how???
John Fowles

[ December 07, 2005, 13:16: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[<test>]

I clicked on the link at the top of the first message in this thread.

[<test>]

I clicked on the link at the top of the first message in this thread.

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by &lt;test&gt;:
I clicked on the link at the top of the first message in this thread. OK you are right today
but yesterday a couple of Newsgroup posters found that that link only yielded a mysterious "catastrophic failure" message.
when I then found the same thing I decided to try to display it here for anyomne who missed it Today
as "test" found it is again viewable so I can now show the correct caption
Legendary Orillia musician Gordon Lightfoot gave an intimate performance at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday afternoon with the help of bandmates, Rick Haynes, left, and Terry Clements, right.


Photo: Teviah Moro
John Fowles
Keep your mind a mystery Runnin hot n cold Shes more than money She's 14 karat gold

Reality brings mystery And ne'er
the twain shall meet And all of my wild horses Cannot pull you off your feet

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by &lt;test&gt;:
I clicked on the link at the top of the first message in this thread. OK you are right today
but yesterday a couple of Newsgroup posters found that that link only yielded a mysterious "catastrophic failure" message.
when I then found the same thing I decided to try to display it here for anyomne who missed it Today
as "test" found it is again viewable so I can now show the correct caption
Legendary Orillia musician Gordon Lightfoot gave an intimate performance at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday afternoon with the help of bandmates, Rick Haynes, left, and Terry Clements, right.


Photo: Teviah Moro
John Fowles
Keep your mind a mystery Runnin hot n cold Shes more than money She's 14 karat gold

Reality brings mystery And ne'er
the twain shall meet And all of my wild horses Cannot pull you off your feet

[silenceandsound86]

Thanks so much! This is the wonder of this site: that people from all around the world can find out about articles like this. Can you imagine what an incredible event that was? Oh, to have been there . . .

[Rona]

Thanks so much! This is the wonder of this site: that people from all around the world can find out about articles like this. Can you imagine what an incredible event that was? Oh, to have been there . . .

[Auburn Annie]

If it has since disappeared, I saved the text of the article. Here it is:

Legendary Lightfoot returns to his roots

Teviah Moro

Monday, December 05, 2005 - 08:00

Local News - Unplugged, intimate, and at times, whimsical.

Orillia-born folk legend Gordon Lightfoot opened a treasure trove of memories before a packed audience at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday in between stirring performances.

Lightfoot was in town for a performance at the Orillia Opera House Saturday night.

“I like to remember where it is that I come from,” Lightfoot told The Packet after about two hours of stories and songs.

“It felt good. It felt fine,” said Lightfoot, 67, while signing autographs for fans and old friends in the church where, as a child, he was a soprano in the choir.

The audience of about 475 sat spellbound as the songwriter — who shot to international stardom with hits like If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald — picked through melodies accompanied by bassist Rick Haynes and guitarist Terry Clements.

Lightfoot said the church date was months in the making and a chance to celebrate St. Paul’s 175th anniversary.

“It’s a special event for Rev. (Karen) Hilfman (Millson),” he said before stepping to the dais for his first public performance at St. Paul’s since he was a kid.

Lightfoot’s trademark gravelly timber was strong and on the mark throughout the eight-song performance that found near-perfect acoustics through small amplifiers in the Peter Street church.

“It’s a little rough, but it’s there,” he said before sitting down with Hilfman Millson and Blair Bailey, St. Paul’s music director, to share memories of his youth before the crowd.

A relaxed Lightfoot, wearing shiny black cowboy boots, black jeans and a black shirt and tie under an ash sports jacket, told the audience that he and his sister Beverley Eyers, 70, sitting in the front row, learned the piano at an early age.

But it was under the tutelage of then church music director Ray Williams that Lightfoot found confidence in his singing.

“Ray Williams taught me to sing with emotion,” he said.

Lightfoot also recalled competing in amateur talent shows on CFOR radio, performing in the high school quartet, The Collegiate Four, travelling to Kiwanis music festivals and flunking calculus at Orillia District Collegiate District Vocational Institute.

