The Citizen, 2017-07-27, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017. PAGE 9.
Peach honoured with walkway, plaque at Sauble Beach
A fitting tribute
The late Geoff Peach of Blyth was honoured on Sunday with a memorial plaque and a
walkway named after him at Sauble Beach. Peach, the co-founder of the Lake Huron Centre
for Coastal Conservation, had done much work at the beach and along the shoreline to ensure
its long-term health. Members of the Peach family from as far away as Vancouver and
Tennessee were in attendance. From left: Laura, Kathryn and Cheryl Peach are seen here with
Geoff's plaque, which resides just to the right of the newly -dedicated walkway. (Photos courtesy of
Zoe Kessler/Wiarton Echo)
'The Pigeon King'
to premiere Aug. 11
The world premiere of The Pigeon
King is the third show on Blyth
Festival's playbill this summer and
tells the tale of Arlan Galbraith, the
self-proclaimed Pigeon King who
was convicted of fraud in a Waterloo
court and sentenced to seven years
for his preposterous pigeon Ponzi
scheme.
The Pigeon King is a collaboration
featuring original music all created
by The Company. Directed by
Severn Thompson, the show plays
from Aug. 9 to Sept. 23. It's a
country parable for our times,
reminding us that what takes flight
always comes home to roost.
When Arlan Galbraith created his
company, Pigeon King
International, he boasted some 50
years as a top breeder; he was a
member of the Canadian Racing
Pigeon Union, the Canadian
National Tippler Union, the
National Birmingham Roller Club,
and even the charter President of the
Saugeen Valley Fur and Feathers
Fanciers Association. When he
announced he'd bred his own
distinct line of high-performance
racers, Strathclyde Genetics, few of
his friends doubted his downy
coronation.
But around 2001, Galbraith began
approaching local farmers and
neighbours asking them to invest in
a piece of the royal action. Claiming
to have access to lucrative pigeon
racing markets in Saudi Arabia and
throughout the Middle East, the
Pigeon King began to sign 10 -year
contracts with guaranteed profits for
buyers of his breeding pairs,
promising to personally buy back all
of the chicks.
Over the next seven years, Pigeon
King International became a
massive empire, worth tens of
millions of dollars, with farmers
investing from both sides of the
border, mortgaging century farms,
and hatching hundreds of thousands
of birds, only to collapse in a
bankruptcy filing of epic
proportions, a fraud conviction and
time behind bars.
The Pigeon King is created and
performed by the company which
consists of Rebecca Auerbach, Jason
Chesworth, Gil Garratt, George
Meanwell, J.D. Nicholsen, and
Birgitte Solem along with Gemma
James Smith and director, Severn
Thompson.
Severn Thompson has a long
history with the Blyth Festival, most
recently performing in the 2015
production of Seeds. In 2013 she
directed and co -created Beyond The
Farm Show as well as the previous
year's The Farm: 2012 for the Young
Company. Other directing credits
include the 2017 Dora award-
winning Peter Pan (Bad Hats
Brewery Tour) and Madam Mao
(SummerWorks). As an actor,
Severn has appeared in plays across
the country as well as on TV. Last
winter Severn toured the play Elle,
which she adapted and performed, to
Waterford, Vancouver, and
Winnipeg. In 2016, Elle received a
Dora nomination for Outstanding
New Play. Severn is Blyth Festival's
Associate Artistic Director.
The creative team for The Pigeon
King is Steve Lucas, set and lighting
designer; Gemma James Smith,
costume designer; and Verne Good,
sound designer. Heather Thompson
is the Stage Manager and Katerina
Sokyrko is the Assistant Stage
Manager.
Reserve your seats for this
fascinating story by calling the
Box Office at 519-523-9300, toll-
free 1-877-862-5984 or on-line at
blythfestival.com.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The late Geoff Peach, a Blyth
resident and the late co-founder of
the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal
Conservation, was honoured on
Sunday with a special plaque and a
walkway dedicated in his name.
Peach had made it his life's work
to be a steward of Lake Huron,
which is why the Friends of Sauble
Beach chose to honour him in this
way.
Geoff's wife Cheryl and their
daughters Kathryn and Laura were
on hand for the special presentation,
as were a number of other family
members from as far away as
Vancouver and Tennessee.
In an interview with The Citizen,
Cheryl said she was surprised when
she was first told that Geoff would
be honoured in this way. She said
that while Geoff had worked for
decades on preserving the lake,
being honoured was still
unexpected.
Cheryl said that Geoff would have
been proud to have been honoured
by his peers and to have his work
regarded as important by colleagues
whom he respected.
In addition, she said, he would
have been pleased to see exactly
how he was honoured: with a
cartoon -like image of himself on his
plaque. Geoff was known for his
always -present sense of humour and
as someone who never took himself
too seriously.
She said that John
Strachan, a member of the
Friends of Sauble Beach
who created the plaque, truly
captured Geoff's essence in
his image. Geoff was always
wearing his glasses and hat,
and he was always smiling.
The plaque, she said,
captures all of those aspects
of his personality.
Cheryl also added that
remembering Geoff as being
happy, both in his life and in
his work with Lake Huron, is
important. When Geoff
knew he didn't have much
time left in this world,
Cheryl said, he reached a
point where he was content
with his life and knew he
was leaving his family and
his work with no regrets.
At the ceremony, which
was held Sunday afternoon,
colleagues of Geoff's called
him a brilliant man who will
be remembered for how much he
cared about his work and about the
long-term health of Lake Huron.
Cheryl said it was a special time
for the dedication ceremony to take
place, as a number of far-flung
family members were in Blyth for
Geoff's interment ceremony, which
took place at the family's cottage — a
location that had a special place in
Geoff's heart.
In addition, Cheryl said it was a
special time in the life of projects
spearheaded by Peach along the
lake. She said that where dunes had
been created to preserve the life of
the beach, Peach's ideas were
paying off and coming to fruition,
which was amazing to see. These
results could even be seen at the
family's cottage, she said.
After Geoff passed away on Jan.
28, the Lake Huron Centre for
Coastal Conservation created the
Geoff Peach Coastal Scholarship
Fund in his memory.
For more information on the
centre, visit lakehuron.ca.
The Geoff Peach Walkway
Y?ow1Let18
GRAN is OPE INC
Cowbell Brewing Co. is opening the doors for the first time to the Village of Blyth!
Residents of Blyth are exclusively invited for the first look inside the brewery.
Meet the Cowbell Crew and share in some family -friendly fun! If you live in Blyth
and did not receive an invitation, please email events@cowbellbrewing.com.
AUGUST 5TH, 2017
ANY TIME BETWEEN IIAM AND 2PM
THIS INVITATION IS LIMITED
TO THE RESIDENTS OF BLYTH.
TEL: (519) 523-4724
EVENTS@COWBELLBREWING.COM
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