http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art...rtainment/Music
On Friday evening, Richard Sessions pulled his car out of his driveway in Goshen, Ind., and started the 12-hour drive north along Interstate 75 on what has become a regular pilgrimage to Timmins, Ont.
He's not coming for the scenery and seclusion of this mining-and-forestry town. And he's definitely not tempted by the frigid fall temperatures.
What is seducing Sessions and hundreds of others to this northern community of 47,000 is Shania Twain, who grew up here and is returning on Tuesday to officially christen the $11-million Shania Twain Centre, which threw open its doors three years ago.
Along the way, Sessions, a 47-year-old father of four, is stopping to pick up two friends (a young woman in his home state and a man in Michigan) who are part of a die-hard contingent of the country-pop singer's fans coming for the weekend, and staying through until Tuesday -- what Timmins mayor Vic Power has called Shania Twain Day.
This is a repeat visit for many of Sessions's laid-back pals, who made the trek to Timmins last August to attend the second-annual fan convention, a three-day event that costs roughly $120 and includes many dinners at sports bars, a walk about town, a visit to the centre, and even a trip to Uncle Buck's Trout Farm.
On Tuesday, the Shania Twain Centre is hosting an outdoor party in its parking lot -- the gates of the complex open at 6 a.m. and organizers are expecting 5,000 people to show up -- where Twain will cut a ribbon and then do a question-and-answer session with her adoring public. Universal Music Canada and her managers are keeping security tight around their superstar, and after the party in the parking lot, are allowing roughly 200 people to mill about the centre and get an autograph from Twain.
For Sessions -- who made it to 12 concerts during Twain's Up! tour -- the 2,400-kilometre round-trip journey is worth it, as much to lay eyes on his singing idol as for the camaraderie he shares with this flock, who come to the fan convention each summer from spots as far away as England, Scotland, Finland, California and Pennsylvania.
As far as this importer of wooden products is concerned, the Shania Twain Centre (which holds her wedding dress, countless outfits, various awards, and this week will unveil a new Shania hockey jersey in white and blue) ranks right up there with other famous tourist sites he has visited, including the Great Wall of China and the Christus statue in Rio de Janeiro.
Another draw, he adds, are Canadians. "I've never met an ugly Canadian," declares the fan. "They might exist, but I've never met one. I've concluded that it probably comes from a combination of cool, crisp, clean air, crystal-clear water and generous helpings of poutine."
Initially he was fascinated by Twain's music -- and her looks -- but once he got to know her fans, his devotion became a Shania-inspired way of life. "It's just so much fun to get together with this remarkable group of people. We don't talk politics or religion. We share good meals and just enjoy the music," says Sessions, who got hooked on Twain after he heard her song Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? in the late 1990s.
To entertain the crowd prior to Twain's estimated parking-lot arrival time of 3:30 p.m., Twain Centre manager Tracy Hautanen says local talent, including the Timmins Fiddlers, will perform. Then, after the autograph signing, Twain will be whisked away to a private jet waiting on the tarmac at Timmins airport to bring her to Toronto, where she'll co-host Canada AM the next day, and then sign more autographs at HMV on Yonge Street, where her new album, Greatest Hits, will make its official debut.
Hautanen says the fan-convention attendees are a truly devoted lot. One man, a sailor from Aberdeen, Scotland, recently moved to Timmins, and, adds Hautanen, is "devastated because he's currently on a ship and gets back a week after Shania's visit."
Unfortunately, Sessions's wife can't accompany him on this trip, but she came last summer for the convention and the pair stayed at the Days Inn.
Their kids, Sessions admits, think they're kind of "funny" -- but he doesn't mind because he believes Twain is the kind of role model children should emulate.
"They know she's famous and beautiful, and that she's made millions of dollars," says Sessions, who originally hailed from San Francisco Bay and now lives in Goshen, a community just east of South Bend, home of the famed Notre Dame University. "But they also know she overcame extremely difficult events in her life, including coming from a broken home and raising her siblings" after her mother and stepfather were killed in a head-on collision. "She followed her passion for music, but made the right choices along the way," adds her loyal fan, "not for fame or recognition, but because it was the right thing to do."
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1257, old post ID:16017
haha. Thing is there will probably be more people there from out of town then from here. LOL Most of us find it bad that it took this long to happen, like she never even toured here for her last album,it's pretty bad. (not that it affects me or anything. 