“Sorry about that,” he quipped.

But it was his behaviour at the back of Donnajean Jefferies’s Latin class that evoked the most devilish image of a budding songwriter neglecting to do his homework.

“Gordie was at the back of my Latin class but Gordie was not always quiet,” said Jefferies into a microphone standing among the crowd in the nave.

“In fact, he wasn’t doing his homework at all. In fact, he was too busy flying his paper airplane,” said the parishioner.

But during Sunday mass, the Latin teacher’s cholera would be soothed by the choir boy’s voice which was “so angelical.”

“And I’m thinking, Donnajean, how could you ever be mad at that kid?” she recalled.

Lightfoot’s sister, Eyers, told the audience how relatives would throw nickels at her three-year-old little brother to sing at their grandmother’s house.

“And you sang your heart out,” Eyers told Lightfoot, reminding him of the time he belted out Jesus Loves Me. “You were promised a nickel to do this and I’ll never forget it.”

In an interview before the performance, Eyers said her brother’s last public performance at the church was before his voice changed at 13 when he sang at her wedding.

During the session, Lightfoot revealed a range of musical influences, including Bing Crosby, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and even jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.

When he saw an advertisement in Down Beat magazine for Sunset Boulevard’s Westlake College of Music, the 18-year-old Lightfoot took off to Los Angeles to study for two semesters.

There, Lightfoot said he learned to write scores by basing everything on a piano keyboard.

“I’ve got a keyboard that’s about two feet long and it’s right in front of my head and it never leaves,” he said.

Though he didn’t start playing the guitar until he was 15, Lightfoot has written about 200 songs on record.

At Hilfman Millson’s hint, he gave the audience a brief glimpse of how his life as a prolific songwriter and performer had taken a certain toll.

“It certainly didn’t work any miracles with my personal life,” Lightfoot said, but didn’t elaborate.

In 2002, before Lightfoot was to play the second of two benefit concerts for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and the Sunshine Festival at the Orillia Opera House, he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage.

In a coma for weeks, Lightfoot said he remembers nothing of his time in the operating room. “You know how it feels to be dead. To me, it was no worries, no cares.”

Near the end of the session, Hilfman Millson asked if Orillia’s favourite son had any wisdom to pass on to the audience.

“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride, a bit of a highwire act,” Lightfoot confessed. “You can never let any of that stuff stand in your way.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Auburn Annie]

If it has since disappeared, I saved the text of the article. Here it is:

Legendary Lightfoot returns to his roots

Teviah Moro

Monday, December 05, 2005 - 08:00

Local News - Unplugged, intimate, and at times, whimsical.

Orillia-born folk legend Gordon Lightfoot opened a treasure trove of memories before a packed audience at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday in between stirring performances.

Lightfoot was in town for a performance at the Orillia Opera House Saturday night.

“I like to remember where it is that I come from,” Lightfoot told The Packet after about two hours of stories and songs.

“It felt good. It felt fine,” said Lightfoot, 67, while signing autographs for fans and old friends in the church where, as a child, he was a soprano in the choir.

The audience of about 475 sat spellbound as the songwriter — who shot to international stardom with hits like If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald — picked through melodies accompanied by bassist Rick Haynes and guitarist Terry Clements.

Lightfoot said the church date was months in the making and a chance to celebrate St. Paul’s 175th anniversary.

“It’s a special event for Rev. (Karen) Hilfman (Millson),” he said before stepping to the dais for his first public performance at St. Paul’s since he was a kid.

Lightfoot’s trademark gravelly timber was strong and on the mark throughout the eight-song performance that found near-perfect acoustics through small amplifiers in the Peter Street church.

“It’s a little rough, but it’s there,” he said before sitting down with Hilfman Millson and Blair Bailey, St. Paul’s music director, to share memories of his youth before the crowd.

