Posts Tagged ‘music’

Fall 2013 Update From Peter and Mary

Sunday, October 20th, 2013

Hello everyone;

Thanks for checking in with us to see how things are going at our end. We seem to be busy as always with many diversified events, and are so grateful to those who come out to see us, both in Canada, the U.S.A. and other places.

We were just heading into ‘Spooktacular’ at Fort Edmonton Park, when we last caught up. That event for us was held in the 1920’s fairground, where we did children’s performances in the tent. This year (next week) will be another children’s performance in the large hangar, sharing the stage with several other acts, and of course enjoying the interaction.

The early part of November last was spent preparing for the Christmas season. It started with a bang on Nov. 17th, when we did our big show at Southgate followed by the New Orleans jazz parade, with Santa and several of the Alberta Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ cast. A great event. Then came the children’s parties for various companies, shopping centres, Glendale country Club – and several seasonal events for those not as fortunate as ourselves. Not to be forgotten, of course, was the huge indoor Santa Claus parade through the city core, which we have done for so many years, and love seeing all the familiar faces as well as new ones.

January was of course time to hit the road for the 3000 km drive to our tour (year 9!) of southern Arizona and California. The great majority of performances in the 25 venue tour were for the RV and winter residents’ market (with a few full timers for good measure). We also included a couple of children’s events and this year also performed in Las Vegas on the way south.

Back by April 1st for our regular Easter weekend at Edmonton Valley Zoo. May and June were busy as usual with ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ in Heritage Park, Calgary; the opening weekend at Fort Edmonton Park, Central Alberta Children’s Festival, 2 days in the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, (for which we also supply other performers), concerts in three towns for seniors’ week, and a special weekend for the 100th anniversary of Olds college, amongst other events.

It was during June that our special dog Meggie passed on at 15 and a half. So many of you will remember her travelling with us to the shows, where she would sit on the side of the stage during performances or act as an ambassador in special needs situations. She was very loved and is greatly missed.

July 1st, Canada Day, saw us in Camrose – a great day with many events for young and old really brought the community together.

Martha Mc Haggis dusted off her Royal Stewart tartan and appeared (with Mary by her side) at Fort Edmonton Park’s Celtic Gathering. She loves this event and it gave them both the chance to prepare for the huge Vent Haven convention in Cincinnati/Fort Mitchell U.S.A. the following week. A few other events included Heritage Day in Heritage Park, Calgary and several large family gatherings for various oil companies, interspersed by a much needed break with special friends in Kelowna and Tsawassen.

Most of September we took off with a catch-up visit to the U.K. to see family and friends, also a little R. and R. The last included a tour of state rooms in Buckingham Palace, complete with cream tea on the lawn.

Back for “Free access” day in the city, which as usual, took us again to the zoo, although this year we only did one venue, as the following morning saw Mary tour directing and hosting a tour to the Hostfest in North Dakota (U.S.) with Peter riding shotgun! 57 of us including the driver, and a great bunch of folks went to see the many performers, some from Scandinavia, plus many ‘home grown’ acts, including Alabama, Frank Sinatra Junior, Marty Stuart, Frankie Valli, Bill Cosby, Charlie Pride, the Oakridge Boys, and several 60’s pop groups who did a combined show.

Now it’s October and we have a show out of town tomorrow, then back for ‘Spooktacular’ and a children’s show for West Edmonton mall (which many of you know) before the Christmas season starts once more.

Thanks for catching up with us – we hope life is being kind to you and we meet again along the way.

From Mary’s Desk

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

September 2012

It seems that last time we updated this section we were just heading into Spooktacular 2011 at Fort Edmonton Park, where we took on a new role as the ‘Lost Souls Blues Band’. Anyone was welcome to join the band, but they were warned that the gig would NEVER finish. Amazingly, we still had a couple of applicants in their early teens, who obviously had not thought through the ramifications of this!

November and December were busy as usual, with events as diversified as a ladies’ tea (swimming pool fundraiser in Two Hills), a children’s show commemorating the Haj, and a seniors’ fair, before we had our first meeting with Santa in Southgate. This year we did a children’s show followed by a parade, for which we augmented with trumpet, clarinet and trombone, and the atmosphere was great. Many more events for both children and adults before year end, which was finished with a medieval night at Muttart Conservatory on N.Y.E.

