Jillian Dickens
Northern News Services

Pond Inlet (Sep 19/05) - A group Pond Inlet youth are working their way to musical stardom thanks to some hard work and generosity.

The students involved in the Nasivvik Music Club were baffled when their math teacher and club organizer Julie Lohnes told them that there was something waiting for them among the many crates on the sealift that arrived in Pond Inlet, Aug. 31.

Manasie Akpaleeapik usually only plays guitar and bass, but with such a variety of instruments now at his fingertips, the 17-year-old from Pond Inlet says he will broaden his scope. - photo courtesy of Julie Lohnes

Among those crates were a bunch of instruments, including a drum kit, bass and amp, keyboard, banjo, trumpet, autoharp, six guitars, two accordions, harmonicas, percussion instruments, ukuleles and more.

"It was pretty awesome," said Manasie Akpaleeapik, a 17-year-old guitar and bass player.

"I feel really lucky. I know I will go to the music club more often now that there are so many different kinds of instruments to play."

The club's 12 kids can thank Lohnes, her mother Carmen, two Nova Scotia businesses and the Toonoonik Sahoonik Co-op for the gift.

Before then, the ratio of students to instruments was completely unbalanced. The instruments on hand consisted of three guitars, a bass and two Inuit drums.

A Nasivvik high school-wide survey conducted in 2004 by Lohnes showed 50 per cent of students wanted to learn to play an instrument (or two).

The problem was that there weren't very many instruments to speak of, let alone play.

That didn't stop her. She established the Nasivvik Music Club shortly after the survey. Sure enough, a dozen music buffs showed up to learn how to play like the pros.

But with the lack of instruments, it meant at all times some students were on the sidelines, waiting for a chance to pluck a few strings or pound on drums.

"We managed to scrounge three guitars, but had 10 kids who wanted to play," said Lohnes.

Not satisfied

While the kids were happy with the arrangement, Lohnes wasn't satisfied and wanted to offer even more to the rock stars to be.

She told her mom of her woes, not expecting more than an "I know it's hard dear."

She got much more. Lohnes's mother Carmen just happens to be the president of the Riverport Area Community Choir in Nova Scotia, which happens to be a generous lot with many instruments to spare.

"I thought, well, there's got to be something we can do," said Carmen from her Riverport home.

After making an announcement of the Pond Inlet situation to the choir, a flood of used instruments, cash and support reached Carmen.

The choir also put on a benefit concert for the cause and raised more money to buy instruments.

Instrument influx

Now, with a heap of musical tools collected in her basement, the next challenge for Carmen was transporting them from Riverport to Montreal to Pond Inlet.

That's when Burgess Moving and Transfer from Dartmouth, N.S., stepped up to the plate, offering to transport the five crates (crafted by Carmen's husband Kevin Lohnes) of instruments to Montreal where the sealift was.

Then the Toonoonik Sahoonik Co-op sealed the deal by paying for the shipping from Montreal to the community.