The summer was quite busy for Grateful We're Not Dead. For a band that originally expected to entertain maybe once a month, we've been running our butts off since the beginning of June but in the process have raised donations for the Alzheimer Society, Ottawa Valley Aid for Chernobyl Children, Mufindi Orphans and the Carleton Place Food Bank.
Fans waiting to meet the band.
June started with the 2010 Psychogeriatric Team Exchange Welcome Wine and Cheese Party on the 9th which was reported in the article Psycho. Grateful We're Not Dead then entertained at the 20th Anniversary Party of Elizabeth Court, a seniors' building in Carleton Place on June 13. This was followed by a birthday party at Little Rahane Farm for four individuals who had reached their mid-century mark. And we finished off the month with a performance at Lanark Lodge in Perth on June 29.
July and August fortunately weren't as hectic. Grateful We're Not Dead entertained outdoors in the bandstand at the North Gower Recreation Centre on Canada Day. The wind was so strong we had to nail up tarps around two sides of the bandstand in order to play. The electrical service to the bandstand wasn't working so we ended up running the sound system off a gas-powered generator. Other than that, the afternoon and evening went quite well. A few weeks later we donated the money from that event to Ottawa Valley Aid For Chernobyl Children.
Don and Al present OVACC with $400 donation
On July 16th we entertained at a 65th birthday party at a home outside of North Gower. This gig resulted in a significant donation to the Mufindi Orphans charity. The big event in August, of course, was the Mufindi Orphans Fund Raiser on the 14th at the home of Peter and Janet van Zyl of Manotick.
Grateful We're Not Dead
Our September 4th gig was a surprise party for Gord's 65th Birthday. We booked it on our calendar as a 50th Wedding Anniversary party. Gord and I showed up early to set up equipment and Gord even helped me hang a large "Happy Anniversary" banner. When the bride and groom showed up, Gord immediately congratulated them but by the time the first guests appeared you could tell by the look on his face that he was getting suspicious. When the next guests arrived you could see the "How in Hell do they know them?" look as it finally dawned on him that he'd been had.
Unfortunately, our annual performance at the Ariel Court End of Summer Party was rained out but the party went on in the rain without live music. On September 23rd we entertained at a 4th Ottawa Peace Festival event in the Ottawa Main Library Auditorium before and after the showing of the documentary, The Peacekeepers. We received quite a bit of nice feedback and inquiries as a result of that performance.
On October 3rd, Grateful We're Not Dead were back in the barn at Little Rahane Farm near Franktown for the 3rd Annual Cowboy Classic entertaining the cowboys and cowgirls participating in the two day Ranch Sorting competition. This resulted in another donation to the Mufindi Orphans charity.
October also saw the band getting involved in municipal politics when we were booked to entertain at an election campaign event for Carleton Place Mayoral candidate Wendy LeBlanc. We must have done something right that evening because we were then booked to play in the Carleton Place Canoe Club on October 25th for Wendy's Election Night Party. We knew there were two possible outcomes that night. If she lost we'd be home early; if she won, it would be a late night. We ended up playing four 45 minute sets. Congratulation on your win, Wendy. In between our politic-ing, we managed to perform at Lanark Lodge again on September 19.
Wendy LeBlanc with Grateful We're Not Dead
That pretty well raps up what Grateful We're Not Dead has been doing over the last five months. For November, we'll take some time to just sit back and smell the flowers as we brush up on some of the Christmas material for our December gigs.
And just in case we don't see you for awhile, have a Grateful We're Not Dead Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Don
Grateful We're Not Dead
Now I must admit, upon seeing the name Psychogeriatric Team Exchange when they contacted us last year, some weird images ran through my head: psycho = crazy, geriatric = old, team exchange = wife swappers???. Hmmm, what are we getting into here? However, it turned out that's not what it was about at all. What we encountered was a fun-loving group of people ready to party and capable of dealing with some of the more socially-significant material in the Grateful We're Not Dead repertoire such as At Least Once Every Minute, Don't Look Now Mama's Got Her Boobs Out, Show Them To Me, The Day My Wife Met My Girlfriend, Dear Penis and The Boob Song, amongst others. (With apologies to 
May I say, that Grateful We're Not Dead thoroughly enjoyed the evening. And we'd like to take a moment to thank Kim Schryburt-Brown of the Geriatric Mental Health Community Outreach Teams of Lanark, Leeds & Grenville for asking us to perform for their function and making a donation of $150 to the Alzheimer Society as compensation for the entertainment. Apparently, Kim first heard the band on CBC Radio's All In A Day while travelling between appointments. She then tracked us down on the Internet and got in touch via email.
Grateful We're Not Dead
All joking aside, this is an amazing group of people who on a daily basis provide services for adults with severe and moderate mental health concerns, including support for primary mental health problems such as depression and anxiety as well as more chronic illness such as schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness as well as dealing with senior adults experiencing dementia and other related concerns. I would like to raise our Grateful We're Not Dead hats (both cowboy and boob) in a salute to all those men and women who carry out these difficult tasks.