Jan. 6th saw us heading south again to the U.S., with a stop in Las Vegas en route (where we saw ‘Love’ by Cirque du Soleil – amazing!) This year we had planned to book the2013 tour, but give ourselves some space after the hectic season prior to Christmas. This we did and the three of us (including Meggie the dog) had some great times together, especially when we camped in San Diego for a little over a week, and we had an elderly, but very happy, dog in the ocean every day.
Back home at the end of March with good weather all the way, only to find the following morning that we had to get up early and winterize the trailer an hour before 4 inches of snow fell. Truly an April Fools’ joke after a 3,000 km. drive!

Spring as always eases in gradually, with events at the Zoo, Nagels’ travel show, schools for Earth Day – plus the Festival itself (which we organized for so many years, but now occasionally appear as performers or guest speakers,) beautiful weather this year, which always helps. The 4 days of ‘Day Out With Thomas’ were fun as always – with weather ranging from snow to +26 degrees C. More schools in the Calgary area, then special Jubilee nights for 2 different venues in Edmonton – where there was suitable food, decoration, drinks, sing-along, and much merriment!
The month of June included Children’s Festivals in Fort McMurray and Bow Island, plus a special day in Coutts, on the U.S. border. Also a couple of seniors’ performances and schools’ shows in the Ukrainian Village. Variety is truly the spice of life!

July started with Canada Day in Muttart Conservatory, plus various events for Fort Edmonton, one of which, the Celtic Festival, featured Mary interacting with all and sundry together with her Scottish figure ‘Martha Mc Haggis’ – who is loved by everyone. Plus a great ‘Family Day’ at Northlands race track, and shows in Saskatchewan in August, including ‘Live it up’ day in Livelong, and a return to Northwest Territorial Days’ in North Battleford where we had both good weather and audiences.

Back to Alberta in time for the Fort Edmonton harvest celebration, called this year ‘Field to Table’ plus the Storytelling Festival – where we do songs, but with a story to them, or a story about them. Great attendance, especially on the second day.

Then there was busy time for Mary preparing to direct and host a bus tour through British Columbia, up the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert, train down to Prince George, and bus back through the Rockies to Edmonton and Calgary. An incredibly busy 8 day tour, with 45 guests on the bus, and perfect weather all the way.

This weekend is ‘Free Access Day’ for the City of Edmonton, and we shall be spending part of it performing at the Zoo, where we also appear at Easter, making our annual Zoo dates “bookends” for the season.

To our friends out there in the ether – we hope life is being kind to you, and we’ll be in touch again before too long!

Peter and Mary News October 2011

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Here’s a ‘catch up’ on what has been a busy year to date, with the Christmas season beginning very soon. 2011 started with our 7th tour of Arizona/California, with performances in Yuma, Arizona City, Tucson, Casa Grande, Hemet, Palm Desert, El Centro, Winterhaven, Mesa and Apache Junction, sometimes several in the same area. Shows were for both young and senior audiences, so lots of variety. As usual the tour ended with a couple of our special St. Patrick’s shows, which are always great fun to perform.

Back to Alberta, and a special marketing event for Nagel Tours, with whom Mary is associated as an occasional Tour Director; plus the first ever Lethbridge Children’s Festival, (where we met Shrek and Fiona!) Heavy snow didn’t keep the crowds away, but made for a huge turnout. Back to St. Albert in time for Easter, and our regular Easter Monday at the Zoo. A school or two in May, plus our special time at ‘A day out with Thomas’ – in Heritage Park, Calgary. Always fun with thousands of ‘munchkins’ in all directions. End of the month and into June came the ever popular Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival (30th anniversary!). Five days of great interaction with many other performers, thousands of children, and mostly good weather.

The rest of June was busy with shows in Sherwood Park, Grande Cache Music Festival, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village (Pioneer Days for school groups), plus the grand re-opening of the John Janzen Nature Centre.

July was equally busy, with several events at Fort Edmonton Park, which we always love, as well as a private function for the Zoo, and a short library tour for which we wrote special songs for this year’s theme ‘Splash’. Also our first performance for Leduc Streetfest.

The high spot of July was being invited to represent Canada in the International show at Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVENTion, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. The second time we have been so honoured and an attendance of 538 from all over the world; the largest ever!

