Four years ago, Kris, a former resident of Hotel De Ville Street staged the 1st John the Baptist Block Party. It was a wonderfully memorable event for all present thanks to his initiative and efforts. It was a gloriously beautiful Sunny Day. The Bread Crumbs, the B Boys who danced for our entertainment and their own free pleasure then, are being paid to perform at this year’s Official CanaDa Day Celebrations. They received their reward.
In May & June, the biggest manufacturing company in the National Capital District sent me to St. Jean Sur Richelieu south of Montreal a total of 8 times on Direct Drive Courier jobs which is good work when you can get it.
Looking at my Life and the world through the Spiritual Prism of Faith in The Spirit of God, I took it as a sign it is Time for the 2nd John The Baptist Block Party.
This Time it is my pleasure to Host a Block Party for the residents of my street on the occasion of Quebec’s Fete Nationale, formerly known as Le Fete de St. Jean Bapitste, the forerunner to the new way of doing things in this world.
It may be a Divine experience for all who attend judging by the signs and anticipation expressed by those planning to attend, both residents and non-residents of the Street.
In my 69 years, I have lived on many Streets – from Montreal to Halifax, Moncton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Nanaimo on the Island, to Whitehorse in the Yukon, Pheonix, Arizona and Venice Beach, California. I feel more at home here than on any street before. I have found my Personal Pavilion of Peace on Hotel De Ville Street having come full circle.
The statistics of this Blog tell me as of this changing moment over 40,000 people from 159 Countries have read 1 article or more. Wherever you are in this world, if you have any friends in the Ottawa area with a talent who would be willing to get on stage and contribute an International Flavor to what appears to be shaping up to be the realization of the Spirit beyond the Letter, please send them this link and invite them to participate.
Our own resident DJ JC Boom and friend at one of his Professional gigs
The BBQ part of the Party for the residents and friends of Hotel De Ville St. was supposed to start at 4pm. That was delayed until 6 pm, when the rain lightened up somewhat and the protection for the expensive equipment was in place.
This is a small clip from my cell phone of the beginning of the party as a light rain fell. The Spirit only got better for those present. Just the fact 60 people showed up and braved the elements raining on an outdoor party is Testament to the Spirit that brought us together. A sudden, heavy downpour at 10:30 pm brought everything to a necessary and immediate stop just as the Break Dancers were about to perform.
In the words of John The Baptist, “I indeed baptize you with water………………..” Matthew 3
It should be a fun night! Party-on Ray!
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Great Time!
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Thanks to you and the 2 other Disc Jockeys you brought along to make the party a happening in the rain.
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Dear Friends & Neighbours of Hotel De Ville Street and all who were present at the Celebration of Life Sunday.
Thanks to you and your Faith in coming, the promise of The Invitation was realized despite the uncooperative weather. Thanks go out to residents Shaun a.k.a. JC Boom, Nick, Luke, Luc, Rod, JP, Marie, Laura and Jennifer, each contributing their own time, talents & energies and Good Will into making the party a success even in the rain.
Former resident Barry lived up to being Chef Master serving such fine hamburgers & hot dogs with the dressings he brought with him.
Special mention must be given to Dan, without whom the show would not have gone on. It seemed miraculous to me, when the event was just about to be cancelled because of the rain, as if Heaven sent, he arrived with two tents big enough to shelter the Disc Jockey’s valuable equipment and those present.
My special thanks and appreciation go out to Max and Caro who put their heart and soul into making it happen. As the owners of Lambda Point Sound & Lighting, in addition to the heavy pressures of staging the biggest Official celebration in the area in Alymer, they came through for us with flying colours!
Human nature being what it is, the inclement weather discouraged many of the entertainers and spectators from showing up. It was amazing to me when Rudy, the 1st performer showed up. At 79, he still has a good, strong voice and his Caribbean/Calypso beat was a great addition to the mix. After his set, I was happy to see him movin & grooving to the young people’s beat. All generations were represented. The Rappers, Aron The Alien and Kirby Klan had good words to say for those who had the ears to hear.
An Honourable mention must be given to ‘The Dream Team’ the B Boy Dance Company who showed up to bring the Party to it’s climax. Unfortunately the cardboard covered stage was water logged and useless for them. They were ready, willing and just about to perform right on the Street when the sudden heavy downpour of rain required an immediate shutdown of everything to save all the electrical equipment. Maybe next year?
While everyone who was there has their own individual perceptions, impressions and memories seeing things I didn’t notice, I am so pleased the Spirit in all those Present lived up to letter of The Invitation. A Spirit of Peace & Joy and Unity in Community prevailed with the rain.
