It was a full house Thursday night at the Army, Navy and Air Force Club on Gordon Street where local musicians and their fans gathered to raise money for a family of Syrian refugees resettling in Guelph.
Event organizers Brad Woods and Jeff Bersche from the Great Wooden Trio joined friends and fellow musicians, Timothy & Philip, Blue Tape and Ambre McLean to re-imagine the music of Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel.
“All they had to say was 'Peter Gabriel' and I was in,” said Guelph singer songwriter Ambre McLean. “I am a big fan of the Great Wooden Trio and I would do anything they ask.”
McLean performed several songs including Paul Simon’s Mother and Child Reunion that she dedicated to her four-year-old son.
“I tour a lot and it seems like we are always reuniting,” said McLean.
Proceeds from the show will go toward efforts to reunite the extended members of a Syrian family recently resettled in Guelph.
“We are helping a family of four – a mom, a dad and two young boys that just started kindergarten here in Guelph,” said Elizabeth Sinclair from the Guelph Refugee Sponsorship Group. “They are from Homs, Syria and have been living in Lebanon for the last few years as refugees. They arrived in Guelph on New Year’s Eve.”
The group partnered with the Mennonite Central Committee to bring the family here and are now working with Guelph businessman Jim Estill and the Muslim Society of Guelph to sponsor seven more members of the family that represent three generations and range in age from a five-month-old to grandparents.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Sinclair said. “Of the hundreds of interactions I’ve had with people in the community only two were negative. People have dropped bags of clothes on my doorstep. There have been job offers and people volunteering to babysit or anything else the family might need.”
The original fundraising goal was $30,000 but they have collected more than $50,000 which has allowed them to expand their efforts toward a “named sponsorship” and try to bring the rest of the family here.
The fundraising show was the fourth in a series of tribute shows at the ANAF Club and the first of 2016.
“A friend of ours was involved with this group helping Syrian refugees so we decided to donate the proceeds from this show to them,” said Woods.
Other members of the Great Wooden Trio include Brad’s older brother and percussionist Art Woods and guitarist singer Kevin Morse.
“We are a four man trio,” said Woods. “We perform at pubs and festivals. We do mostly original material but these shows are good excuse to do some covers.”
Opening the show was Timothy and Philip featuring Guelph musicians and record producers Tim Alberts and Phil Cottrell.
Also performing were Blue Tape featuring Matt Cooper, Kerry Mullen and Mark Stutman owner of Folkway Music in Waterloo.