Much of August was spent with family and friends; both in the U.K. and on the west coast of Canada. At the end of the month we returned to the 2 day Fort Edmonton Harvest, and a big family picnic for all the Realtors in the Edmonton area (year 3). September saw a weekend of shows at Kidsfest Family Expo, plus Free Access Day for the city of Edmonton, where we performed for the Zoo in the morning and Muttart Conservatory in the afternoon; followed by Mary taking a tour group to Minot, North Dakota, for the Hostfest early the following day. Lots of acts and a full bus, as always.

Now it’s October; we had a function for Strathcona County Library last Friday, a day at the A.T.A.A. showcase on Saturday, and a fundraiser which we organized through St. Albert United Church on Sunday night, which will enable over $6,000 to be sent for a project in Southern Sudan/Ethiopia.

This weekend is ‘Spooktacular’ at Fort Edmonton Park where nobody will recognize us; then only a couple more events before the Christmas season gets under way on November 12th. We hope all of you who are reading this are having a great year too! Talk to you soon…

Peter and Mary News Jan. 2011

Monday, January 10th, 2011

January 2011 sent in by Mary

Wow, what a year we had! Not only did we do 25 performances for our many friends in Arizona and California, following a busy 2009 Christmas season; we also had another 125 performances before the year drew to a close.

And what a selection of events it was! From the Edmonton Valley Zoo and John Janzen Nature center, to the arrival of Thomas the Tank Engine in Calgary (year 4!). Then the grand opening of Fort Edmonton Park, (Canada’s largest historical park), on Victoria Day weekend, followed by the Northern Alberta International Children’s festival – an amazing 5 day event, (year 7), and the Battleford, Saskatchewan Children’s festival (3rd time), where all three stages had to be combined in an indoor area because of mud outside, and Mary emceed the entire event, plus we did our two performances.

This spring we were gratified to hear that we had no less than 4 songs from our ‘Sweet Rocky Mountains’ CD SIMULTANEOUSLY in the top 20 of Thunderbolt Radio, an internet radio station. Thank you all so much for listening, and of course to Jim and Chris at the station!

A tour through several towns in central Alberta for the 55+ market was greeted with rapturous response, as were the 8 shows we did for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, and 2 fairs in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, plus Vermilion, Alberta, both of which we have done several times before.

We were honoured to be asked to perform for the Canada Day festivities for the City of Edmonton, having been in Calgary and other cities for the last few years.

Plus several T.V. appearances; corporate and private functions; the always amazing Fort Edmonton Harvest; 8 shows at ‘Spooktacular’ for Halloween, and free access day for the Muttart Conservatory and the Zoo.

The Christmas season started on November 13th, with the arrival of Santa at Southgate; then he (and us) appeared at other venues throughout Nov/Dec, with many types of events for all ages, ending the year with a medieval New Year’s Eve at the Muttart Conservatory, with sword fights, armour displays, medieval dancing (and music) and much, much more culminating in a huge party and of course the traditional Old Lang Syne.

In the year we also managed a 3 week U.K. visit in July, plus another later in the year, also Mary once again hosted an 8 day Bus tour to Minot, N.D., for the ‘Hostfest’, her 4th time on this particular run.

Now it’s January, and we are preparing to head off to Arizona / California once again. We hope that the Christmas season was great for you, and that 2011 is a very special year.

