Tickets sold out for Don Messer Tribute Jubilee

If you didn’t get tickets, you’re out of luck!
A concert featuring the last performing member of the Don Messer Jubilee has sold out.
Johnny Forrest, 73, who appeared for years on the popular CBC television country music revue, will be performing in Maxville on October 23.
The concert is a benefit for the Glengarry Pioneer Museum and will recreate some of the music that kept Canadians’ toes tapping for years. 
Don Messer’s Jubilee was first broadcast on radio in the late 1930s.
It later made the change to television in 1959 where it immediately became one of the nation’s top-rated shows.
Historian Ken Reynolds — author of the new book Sixty years in Canadian Country Music — writes that the show received thousands of fan letters every week.
Forrest is a spirited and talented Scottish-born singer and accordion player. He joined the Don Messer troupe in 1963.
The show would go on for seven more years until 1969.
Since that time, Forrest has continued to tour and play.
On October 23, he will be joined by local performers, who will sing the same classic tunes which appeared on radio and television in those golden days.
Paul Villeneuve of Alexandria who will reprise the Charlie Chamberlain songs and Amanda Hudson, now of Ottawa with roots in Glengarry County, will sing Marg Osburn’s songs.
Other local musicians include Sherrill and Rene Trottier of Dunvegan, Fred and Yvan Leroux of Apple Hill, Bert Cadieux, Alice Dubeau, and Therese Motard and Gabrielle Campbell, both of Cornwall.
The Vankleek Hill Square Dancers, accompanied by the Vankleek Hill Fiddlers, will perform two numbers in the style of the Messer Jubilee.
Forrest visited Maxville in 1966 during the Glengarry Highland Games. He told organizers of the Tribute Jubilee he has fond memories of the place.
"I'm looking forward to meeting the people of Glengarry Country after all these years. Tell them Johnny is coming home! And tell them that I can't wait to meet with Don Messer fans and those who still remember Yours Truly. And I hope they will enjoy my Scottish songs, the ones I still play today," he said.

Ken Reynolds’ book: Sixty years in Canadian Country Music is sold in the Review’s offices.