Hip town

Wellington comes together to celebrate The Tragically Hip

When Wellington’s Mags Kandis created a Facebook event notice inviting anyone who might be interested to join her in a screening of the Tragically Hip’s final concert on August 20, she expected to see a half-dozen affirmative responses and a whole lot of excuses.

After all, similar events will be held all over southern Ontario, and likely beyond, as Canada’s hometown boys say goodbye. Even in the County, the Acoustic Grill in Picton is also offering a screening.

Instead, the page was flooded with interest and offers to help.

Without doing much arm-twisting, Kandis has found support from food vendors, organizations and businesses offering to help put the event together. More than 150 people have expressed their interest in joining the event.

Mags Kandis is planning Tragically Hip Day in Wellington Park featuring a screening of the band’s final concert from Kingston.

So far, she has confirmed The Pink Lunch Pail, Slow Taco, Reggie’s Mediterranean food truck, Bingi’s BBQ, number e tea and co. and the Wellington District Lions Club as food vendors. Both Instant Rivalry and emerging folk artist Masha Nazina have volunteered their time and talents to perform live as openers for The Hip, and Wellington Home Hardware’s Evan Nash has taken on the task of ensuring the screening will be set up and viewable at the gazebo in Wellington Park.

“I think a lot of restaurants and bars that have televisions set up will be doing something, but this is the only one I know that’s not about making money or drinking. It’s about getting together, watching the show,” says Kandis. “I’m just hoping it will be a gathering of friends, family, locals, people who are here for the weekend.”

Kandis says although the event is free, any money raised will go toward the fund that Gord Downie started for Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, a hospital that specializes in cancer research. That includes a portion of sales from participating vendors, including the entire net revenue from the Lions Club food stand.

A bucket will also be passed around so people may donate what they can, with a suggested $5 contribution toward the cause.

Although the enthusiasm has caught her off guard, Kandis is not surprised by the County’s response. Downie, she says, has touched many in the community, whether he knew them or not.

“We are all touched by cancer in some way,” says Kandis. “I think it is the association that he’s the hometown boy. They’re a band that’s known throughout the world, and still, they hang their hats in southern Ontario, for the most part.”

And although she herself is not a die-hard fan of The Tragically Hip, she says that attitude, and the band’s several southern Ontario anthems, make many feel as though the band and Downie are family.

“Quite often, we hear at [a famous person’s] death that they had been ill,” says Kandis. She respects that many in the public eye want privacy, but thinks Downie is using his illness the way he’s used his music in the past—to bring attention to a cause. “I think Gord Downie announcing this, that he allowed his doctor to talk about his path through this, I think it’s because he wants to bring awareness. So I think that’s a nice way for all of us to pitch in and carry on that idea.”