May 2010

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Time for another catchup of events this end. In mid- October ’09 we were lucky to have the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta ‘Showcase’ close to home, (in Fort Saskatchewan) so took great delight in commuting to the event and catching up with so many friends in the industry; presenters and artists alike. Then it was time for the annual ‘Spooktacular’ in Fort Edmonton Park, which is a scary ‘fun’ time for all, getting more spooky as you head back through each period street in time.
The Christmas season started in earnest on Nov. 14th, when we took a big parade through a large shopping centre, immediately following our Children’s Christmas Show. For this event we augmented with trumpet, clarinet and tuba, and had a great time with all the kids. Many events, both public and private, including the Santa Claus Parade in Edmonton, the Morinville Christmas Festival, the St. Albert ‘lights up’, and innumerable Santa arrivals. That guy is so busy; we don’t know how he does it! In addition to the children’s shows, we are also fortunate to play for many of the seniors’ lodges in the area, which keeps a good balance to the season.
After our N.Y.E. show, we started to prepare for the road, waiting a couple of extra days for a snowstorm to roar through northern Montana, before heading to Arizona/California (year 6!), with a truck full of sound equipment and a holiday trailer in tow. A terrific tour to start 2010, with excellant response to every show, be it concert, “pub” night, St. Patrick’s show, or a special Medieval day at our “home” park, Mesa Dunes. The tour ended March 20th in Desert Hot Springs, California, after which we headed to the coast and had a Day in Disney, before heading north via San Francisco and the Redwoods en route to stop-offs with friends south of Seattle and in Ladner B.C., then up the Coquihalla to Jasper and home for Easter, in good time for our Easter Monday show at the Zoo.
May and June are looking very busy, starting with an environmental day at the Nature Centre; 4 days with Thomas the Tank Engine (full size) in Calgary; the season opening of Fort Edmonton Park; Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival; Battleford Children’s Festival; senior’s week concerts in Willingdon, Two Hills and Myrnam; 2 special “schools” days at the Ukrainian Heritage Village, and 3 other seniors’ events, leading us to Canada day July 1st, when we are pleased to be performing for the City of Edmonton, having had Canada Day “on the road” for so many years.
Thanks again to our many friends who come out to see us regularly; in Canada, the U.S., and overseas. We are grateful to share what we love with all of you!

September 2009

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Dear Readers;

Wow! What a summer we’ve had, since arriving back from our 5th southern U.S. tour at the beginning of April (battling through high winds and whiteout conditions on the Monida Pass!) We headed straight into a busy April with 2 Easter events, plus an event for the beautiful Arden Theatre in St. Albert, Alberta, and school and T.V. happenings for Earth Day. May saw our third annual meeting with Thomas the Tank Engine for 4 days in Calgary, also opening events for Fort Edmonton together with the T.V. season launch. Plus the Northern Alberta Children’s Festival – a great event – and its still only May!

 

June saw a special day at the Edmonton Valley Zoo for children with disabilities from all over the area, plus there were three “Goodbye” events for our much loved United Church minister and his wife, who were heading to the coast and retirement. Many one day events, including 2 at the Ukrainian Village for 1500 children daily – then we took a few days break to show some U.K. friends around the Canadian Rockies.

 

July saw us in the community of Rosemary, Alberta for Canada Day, then on to Portage La Prairie (by Winnipeg) for our 4th visit to their Industrial Exhibition, with all the fun of the fair. Back in time to fly Mary to Kentucky for the World Ventriloquist convention – at which we have previously performed.

 

August saw the Vegreville Exhibition, plus the ‘Under the Big Top’ festival in Sherwood Park (where children learn physical theatre, puppetry, magic and other skills), and of course the Fort Edmonton Harvest, which is a blast!

 

September we appeared at the Interior Provincial Exhibition in Armstrong B.C.; a great event and we met many new performer friends. We look forward to our return in 2010 – preferably without the hailstorm that came straight at the stage, (the +38c we can take)!

 

That brings us to the present, and the annual bus tour where Mary hosts 54 people from Western Canada around the Atlantic Provinces. Because we were in the U.K., we missed the tour last year, so it will be very special to visit those places – and possibly people – where we lived when first in Canada.

 

We will update you, our friends, again very soon!  

 

Peter and Mary 

January 2009

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

It is the beginning of 2009 and time for an update of what is happening this end since the last communication. Amazingly, all tours and our trip to the U.K. went exactly as planned, and we just finished another Christmas season, with many events for young and not so young, mostly in the greater Edmonton area, which is good, because we have been in the longest cold snap anyone can remember.

We are just heading south again for our annual tour to Arizona/California and look forward to meeting many old friends, and making some new ones in the approximately 25 venues where we are performing, as well as having a break on the California coast for a few days.

Spring and summer events are falling into place, as are events for next Christmas season, so it looks like a busy and productive year ahead, as we hope yours will be.

Sent in by Mary, August 2008, Greetings from a hot sunny Alberta!

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Another successful tour in Arizona/California and we drove home in good time to make an appearance at Edmonton’s Earth Day Festival, which this year had a big snow dump after the tents were put up. However there was one huge tent in the middle and the entire festival moved in there so that stalwarts who showed up still had a festival – albeit on a somewhat smaller scale.