A relaxed Lightfoot, wearing shiny black cowboy boots, black jeans and a black shirt and tie under an ash sports jacket, told the audience that he and his sister Beverley Eyers, 70, sitting in the front row, learned the piano at an early age.

But it was under the tutelage of then church music director Ray Williams that Lightfoot found confidence in his singing.

“Ray Williams taught me to sing with emotion,” he said.

Lightfoot also recalled competing in amateur talent shows on CFOR radio, performing in the high school quartet, The Collegiate Four, travelling to Kiwanis music festivals and flunking calculus at Orillia District Collegiate District Vocational Institute.

“Sorry about that,” he quipped.

But it was his behaviour at the back of Donnajean Jefferies’s Latin class that evoked the most devilish image of a budding songwriter neglecting to do his homework.

“Gordie was at the back of my Latin class but Gordie was not always quiet,” said Jefferies into a microphone standing among the crowd in the nave.

“In fact, he wasn’t doing his homework at all. In fact, he was too busy flying his paper airplane,” said the parishioner.

But during Sunday mass, the Latin teacher’s cholera would be soothed by the choir boy’s voice which was “so angelical.”

“And I’m thinking, Donnajean, how could you ever be mad at that kid?” she recalled.

Lightfoot’s sister, Eyers, told the audience how relatives would throw nickels at her three-year-old little brother to sing at their grandmother’s house.

“And you sang your heart out,” Eyers told Lightfoot, reminding him of the time he belted out Jesus Loves Me. “You were promised a nickel to do this and I’ll never forget it.”

In an interview before the performance, Eyers said her brother’s last public performance at the church was before his voice changed at 13 when he sang at her wedding.

During the session, Lightfoot revealed a range of musical influences, including Bing Crosby, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and even jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.

When he saw an advertisement in Down Beat magazine for Sunset Boulevard’s Westlake College of Music, the 18-year-old Lightfoot took off to Los Angeles to study for two semesters.

There, Lightfoot said he learned to write scores by basing everything on a piano keyboard.

“I’ve got a keyboard that’s about two feet long and it’s right in front of my head and it never leaves,” he said.

Though he didn’t start playing the guitar until he was 15, Lightfoot has written about 200 songs on record.

At Hilfman Millson’s hint, he gave the audience a brief glimpse of how his life as a prolific songwriter and performer had taken a certain toll.

“It certainly didn’t work any miracles with my personal life,” Lightfoot said, but didn’t elaborate.

In 2002, before Lightfoot was to play the second of two benefit concerts for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and the Sunshine Festival at the Orillia Opera House, he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage.

In a coma for weeks, Lightfoot said he remembers nothing of his time in the operating room. “You know how it feels to be dead. To me, it was no worries, no cares.”

Near the end of the session, Hilfman Millson asked if Orillia’s favourite son had any wisdom to pass on to the audience.

“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride, a bit of a highwire act,” Lightfoot confessed. “You can never let any of that stuff stand in your way.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Auburn Annie]

Okay, in case the article has disappeared into the ether by now, I saved a copy of the text for the archives :rolleyes:

Legendary Lightfoot returns to his roots

Teviah Moro

Monday, December 05, 2005 - 08:00

Local News - Unplugged, intimate, and at times, whimsical.

Orillia-born folk legend Gordon Lightfoot opened a treasure trove of memories before a packed audience at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday in between stirring performances.

Lightfoot was in town for a performance at the Orillia Opera House Saturday night.

“I like to remember where it is that I come from,” Lightfoot told The Packet after about two hours of stories and songs.

“It felt good. It felt fine,” said Lightfoot, 67, while signing autographs for fans and old friends in the church where, as a child, he was a soprano in the choir.

The audience of about 475 sat spellbound as the songwriter — who shot to international stardom with hits like If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald — picked through melodies accompanied by bassist Rick Haynes and guitarist Terry Clements.

Lightfoot said the church date was months in the making and a chance to celebrate St. Paul’s 175th anniversary.

