MINDEMOYA—This Friday night, Islanders are in for a treat as two of Manitoulin Island’s most well-known musicians, Hardy Peltier and Doug Hore, are inducted into the Manitoulin Music Wall of Fame as part of the Central Manitoulin Lions Club Homecoming Weekend celebrations.
“Both of them have been on the music scene for many, many years,” said Glen McDougall, a known country music man himself and curator of the Manitoulin Music Wall of Fame, which is located at 100.7 FM The Island in Little Current. “Hardy, since the early 1960s, and Doug even longer.”
Mr. McDougall noted that Mr. Hore has been a member of the Gore Bay Orchestra, later the Manitoulin Swing Band, and is a founding member of Highway 540 with Bob Eadie, has played with the Night Hawks of Little Current and, most recently, Down Yonder, which will be providing backup on Friday evening for both country gentlemen.
“Hardy always did his own thing,” Mr. McDougall said of the Wikwemikong lone wolf, noting that he played with the late Ron Wakegijig and even had the opportunity to open for Don Messer in 1967 in Little Current, in honour of the Canadian Centennial. Mr. Peltier can even boast radio play in Illinois and Michigan.
“It’s about time we were able to honour them,” Mr. McDougall said. “They’ve both been honoured in Sault Ste. Marie at the Great Northern Opry and Hall of Fame, but not by Island folks. We should have done this a long time ago, we just did it in reverse,” he laughed.
Past inductees have included Jackie Genereux, Cecil and Ilene (Ma and Pa) Lloyd, Bob Eadie, Harvey Sheppard, Dwight McGauley, Ronnie Gilchrist, the Gore Bay Orchestra and Bill Omnet.
Mr. McDougall noted that Mr. Hore is unique in that he has been through all of the eras, from swing to rock to country.
“He’s taught me a thing or two,” he chuckled. “And I have a lot of fun ribbing him.”
“And Hardy and I have become very good friends through the years through our music,” he added.
“When I approached these guys about the Wall of Fame, they both responded the same way: ‘why me?’ They’re very humble.”
The festivities get underway at the J.H. Burt Memorial Arena in Mindemoya at 7:30 am and run until midnight. Both Mr Hore and Mr. Peltier will be there to do what they do best: make music. The cost of admission is only $12. Be sure to take in this event to see two of Manitoulin’s country music legends get the honour they deserve.