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What a great way to celebrate St. Jean Baptiste!
It was a great deal of fun being there and getting a chance to party with everyone from the hood.
It was extra special being able to help Ray mold and shape this event and help with setting it all up.
I had alot of fun dancing to Rudy’s songs, boppin’ to the DJ’s, cooking up dogs and burgers.
I only wish I had been able to do my Dance Competition Routine, I had my speedo all ready, I was ready to dance to LMFAO’s ‘Sexy and I know it’, drop trou on the stage and do the wiggle to steal first place . . . perhaps the rain interruption was a blessing of another kind.
Here’s a preview of what we all missed . . .
Thank you Ray for having me as part of the Party.
Luc (Sr.)
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Luc, your comment is much appreciated. As I mingled among those present, the sight of you wearing your hoodie far extended over your face almost like a Monk, moving and grooving to the music in the rain, is indelibly marked in my memory. There is a brief glimpse of that image in the video as you were walking toward the BBQ.
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I want to thank everyone who came out and to all the organizers. I had a BLAST! Such a fun time! The energy from everyone was amazing despite the fact that there was a bit of showers! If anybody has been looking into getting in contact with me, you can hit me up on twitter @aronthealien, on facebook http://www.facebook.com/lukeshapiroswag (personal account)/ http://www.facebook.com/aronthealienmusic (fanpage). Once again, I want to thank everyone who was there. I felt the love in the atmosphere!!!
One love y’all!!
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Aron, thank you so much for showing up to entertain those present. In my view, with your Professional performance you had much to do with raising the energy level for the event when you jumped off the stage and started Singing in the Rain. You and most of those who braved the elements are probably too young to remember this Gene Kelly classic from so long ago when Life and living in this world was so much simpler.
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I had a great time celebrating St. Jean Day with everyone on Hotel De Ville! It felt like a whole community coming together to all celebrate the Quebec holiday.
There was a wide variety of attendants ranging from the old gentlemen running the party to hooligans just having some classic games of beer pong. There were great dancers jamming to the DJ’s while they dropped their beat. Also there were other great performances that interacted well with the crowd.
If I would have walked by this party on any other street in Hull I would have hopefully jumped in and enjoyed the great night.
Thank you to everyone who made this night such a memorable St.Jean Day!
Can’t forget the damn weather !! 😦
NEXT YEAR RAY DAY 2013
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Luke, thank you for taking on the task of lining up the entertainment for The Party. As we anticipated the Day, I’m sure all of us were hoping for Sunny Blue Sky and Fair Weather.
Leading me to believe you were lining up a Mariachi Band and Belly Dancers, I could hardly wait to see the Day.
God only knows if they would have shown up with Sunny weather, but I feel the rain made The Party what it was intended to be – the exclusive, special event it turned out to be only for those Present as The Invitation said it would be in the Spirit of the Letter.
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Sunday, July 8
By Time & Chance Today I met the Band who said they will be part of the Entertainment at our next Hotel De Ville Block Party. They were on their way to Bluesfest having played there earlier this week and parked in front of my door. They were good enough to give me their new CD ‘the Strain – hushhush.’ I like it a lot. You can visit their You Tube page for tracks and video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheStrainCanada
Having spoken with 79 year old Rudy & Aron the Alien since the Party, they both said they enjoyed the Time so much they would like to do it again next year.
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Had a nice evening at the St-Jean party. Cooking burgers for everyone was a blast.
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And the burgs were so great tasting, done to perfection. It was good to see you both return to the hood.
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In the Spirit of St. John The Baptist it was. Until this day I can’t assemble the right words to stage a mental picture to what this day was. With a few choice words comes a visual from the video ‘Ray Day’ above. “Bringing it back to Woodstock eh, Brother? Bring it back to Woodstock!”
Cheers!
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I had a fun time at the party! There was amazing food and people. All the performers were absolutely fabulous from the DJ to the dancers to the old man, everything was great! This is really a party I will never forget. Thank you so much Ray and everybody for organizing this event!
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It was a great pleasure for me to celebrate the St. John Baptist Day with my neighbours of Hotel De Ville Street. Despite the capricious weather of that evening, the good music and the talented artists invited brought joy and happiness to all of us. I was especially touched by some melodies including African roots of songs by the older of the invited artists.
It was really my first St John Baptist Day in Québec and I felt so happy to spend it that way. Naturally for years and years, I’ll still remember my St. John Baptist Day in Québec. I give a wonderful thanks to Joseph Ray who gave me that opportunity!!
May the next year be more wonderful!!!!!!!!
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