“It’s a special event for Rev. (Karen) Hilfman (Millson),” he said before stepping to the dais for his first public performance at St. Paul’s since he was a kid.

Lightfoot’s trademark gravelly timber was strong and on the mark throughout the eight-song performance that found near-perfect acoustics through small amplifiers in the Peter Street church.

“It’s a little rough, but it’s there,” he said before sitting down with Hilfman Millson and Blair Bailey, St. Paul’s music director, to share memories of his youth before the crowd.

A relaxed Lightfoot, wearing shiny black cowboy boots, black jeans and a black shirt and tie under an ash sports jacket, told the audience that he and his sister Beverley Eyers, 70, sitting in the front row, learned the piano at an early age.

But it was under the tutelage of then church music director Ray Williams that Lightfoot found confidence in his singing.

“Ray Williams taught me to sing with emotion,” he said.

Lightfoot also recalled competing in amateur talent shows on CFOR radio, performing in the high school quartet, The Collegiate Four, travelling to Kiwanis music festivals and flunking calculus at Orillia District Collegiate District Vocational Institute.

“Sorry about that,” he quipped.

But it was his behaviour at the back of Donnajean Jefferies’s Latin class that evoked the most devilish image of a budding songwriter neglecting to do his homework.

“Gordie was at the back of my Latin class but Gordie was not always quiet,” said Jefferies into a microphone standing among the crowd in the nave.

“In fact, he wasn’t doing his homework at all. In fact, he was too busy flying his paper airplane,” said the parishioner.

But during Sunday mass, the Latin teacher’s cholera would be soothed by the choir boy’s voice which was “so angelical.”

“And I’m thinking, Donnajean, how could you ever be mad at that kid?” she recalled.

Lightfoot’s sister, Eyers, told the audience how relatives would throw nickels at her three-year-old little brother to sing at their grandmother’s house.

“And you sang your heart out,” Eyers told Lightfoot, reminding him of the time he belted out Jesus Loves Me. “You were promised a nickel to do this and I’ll never forget it.”

In an interview before the performance, Eyers said her brother’s last public performance at the church was before his voice changed at 13 when he sang at her wedding.

During the session, Lightfoot revealed a range of musical influences, including Bing Crosby, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and even jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.

When he saw an advertisement in Down Beat magazine for Sunset Boulevard’s Westlake College of Music, the 18-year-old Lightfoot took off to Los Angeles to study for two semesters.

There, Lightfoot said he learned to write scores by basing everything on a piano keyboard.

“I’ve got a keyboard that’s about two feet long and it’s right in front of my head and it never leaves,” he said.

Though he didn’t start playing the guitar until he was 15, Lightfoot has written about 200 songs on record.

At Hilfman Millson’s hint, he gave the audience a brief glimpse of how his life as a prolific songwriter and performer had taken a certain toll.

“It certainly didn’t work any miracles with my personal life,” Lightfoot said, but didn’t elaborate.

In 2002, before Lightfoot was to play the second of two benefit concerts for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and the Sunshine Festival at the Orillia Opera House, he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage.

In a coma for weeks, Lightfoot said he remembers nothing of his time in the operating room. “You know how it feels to be dead. To me, it was no worries, no cares.”

Near the end of the session, Hilfman Millson asked if Orillia’s favourite son had any wisdom to pass on to the audience.

“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride, a bit of a highwire act,” Lightfoot confessed. “You can never let any of that stuff stand in your way.”

[Auburn Annie]

Okay, in case the article has disappeared into the ether by now, I saved a copy of the text for the archives :rolleyes:

Legendary Lightfoot returns to his roots

Teviah Moro

Monday, December 05, 2005 - 08:00

Local News - Unplugged, intimate, and at times, whimsical.

Orillia-born folk legend Gordon Lightfoot opened a treasure trove of memories before a packed audience at St. Paul’s United Church yesterday in between stirring performances.

Lightfoot was in town for a performance at the Orillia Opera House Saturday night.

