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| Musicians from across the region take the stage at Jamborees in Harriston during the winter months. Patrick Raftis photo |
| Old Time Music fans love nothing better than a jamboree. In the summer months, they gather with their fiddles, banjos and guitars for outdoor fun at campgrounds, in barns…wherever there’s room to play and people to listen. In the cold weather, many head indoors to community halls where they can continue their musical merry-making year-round. One such jamboree, at the Harriston Royal Canadian Legion Branch 296, launched its 25th anniversary season in 2011. In the fall of 1987, jamboree participant Frank Gilbert approached Ron Smith, branch administrator at the time, about holding a jamboree at the Legion on an October Sunday afternoon. “I said sure, what’s a jamboree?” recalls Smith. Smith took the idea to the Legion executive, who gave their okay and the rest is now a quarter-century of local musical history. “We have not looked back, from that time to the present,” said Smith, following a special commemorative jamboree in October of this year. During the event, Frank Gilbert and his wife, Flo, were recognized for 25 years of service to the event. Early jamborees were organized by the late Allan Ross and George Richards, notes Smith. “Jamboree enthusiasts from far and wide came to Harriston for the music, dancing on our renowned hardwood dance floor and our roast beef dinner,” he states proudly. Participants continue to drive distances of an hour or more to attend the events, with musicians and dancers travelling from places like Drumbo, Loretto, Point Clarke and the Kitchener-Waterloo area to join the local revellers. It’s a loyal following indeed. In addition to Smith and the Gilberts, several more of those attending the most recent jamboree had been present at the very first one. While attendance remains strong, it can’t quite rival the enthusiasm of the early days when, Smith remembers, “There were afternoons we had to shut the door because of the tremendous crowd.” The Gilberts remain very actively involved with the Legion Jamborees. Frank continues to provide a sound system for the event and Flo records the acts on stage, as she has from the beginning. While the organizational committee has changed over the years, a core group has been working together on the events for the past decade, including: Smith, Liz Dowler, June Ratz, Lil Smith, Margaret Weber and Dave Lyons; assisted by meat cutters Lloyd Tuck and Bob Burrows, and Mary Beth Gilbert, who handles door duties. Long-time bar-keep Audrey Roeder recently stepped down from the position. Smith says the Legion hopes support remains strong for the Harriston Jamboree, one of the longest-running such events in Western Ontario. The events are held on the third Sundays in October, November, January, February, March and April. After that, the camping jamboree season gets underway and the music and fun return to the great outdoors. For more information contact Harriston Legion Branch 296 at 519 338-2843 or legion296@wightman.ca. |
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