The spring season got going gradually with shows at the Nature Centre and Valley Zoo (Mothers’ Day), plus the annual ‘Day out with Thomas’ (the Tank Engine) at Heritage Park in Calgary, to which we look forward again in 2009. T.V. shows to launch the Fort Edmonton season on Victoria Day weekend, plus the Family Day at Northlands and the Northern Alberta Children’s Festival right in our home town, which we love, interacting with the children and so many friends. A great Festival!

Many special events at Fort Edmonton Park this summer including several private corporate evenings, also events at the Citadel Theatre, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, and the family festival at High River. We appeared again for Canada Day at Fort Calgary, except that this year we did 2 full shows, plus Mary m.c.’d the entire day from 9am-4pm, and we took our own sound plus a couple of extra speakers and Peter did the audio for everyone, starting at 8am. The folks there kindly said it was their best Canada Day ever!

We managed to schedule a break in July this year, and the 2 of us, plus Meggie the dog, headed off to the West coast to see some special friends and catch up on a bit of r + r, including 5 nights camping on Vancouver Island. We were really lucky with the weather and apart from our last night in the Banff area, no mosquitos!! A great holiday and Meggie loved lots of dips in the ocean.

Because we were busy with so many other events we just did the one fair this year, at Vegreville, where it was very hot – up to 35c degrees many days. That brings us to mid- August, where we have a corporate summer carnival and the Fort Edmonton Harvest this week, then a major festival ‘Under the Big Top’ at Festival Place in Sherwood Park next week, followed by the Storytelling Festival at the Fort on the long weekend into September.

Various events coming up, including a visit to Britain, to see family. Then back in time for Free Access Day for the City of Edmonton, plus Mary is hosting a tour to Minot Norsk Hostfest at the end of September. The Halloween festival (Spooktacular) is coming up, plus several marketing conventions in October and early November, plus a fundraising concert for the St. Albert United Church on November 2nd.

The Christmas season is of course largely organized with corporate events. So far the only public ones are the Morinville Christmas Festival on November 29th and the Santa Claus Parade in Edmonton on December 7th.

Once again we plan to tour in the southern U.S. from January – March. Venues are all set up and there is just a little final ‘tweaking’ of the paperwork.

Next summer is starting to fall into place; we’ll keep you posted and hope all is well with you, wherever you’re reading this .

Peter and Mary Write From California

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

Sent in by Mary on March 24th, 2008

As I write it is 34c degrees here in Palm Springs, California. Not bad for the end of March!

We have had a great tour, with approximately 30 shows, across Arizona and California, and next years tour of the same area is almost fully booked. The first show was on January 12th and we have been running since then, so we are looking forward to a leisurely drive up the coast and then across to Alberta.

It is amazing how much the Sonoran desert has come into our hearts with its wealth of vegitation and wildlife, (some of the latter has to be treated with great respect, i.e. rattle snakes and gila monsters!).

We are looking forward as always, to appearing at the Edmonton Earth Day Festival on April 20th having been at the helm for so many years.

May is going to be a busy month with appearances for children with Thomas the Tank Engine; the Edmonton Valley Zoo; and the Northern Alberta International Childrens Festival. Also the season opening of our beloved Fort Edmonton Park, where we appear many times in period costume throughout the summer.

If you have the chance, visit our Calendar on our website  www.peterandmary.net, it will give you an update on  forthcoming appearances.

Talk with you again soon.

Bringing you up to date

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Dear Readers;

Please find below the previous updates you found on our website under the “What’s New” link. Mary will be adding more updates here in the near future, so please be sure to check back often.

August 2007

A busy Summer season for us, with lots of hot weather and exciting venues to play. The season started, as it traditionally does in Canada, with the Victoria Day long weekend and the opening of Fort Edmonton Park, for which we also did the T.V. promotional slots. We launched our brand new CD ‘Flying High for kids’ (with the aid of St. Albert United Church Junior Choir), just in time to have it ready for the International Children’s Festival, in St.Albert, Alberta. Our 5th year, and it gets better all the time!

Several different things for June, including 2 engagements for the Ukrainian Heritage Village, for school groups, and various community events. Canada Day, July 1st, was a great event in Fort Calgary, having come straight from a concert in Acme the night before with 4 hours sleep in our trailer! We also performed at several corporate events through the summer at Fort Edmonton Park and a special ‘Arts in the Park’ for children and families in the town of Banff.

