Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHEENBORO March 4, 2018
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations came early to Sheenboro, when the community gathered together for not only a meal, but a full trip of Ireland and back through the Ottawa Valley on Sunday evening.
Packing three long tables at the Sheenboro Hall, Jim Beattie’s Musical Tours entertained for over two hours of music and storytelling, to the point that floorboards were trembling as some audience members stomped in time with the rhythm.
“We always had an Irish dance,” said Betty Morris, a member of St. Paul the Hermit’s parish council, which organized the show. “But because there’s a stag and doe every Saturday in March, we opted for this.”
The evening was split into two portions, with Beattie guiding his audience across the map and through authentic experiences. The first half of the evening, starting at 4 p.m., was dedicated to travelling around Ireland, while the latter was a tour through the Ottawa Valley.
“Is there anyone here from Ireland?” asked Beattie, as he kicked off his show.
The Ireland tour started off at the Dublin airport, but the group was soon whisked off through to many tourist stops and smaller towns, with many stops at pubs along the way.
While Beattie takes folks on the trip, he works his Irish folk tunes into the show every couple of stops, playing guitar and even busting out the accordion for some tunes. All the while of performing, his left heel is stomping to keep time and his right foot is pushing the slideshow forward, so that each picture matches the theme of the lyrics.
Beattie said that he dreamt up the idea for this performance a few years ago and has since poured in hundreds of hours to make them.
“Each one of these shows takes 100 hours or more [to produce],” said Beattie.
Now boasting six shows, including a tour of Scotland and more of Canada, he said the finnicky part is finding the perfect picture to accompany each lyric or line in a story. While some pictures are sourced from his own travels, others he has to search out online.
“I can spend days looking for the right picture for the scene,” continued Beattie.
The shows were split up by an Irish stew dinner, which was cooked up by members of the church. The show was put on as a fundraiser for the church and drew in around 100 people, from areas all over and beyond the Pontiac or Ottawa Valley.
“There’s quite a few people that came from a distance because they knew he was playing,” said Morris.
