the "covid concert"

Feeling a little "antsy" being stuck at home? Well, so were members of The Midlandaires, the local band I sing with every week at the Legion in Midland. Problem is, the Legion's been closed since early March. The boys in the band were getting restless.
            Me and my band mates were all missing being together to entertain folks and we were looking for opportunities to make that happen. But there are more than 5 of us in the group, so it just seemed impossible. But then came the loosening of rules from 5-person gatherings expanding to 10 people. It suddenly made possible the 8 members of The Midlandaires being able to congregate in one place. And so, we burst out of "early virus retirement" to stage a free concert for residents of the Mundy's Harbour condominium townhouse development on William Street in Midland.
            Since I live in Mundy's Harbour, I had asked my neighbors about the interest level if we were to stage a concert. They were thrilled, seeing it as a  good community builder after people have been locked away in self-isolation. The "Covid Concert" was the result. We were able to set up on the common deck by Georgian Bay, and residents of the condos and their guests were on their own outside terraces listening and dancing.
            "The Covid Concert" took place on Sunday, June 14th from 4-6pm featuring Doug Hill on keyboard, Nelson Cote on tenor sax, Lary Melnyk on accordion, Jürgen Pape, bass guitar, Karl Wright, rhythm guitar, Carl Corbeau on drums and me and Gord McNaughton doing vocals.
            "The Midlandaires did a great job," says Mundy's Harbour resident Tony Irwin, who also acted as MC. "Everyone here has been doing the self-isolation thing so it was really nice to be able to be outdoors on a beautiful afternoon and enjoy some great musical entertainment."
            Given that it was an outdoor concert, people congregated in the park next door to enjoy the music too, and that was just fine with us. A good time was had by all!
            It was a lady being interviewed on CBC Radio that also helped to push us. She said, "If you have talents, please share them with your fellow man during this lonely pandemic. People need sunshine in their lives - both literally and figuratively - and if you can help put a smile on their face, that’s huge."
            Whadyathink? Is there something you can do to ease the virus tension in your community?

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