We were very fortunate in that Mary’s Ventriloquist puppets (with us in attendance), were invited to be the closing act of the International show at the World Ventriloquist Convention at Vent Haven, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky; appearing with ventriloquists from Germany, Japan and Israel. This is a very special event, and time to catch up with old friends in the business, (and make new ones).

July closed off with a hot week at Medicine Hat Stamped and Exhibition, our 5th visit to this very successful event.

Now, we’re in August, and performing a new show for the children’s Summer reading programme this week in Drayton Valley; plus fairs in Bon Accord and Slave Lake, 3 special events for Fort Edmonton Park, (including the huge Harvest Fair), and events for small children and seniors throughout the area.

September is the Storytelling Festival, also Grandparents Day at the Provincial Legislature and a couple of Community concerts. We then head out on the annual Atlantic Canada bus tour, hosted by us, with Mary as Tour Director. This is always a great event and sells out early – plus it gives us a chance to get back into the Maritime way of thinking for 15 days. October there’s another 6 day tour to Minot, North Dakota, for the Scandinavian Festival, then we’re into the season of Showcases and Spooky Stuff once again. A special Remembrance show in November, then we’re into the busy Christmas season, with many of the prime dates already booked.

January it’s back South to California and Arizona for around 30 concerts, with a 12 day holiday break in the middle. Following our special St. Patrick’s shows we head North once again early in April 2008.

May 2007

As usual, we hit the New Year at a run, following our medieval New Year’s Eve, (2nd year), we loaded up and headed South for our annual Arizona/California tour of Gated communities, R.V. resorts, theatres, and events for children kept us hopping from Tucson to San Diego and all points in between. We made some new friends in venues that were new to us, and saw familiar faces in places we had been for three years in a row. We included a couple of ‘Pub nights’, that we do so often in Canada, and also four St. Patrick’s shows, which are so much fun to do. Headed back North with most of the 2008 tour confirmed in late March, in time for some Easter events; (how many times can you sing ‘Easter Parade’ and ‘Peter Cottontail’?).

With the Earth Day Festival coming up, we did several schools with our environmental programmes ‘Planet Kindness’, and ‘Nature Sings’, plus of course the Festival itself, which had several thousand in attendance, despite a somewhat gloomy day. In between shows we put the finnishing touches to our new CD for kids ‘Flying High’- all new songs, and featuring 8 members of the St. Albert United Church Junior Choir, with whom we had great fun!

The first weekend of June we were down at Heritage Park in Calgary to welcome ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’; a full-sized version of which did many runs for thousands of delighted kids, while we did shows for the crowds in an adjacent (permanent) marquee.

Now we’re in mid-May, with the opening of Fort Edmonton Park this weekend, and the Northern Alberta Children’s Festival in just over a week.

We look forward to a busy summer, with the Vent Haven ventriloquists’ conVENTion in Kentucky, various fairs and exhibitions including Medicine Hat, Alberta (always a favourite!), and of course the annual Maritime/Newfoundland bus tour starting Sept. 19th – hosted by Mary, with those amazing fall colours to see; if you’re interested in joining us on this one, there are just a few seats left. Phone (780) 452 6666 for details.

Halloween sees us back at Fort Edmonton, also the prime dates for the Christmas season are all accounted for. Then it is back to New Year’s and time to head South again.

Thanks for checking up on our news!

Peter & Mary

Watch this space for more news in the future!!!!

