Thank you for joining me for Episode 22 of Now & Then!

We start this episode with me continuing my journey through the archives of the theatre, and finding out how people advocated for a hall that would honour our future town of Lindsay. I also talk about the history of Oktoberfest, the famous beer festival and traveling carnival, especially its significance in Kitchener, plus a little song celebrating the event. 

We also hear from my granddaughter McKenna, who’s going to be in the Wizard of Oz production at the Flato Academy Theatre next month as a munchkin. It is her first ever play and I can tell she’s got the talent for it already.

My special guests this month, are Len & Steve Green! Len is now 97 years old, and when he was younger, he worked as a set designer, set painter, and set builder for the theatre in the 1970s. His son Steve was the head honcho at the Durham Cafe! Remember that place? We hear stories of what the theatre was like back then, and we reminisce about some of our mutual friends!

Finally, Ian McKechnie and I learn about how the Academy Theatre was so popular and so respected, people used to say things like, “Oh, Lindsay! Where the big theatre is!”

0:00 How The Theatre Opened

3:45 Oktoberfest in Kitchener

5:10 Oktoberfest Song I Sang

7:20 Update on The Wizard of Oz with McKenna

11:16 Interview with Steve & Len Green

21:22 Ian McKechnie & the Recent International Plowing Match