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Roof raised for greenhouse Fundraiser to fix leaky building deemed a success
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 20, 2013
INUVIK
It was time to hit the roof for the Inuvik Community Greenhouse June 14.
Sue Passmore of The Good Lovelies trio performed at the Raise the Roof fundraiser for the Inuvik Community Greenhouse June 14. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The popular community facility, faced with a leaky roof five years beyond its expected life capacity, presented an evening with comedian Shawn Majumder and the country-folk group The Good Lovelies Friday at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.
Spokesperson Jordan Lenz called the evening a total success.
"The town was really gracious to donate the entertainment tonight," he said. "It really helped us to raise some money."
Majumder, who headlined the show, caught the audience's attention with a hyperactive and off-colour routine that regularly left the audience in paroxysms of laughter. He's a veteran of the Inuvik entertainment scene, having appeared at the Inuvik Petroleum Show in previous years.
He's made some friends in his past visits, notably former mayor Denny Rodgers, councillor Vince Sharpe and current Mayor Floyd Roland. They were regular targets of the comedian's well-aimed barbs.
The Lovelies are comprised of Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore. They've been performing together since 2006 and moved to a full-time performance schedule in 2008.
They were all solo artists until they met at a Christmas concert in the Toronto area, where they hail from. They decided to remain together afterwards.
Their album The Good Lovelies won the Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year in 2010.
It was their first visit to Inuvik, and Passmore and Ough said they were totally impressed by what they saw, particularly their first brush with the midnight sun.
"This is crazy," Ough said. "And we've felt so welcomed here, it's been great."
Both the band and Majumder had performed earlier in the week at the petroleum show and had the chance to spend a couple of days touring the town.
Ough and Passmore said they hoped the band could return for another visit next winter, just to see the contrast in seasons. They were intrigued at the idea of possibly performing at the Sunrise Festival in January.
The greenhouse needs to raise more than $50,000 for its repairs, according to Lenz.
"We ordered the raw materials for the new roof and the bill came to just over $50,000," he said. "We're looking at shipping it now from Pennsylvania and negotiating with local businesses to lower the cost of the freight.
"Some of them are 50-foot panels, so we need a truck at least that big to bring them up," he said. "So the logistics of it have been just a bit of a trick, but things are going well."
The plan is to begin construction work in the fall, Lenz said, beginning with the commercial greenhouse upstairs in the building.
Final numbers on the amount of money raised during the fundraiser were unavailable by press time. However, close to $10,000 has been raised to repair the roof, he said.
"It's in need of replacement in a hurry," he said of the deteriorating roof. "It's about five years past its recommended life. So what's happening now is that we're now getting as good a quality light as the material starts to age. It's starting to lose its transparency.
"It's getting more and more damage in winter, and we're getting more and more holes as it gets past its prime," Lenz added.
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