January 2007
What’s New with Peter & Mary
Sent in by Mary

This is being written on a beautiful sunny and crispy New Year’s Day 2007, mainly so that we can wish our many friends and new visitors to our site a very Happy New Year!
Since our last update we’ve had a busy summer and fall, with an excellant Canada Day Festival in Medicine Hat, Alberta,(after a huge wind storm)and appearances at fairs and exhibitions in Portage La Prairie (by Winnipeg – third time), Vermilion, Alberta (third time) and first time visits to Melfort, Saskatchewan and Strathmore, Alberta, all of which were great events.
Several special events for Fort Edmonton Park, which we always enjoy, ranging from ‘period’ locations to a family stage show for ‘Spooktacular’. While on the spooky things we also appeared again for ‘Halloweenarama’ at the Alberta Legislature.
In mid-September we took our annual bus tour through the Maritimes and Newfoundland, hosted by Mary. A great group of people and a sell-out as always, plus the fall colours were magnificent! We’ll be doing the same tour leaving on September 19th 2007, so if you’re interested in this amazing 15 day trip call TOLL FREE 1-800-562-9999 or if in the Edmonton area phone 780-452-6666 and tell them you want to be part of the Peter & Mary Jansen tour! We fly into Halifax and out of St. John’s and the rest is touring in a luxury motor coach. We’d love to see you there.
The Christmas season kicked off in earnest on a very cold November 25th, when we made a return appearance at the Morinville Christmas Festival (Ab), followed the next day by the Edmonton Ab Santa Claus Parade – all indoors through the City pedway system and a great event! Over 25 Christmas shows, from Corporate parties for children – some huge, some smaller, to events in hospitals and seniors lodges, and interacting with the general public in the major shopping centres, both as “walk-about” with music and Mary’s ventriloquist puppets; also with our special Christmas stage show.
In case you think we weren’t busy enough, we’ve also been laying down tracks for a new Children’s CD of original songs, (about which we are very excited) and managed to include 18 social events since mid-November!
New Year’s Eve was great! For the second time we played for the Medieval family event at Edmonton’s Muttart Conservatory. A sell-out and many things in the four pyramids – puppets, magic, crafts of all kinds and activities, knights in armour and, of course loads of music and fun; leading up to the big count-down (at 9.45pm)!!
2007 starts off with our third winter tour through California and Arizona, with 31 shows ranging from the huge shows at the big RV parks, to children’s museums, libraries and our third appearance with an environmental show at the Phoenix Zoo. We return to Alberta at the beginning of April in time for the Earth Day Festival, (which we organised for 15 years and built to be the largest in Canada), the International Children’s Festival (5th year in a row), the Medicine Hat Ab Stampede (4th year), special events for Fort Edmonton Park nd the Edmonton Valley Zoo, as well as Calgary Zoo, plus several schools and other venues which are being finalised on a daily basis, including next Christmas!
The new CD will be out in the spring; this is our first for children, after three previous recordings for the general market over our career together – and don’t forget you can check under ‘Appearances’ to see where we are!
Watch this space for more news in the future!!!!

Sent in by Mary

October 2006
What’s New with Peter & Mary
Sent in by Paul

Wow! What a whirlwind summer we’ve had, with appearances from Portage to the Rockies and all points in between. We got back from our second successful California/Arizona tour in time to do a children’s performance at the Edmonton Earth Day Festival. This is the largest festival of its type in Canada, which we co-coordinated for 15 years, but passed on the torch in 2005, (although we still co-coordinated the Earth Day information tent, while selling African crafts for the projects with which we are involved in Kenya (where we toured in 2003).
Many local events to start the summer season. A repeat engagement at the Valley Zoo for Mother’s Day gave us the opportunity to present our ‘Nature Sings’ environmental show, which has been seen as far afield as Phoenix Arizona! One of our favourite places is Fort Edmonton, where we appeared for Victoria Day long weekend and several other major events through the summer, ending the season with ‘Spooktacular’at the end of this month. Regular visitors to this site may remember that in 2005 this event was shelved, owing to the fact that Brad Pitt and co. had borrowed the Fort to make'” the Assassination of Jessie James”, due out shortly.
The 25th anniversary of the Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival was a great success, and our fourth consecutive year at this prestigious event.
Fairs and Exhibitions, as always, are an integral part of our summer. This year we visited Portage La Prairie (3rd time); Melfort (who did an amazing job pulling things together with an outbreak of Anthrax in the area); Vermilion (3rd time and their 100th anniversary); and Strathmore, for the 1st time, where we made many new friends.

Once again Meggie (the dog) was an integral part of several fair parades, sitting very importantly on the floats where we performed. We have just returned from Atlantic Canada where Mary (with Peter as shotgun!) hosted a sold out bus tour through the area where we lived when first in Canada, this is the 2nd time we have taken this trip.
The Christmas season is filling up fast, with major dates already confirmed. New Year’s Eve we look forward to our return to the Muttart conservatory, where we had a great Mediaeval night last year. Then we head south for a total of 32 performances in California and Arizona, both for children and adults.
We hope that you had a great summer, and enjoyed reading our “What’s New”. Watch the Appearances section, we’d love to see you, north or south of the border!