“I like to remember where it is that I come from,” Lightfoot told The Packet after about two hours of stories and songs.

“It felt good. It felt fine,” said Lightfoot, 67, while signing autographs for fans and old friends in the church where, as a child, he was a soprano in the choir.

The audience of about 475 sat spellbound as the songwriter — who shot to international stardom with hits like If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald — picked through melodies accompanied by bassist Rick Haynes and guitarist Terry Clements.

Lightfoot said the church date was months in the making and a chance to celebrate St. Paul’s 175th anniversary.

“It’s a special event for Rev. (Karen) Hilfman (Millson),” he said before stepping to the dais for his first public performance at St. Paul’s since he was a kid.

Lightfoot’s trademark gravelly timber was strong and on the mark throughout the eight-song performance that found near-perfect acoustics through small amplifiers in the Peter Street church.

“It’s a little rough, but it’s there,” he said before sitting down with Hilfman Millson and Blair Bailey, St. Paul’s music director, to share memories of his youth before the crowd.

A relaxed Lightfoot, wearing shiny black cowboy boots, black jeans and a black shirt and tie under an ash sports jacket, told the audience that he and his sister Beverley Eyers, 70, sitting in the front row, learned the piano at an early age.

But it was under the tutelage of then church music director Ray Williams that Lightfoot found confidence in his singing.

“Ray Williams taught me to sing with emotion,” he said.

Lightfoot also recalled competing in amateur talent shows on CFOR radio, performing in the high school quartet, The Collegiate Four, travelling to Kiwanis music festivals and flunking calculus at Orillia District Collegiate District Vocational Institute.

“Sorry about that,” he quipped.

But it was his behaviour at the back of Donnajean Jefferies’s Latin class that evoked the most devilish image of a budding songwriter neglecting to do his homework.

“Gordie was at the back of my Latin class but Gordie was not always quiet,” said Jefferies into a microphone standing among the crowd in the nave.

“In fact, he wasn’t doing his homework at all. In fact, he was too busy flying his paper airplane,” said the parishioner.

But during Sunday mass, the Latin teacher’s cholera would be soothed by the choir boy’s voice which was “so angelical.”

“And I’m thinking, Donnajean, how could you ever be mad at that kid?” she recalled.

Lightfoot’s sister, Eyers, told the audience how relatives would throw nickels at her three-year-old little brother to sing at their grandmother’s house.

“And you sang your heart out,” Eyers told Lightfoot, reminding him of the time he belted out Jesus Loves Me. “You were promised a nickel to do this and I’ll never forget it.”

In an interview before the performance, Eyers said her brother’s last public performance at the church was before his voice changed at 13 when he sang at her wedding.

During the session, Lightfoot revealed a range of musical influences, including Bing Crosby, Ian and Sylvia Tyson and even jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.

When he saw an advertisement in Down Beat magazine for Sunset Boulevard’s Westlake College of Music, the 18-year-old Lightfoot took off to Los Angeles to study for two semesters.

There, Lightfoot said he learned to write scores by basing everything on a piano keyboard.

“I’ve got a keyboard that’s about two feet long and it’s right in front of my head and it never leaves,” he said.

Though he didn’t start playing the guitar until he was 15, Lightfoot has written about 200 songs on record.

At Hilfman Millson’s hint, he gave the audience a brief glimpse of how his life as a prolific songwriter and performer had taken a certain toll.

“It certainly didn’t work any miracles with my personal life,” Lightfoot said, but didn’t elaborate.

In 2002, before Lightfoot was to play the second of two benefit concerts for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and the Sunshine Festival at the Orillia Opera House, he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage.

In a coma for weeks, Lightfoot said he remembers nothing of his time in the operating room. “You know how it feels to be dead. To me, it was no worries, no cares.”

Near the end of the session, Hilfman Millson asked if Orillia’s favourite son had any wisdom to pass on to the audience.

“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride, a bit of a highwire act,” Lightfoot confessed. “You can never let any of that stuff stand in your way.”