The Citizen, 1995-09-06, Page 19Happy 25th
Anniversary
ROSE MARY & JIM
JOHNSTON
Married on Sept. 12, 1970
Open House on Sept. 10, 1995
from 1:30 to 4:00
at Rose Mary and Jim's home
in Londesboro for
family and friends.
Girl Guides
of Canada
Guides
du Canada
Call for Details:
1-800-565-8111
HUGH GRANT
,51ECCUSL
NINE
MONTHS
Fri - Thurs. Sept. 08 - 14
Fri. & Sat. 7 & 9 p.m.
Sun. - Thurs. 8 pm
HAPPY 60th ANNIVERSARY
(September 14, 1935)
MERVYN & DORIS BATKIN
The family cordially invites
friends and relatives to an
OPEN HOUSE
at Huronview Dining Room - left
at the front entrance
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10 1:00 - 3:00 P.M.
-Best Wishes Only-
Love,
Jane, Ruth Ann, Bob and families
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1995. PAGE 19.
K-W's Schneider Haus ntertainment gets folk art collection
Barn life
Andrew Croft as the vet has a confrontation regarding farming practices with the unmovable
Aylmer Clark, played by Ted Johns in Blyth favourite He Won't Come in From the Barn,
which opened last Wednesday for its fourth season at Blyth. The actors enjoyed a sold-out
crowd for opening night.
It was announced this week that
the Joseph Schneider Haus
Museum in Kitchener will receive a
prestigious collection of folk art
from Western Canada, thanks to the
Museum's Friends organization and
a second major funding partner as
yet unnamed. Staff and Friends of
the Museum are anxiously awaiting
the arrival of the 22 artifacts which
include painted furniture and hand-
loomed textiles.' Challenger Motor
Freight of Cambridge has
generously agreed to transport the
fragile treasures from Vancouver
free of charge and will ship them as
soon as space is available on one of
their east-bound transports.
The Museum was made aware of
the availability of the collection
through- the Federal Cultural
Property Export Review Board
whose mandate is to control the
export of cultural material so as to
"better ensure the preservation in
Canada of significant examples of
our cultural, historic and scientific
heritage".
Rather than see the artifacts
disappear into private collections
south of the border, museum staff
began to investigate sources of
funding for the purchase of this
outstanding material. The
Museum's. Friends organization
responded quickly to this unique
opportunity and committed more
than $30,000 to the project.
President Kathy Rose
commented that sales of the
Friends 1995 Lottery Calendar
were brisk this year, enabling the
organization to assist with the
acquisition. -Details about the
second funding partner will be
released later this week.
The collection comprises some
examples of Mennonite and
Doukhobor folk art produced in
Western Canada including a rare
neo-classical Mennonite chair,
Mennonite shrank (wardrobe),
several Doukhobor painted storage
chests and an unusual mirror
surmounted by a two-headed eagle.
Members of the public will get
their first opportunity to view the
collection when an exhibit "Maybe
in the Spring" which showcases the
material, opens Oct. 12 at the
museum for an indefinite run.
LEADERS WANTED
Theatre review
Past,p resent face off in 'Barn'
By Bonnie Gropp
As far as Huron County audi-
ences are concerned Aylmer Clark
need never come in from the barn.
In its fourth Blyth Festival pro-
duction Ted Johns' He Won't Come
in From the Barn, still seems to ,
have the same rapport with the
audience as it did in the previous
stagings, in 1977, 1981 and 1994.
The story of a man who is so
confused, threatened and resentful
of the changes in the agriculture
industry that he decides to live in
his barn, is not such a stretch of the
imagination as it may first appear.
Aylmer is a man who was a success
farming the old way and can not
comprehend the way the world is
moving. He began farming in a
tine when the farmer was "worker,
management and ownership". It
worked then, it should work now.
Conversely his son, Wayne, a
graduate of Ridgetown, wants to
turn the operation into a modern
one, with automation and days off.
For Aylmer, a man whose life was
his farm, this too is difficult to
understand.
Bureaucracy has also come to the
business of farming. Aylmer rails
against government people whose
"sole job is to keep others from
working".
Rather than cope with a world
that is changing too fast, Aylmer
digs in and roots himself to one in
which he is comfortable, one that
Wishing Happy 60th to a gal
so fine,
She lives, you know, out on the
4th line.
On September 11 she will be
celebrating all day,
So give'her a call or drive by
her way.
Wishing health and happiness
all the year through,
And we send this now from us
to you.
he understands.
As his action soon turns him into
an object of ridicule to some and a
folk hero to others, Aylmer learns
that he can't sit back and let the
world pass him by.
Understatement has never been
Johns' signature and as Aylmer he's
the biggest ham in the barn. Direc-
tor Paul Thompson makes no
attempt to rein in Johns' often
manic style. A veteran writer/direc-
tor, himself, Thompson's light
touch on this production demon-
strates his respect for all the talent-
ed performers involved.
Though in danger of being
upstaged by the flamboyant antics
of Johns, the remaining cast mem-
bers, even the less seasoned, are
strong enough to hold their own
while giving him his due.
As Aylmer's wife Rose, Blyth
Festival Artistic Director Janet
Amos (Johns' real-life wife) dis-
plays an easy earthiness that stops
short of caricature, while veteran
Jerry Franken as Aylmer's confi-
dant, Anton, shows once again
what a versatile performer he is.
The other members of the cast,
Ted Atherton as Aylmer's nephew
Ralph, Paul Braunstein as Wayne,
Eric Coates as the organizer,
WALTON AREA
SPORTS CLUB
BEEF
BARBECUE
Saturday,
September 16th
at Walton Hall
from 4:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Adults - $8.00
Children - (up to 12) $4.00
Pre-Schoolers Free
Take Outs Available
Andrew Croft as the vet and
Michael Healey as the doctor, shine
with understated polish next to the
brassy lead character.
Also, worthy of notice for their
performances are the two cows, the
pigs and the rooster on stage for the
entire show.
Their home away from home was
designed by Glenn Davidson.
What specifically attracts people
to Barn, time and time again is as
much a puzzle to me as the dairy
farmer who knows all his cows by
name. Perhaps the answer lies in
Johns zealousness. He charms the
audience with the eagerness of a
child trying to get attention .
It could be the political satire, the
humour or — the cows, but for
whatever reason, from the time the
toes started tapping to the fiddles at
the play's beginning, it was evident
that Aylmer Clark has found a
home in the hearts of Blyth theatre-
goers.
LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-255-34311 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO