The historic Astor Theatre in Liverpool will undergo a multi-year facelift. (Rick Conrad / File photo)

The building that houses the Astor Theatre in Liverpool will get more than $1 million in upgrades this year, as part of a two-year, $3-million plan to modernize the historic building.

The Region of Queens owns the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre and leases it to the Astor Theatre Society.

Municipal councillors recently approved spending $1,050,000 this year and another $2,079,000 next year to install modern heating and cooling systems, air conditioning and long-delayed accessibility improvements.

Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, says he’s excited and grateful that the work is going ahead.

“All of these improvements are needed to update a 125-year-old building to today’s standards. … Most people don’t realize how busy we are and how much it’s needed to have a common point for people to get together and enjoy entertainment, but also learn and experience various crafts and meetings and that sort of thing. The vibe is very positive.

“We’re very, very pleased with the direction that we’re going in. We think that the next two years are going to be very positive for the Astor Theatre and a lot of the improvements that have been long overdue are going to take place.”

The Astor is limited in what it can offer in the warmer summer months, because the facility has only ceiling fans for cooling and air circulation in the theatre.

The region hired DSRA Architecture to detail what the building needs to improve operations and meet modern building codes. 

The region plans to upgrade the facility’s electrical supply and install a modern HVAC system, including heat pumps, that will allow the theatre to maintain comfortable temperatures year-round.

It also plans to install a platform lift so that people with mobility issues can access the second floor.

The washrooms will also be upgraded to comply with provincial requirements for accessibility and universality.

A new fire escape will be installed from the second-floor balcony, which will allow for wheelchair-accessible seating upstairs.

And the backstage area will be expanded by 765 square feet to allow more room for storage, a workshop and dressing rooms.

The architects also said the building’s insulation needs to be upgraded for better energy efficiency and to protect the wood structure from humidity. So far, that has not been included in the planned work.

Goulden says that the upgrades will allow the Astor to offer more to its patrons at any time of year. 

“We can’t do reliable programming in the summertime because of the lack of air conditioning, the lack of proper ventilation in the theatre. So it will give us at least another two months of programming that we can do in the summertime.”

He said the theatre is also shopping for a new movie projector to enhance its film offerings.

“Movies are going to be a big part of our growth. We will probably be the best movie experience on the South Shore.”

Councillors unanimously approved the work.

“I just have to say that I’m excited to see actually a plan for the updates at the Astor,” District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said. “It’s been a long time coming. 
So I’m very grateful for it.”

Mayor Scott Christian said the Astor board will continue to look for grants and other funding to try to offset some of the cost for municipal taxpayers.

Representatives from the municipality and the Astor plan to meet early next week to discuss the upgrades.

“I’m really quite excited about the future,” Goulden said. “A lot of good things happening at the Astor.”

Here’s a breakdown of the work planned at the Astor:

Year 1 (2026/27 fiscal year):

• $245,000 – second floor platform lift (six months to install)
• $175,000 – emergency egress from balcony (three months to install)
• $210,000 – electrical upgrades (six months to complete)
• $420,000 – Phase 1 heating and cooling upgrades (six months)

Year 2 upgrades – 2027/28 fiscal year ($2,079,000):

• $1.4 million – backstage addition
• $315,000 – Phase 2 heating and cooling upgrades
• $168,000 – second floor washroom accessibility upgrades
• $196,000 – main floor washroom accessibility upgrades

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Velta Vikmanis is the new executive director of Liverpool’s Astor Theatre. (Rick Conrad)

Liverpool’s Astor Theatre has a new executive director.

Velta Vikmanis took over the job on Oct. 1, part of a new management team at the historic theatre.

“As a practising artist myself, I know the significance and the importance of the Astor,” she said in an interview Thursday.

“It carries a tremendous history in the community. 
And having had a show here myself, and then having the pleasure of stepping onto the board earlier this year, it just seemed like my skill sets from health-care administration and operations experience really lends itself to what the Astor needs in this moment. And so I was happy to step up and just say, ‘Yeah, I’m willing to give it a go.’”

Lori Smyth, who had been the Astor’s box office manager, will take on a new role as theatre manager.

Joe Lyndon will look after the theatre’s technical needs, including light and sound for shows.

Vikmanis moved to Liverpool with her husband in 2021 and has been actively involved in the community since. She is a volunteer and former board member at QCCR, and a volunteer at Queens Manor. Before she took the job as the Astor’s executive director, she was a member of the Astor Theatre Society board.

She also had an exhibition of her work at the theatre in May 2024.

“Right now, we have a great synergy between the board and the staff here at the Astor, and we’re really hoping to capitalize on that momentum as we move forward, so that we can just continue building and moving the Astor forward into the next decades.”

Katy Hopkins had been the theatre’s manager of operations for many years until she resigned in September.

In a news release announcing Vikmanis’s appointment, chairman Eric Goulden thanked Hopkins for her “dedication and support for the Astor”.

“My first main priority,” Vikmanis says, “is to continue with all of the variety of programming that Katie Hopkins, the previous general manager, had put into place and making sure that all of those artists are honoured, their contracts are honoured and that patrons can continue to come into the theatre uninterrupted.”

Vikmanis said she wants to continue the entertainment mix that the Astor has been offering, from popular tribute band shows to movies to live theatre. And she wants to continue to welcome community groups to use the Astor space, and expand on some of the things happening there now.

She said she wants to explore showing a livestream on the theatre’s big screen of some performances from New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

And she’d like to give new artists more opportunities to exhibit at the Astor.

“I really do feel like I have put my best foot forward in the community. Ever since I arrived here, I’m really committed to being a resource and a support within our community. 
So the relationships that I’ve already established throughout the community, I hope will help and support all that’s going on within the theatre and just further enhance that momentum that we seem to have going right now.”

Goulden also announced on the news release that Easton Goodwin, who has appeared in various Astor productions, has been hired as a theatre staff member.

The Astor is close to launching its new website. And it’s been working with the Region of Queens, which owns the building, to improve the building’s accessibility.

In April, the theatre secured a five-year, $500,000 funding commitment from the J&W Murphy Foundation to help beef up its programs and promotion.

CURRENT ASTOR THEATRE SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Eric Goulden, Chair
• Lynn Cochrane, Vice-Chair
• Loris Azzano, Treasurer
• Star Donovan, Director
• Patricia Simms, Director
• Dan Williams, Director

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Annette Burke is the director of Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak, debuting at the Astor Theatre in November. (Rick Conrad)

Some new and familiar faces will be back on the Astor Theatre stage in November when the Winds of Change Dramatic Society presents Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak.

Rehearsals began earlier this month in Liverpool with the five-member cast. 

Annette Burke is directing, her first time guiding actors since the 2021 comedy Tom, Dick and Harry.

“I enjoy directing, and I do enjoy working with a small cast because it makes it easier to schedule things,” Burke told QCCR in an interview.

“It’s been a treat to work with this crew. I think we’ve put together a really solid team with lots of experience. … We’ve got some very creative and artistic people involved.”

The two-act farce from Canadian playwright Norm Foster centres around what happens when a woman with a colourful past steps off the bus and into smalltown life.

“I don’t want to give too much away but … it takes place in a small community where everybody knows everybody’s business or they think they do, and Sadie arrives, she gets off the bus just by chance, walks into the cafe and things get very interesting very quickly,” Burke says.

“It’s very funny and there’s a lot of humour that comes from just different innuendos and things like that so I think the audience is really going to enjoy it.”

Ashley-Rose Goodwin stars as Sadie Flynn, with Cynthia Walker as Rachel Blessington and Nicole Whynot as Bev Dupuis. Al Steele as Tom Shaw and Joseph Lyndon as Orson Hubble round out the cast. At least 14 other volunteers make up the show’s crew.

It will be a return to acting for Goodwin, who was last seen on the Astor stage in 2013’s Les Miserables. She has founded her own popular Mersey Rose Theatre Company in Liverpool, directing and producing youth in their own productions. She also directed the 2024 musical Follies at the Astor.

“I’m so excited that she agreed to audition,” Burke says. “I think she’s very much enjoying the experience. Sometimes when we don’t do something we love for a long time we forget how much we love it. And she’s very talented. … It’s been fun and I think I can speak for her and say that she’s been enjoying it a great deal.”

Burke says rehearsals of up to 14 hours a week at South Queens Middle School are going well, with the cast almost off-book through Act 1. 

“I think one of the biggest challenges with a show like this is the dialogue. There is a lot of dislogue and a lot of the exchanges are short and quick, so that to me is the challenge to make sure things are being said properly, important things aren’t being left out. The chemistry with the five of them is really great, so it makes it easier.”

She says it helps that all five actors have stage experience.

“Some people are just natural performers. I know the five of them have spent quite a bit of time over the summer delving into who their characters are. It’s been very exciting to see these characters develop and we’re not even halfway there.”

Burke is also president of Winds of Change. She says the community theatre troupe was looking for a show to get them back in front of an audience. And this one, with this cast and crew, seemed like a good fit.

“The support for Winds of Change for over 50 years has been incredible in this community. I can guarantee our Winds of Change fans that they will not be disappointed in this show and the people that get involved, it’s just all volunteer time. They’re showing up, everybody’s contributing, everybody’s pitching in, so this is what community theatre is meant to be. ”

Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak runs at the Astor Theatre Nov. 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the Astor box office or through Ticketpro.

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Nicole Whynot, Cynthia Walker, Ashley-Rose Goodwin, Al Steele and Joseph Lyndon star in Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak at the Astor Theatre in November. (Winds of Change Dramatic Society)

CAST OF SADIE FLYNN COMES TO BIG OAK
Ashley-Rose Goodwin – Sadie Flynn
Al Steele – Tom Shaw
Joseph Lyndon – Orson Hubble
Cynthia Walker – Rachel Blessington
Nicole Whynot – Bev Dupuis

CREW
Director – Annette Burke
Assistant director – Jackie Leonard
Producer – Sue Beaumont-Rudderham
Costumes – Crystal Doggett and Kylie Doggett
Set design – Craig Doggett and Alex Doggett
Stage managing/props – Sheree Chandler, Jane Mullen, Sue Higgins and Jane Stevenson
Lighting/sound – Kevin Colwell
Posters/graphic design – Greg Tutty
Cast photography – Brenda Deveau
Videography – Dan Williams

Steph Peaks is hosting a drag show at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Chase Hudson)

Liverpool’s Astor Theatre has welcomed a wide array of performers to its stage over its 120-year history, from Rita MacNeil to the Royal Shakespeare Company to Mr. Dressup.

But this coming Saturday, a different kind of artist will sashay onto the Astor stage.

The Steph Peaks and Friends Drag Show will feature eight drag performers, some kings, some queens.

Out of drag, Steph Peaks is Chase Hudson, a 27-year-old pastry chef in Halifax. Hudson says they plan to deliver a show like no other. 

“I like to say expect the unexpected,” he said in a recent interview.

“We have 22 performances in the entire show. We have solos, we have duets, we have high-energy dance numbers, we have a couple of emotional slower ballads. We have a couple of live singers coming to the show.

“(A 19+ show) and a drag queen with a microphone? It can only go one way. I think going in with no expectations is probably the safest bet, but be prepared to leave wanting so much more.”

Hudson got his start in drag on Halloween four years ago. Living in his hometown of Annapolis Royal, he says doing drag was his way of coming out to friends and family.

“Instead of saying that I personally was gay, I decided drag was an easier pipeline to trickle that in. And then after that, I started doing solo shows in Annapolis,” he says. “I like to think that this was a shock to everybody around me. I’ve been told that not a single person has been surprised. … My mom wasn’t surprised, my grandparents weren’t surprised. I just sort of said, ‘OK, I’m gonna do a show.’

“My daycare teacher, she came to my first show, and she still says to this day that it makes the most sense to her because I would boss everybody around at daycare in the dressup closet and get everybody dressed up and choreograph numbers. Apparently, it’s been a long time coming.”

Hudson says he knows how lucky he is.

“Not everybody has their Mom coming to shows with shirts that say Mama Peaks on it. Doing this and having the reaction from family and friends and people I grew up with with open arms, it’s made it a lot more special than I ever thought it could have been.”

Those first shows to about a dozen people in his hometown quickly gained a larger following. And soon, Hudson as Steph Peaks was touring to Toronto, Ottawa, New Brunswick and P.E.I. Peaks has also played to thousands at Halifax Pride.

“Drag has gotten me out of my shell so much,” he says. “Chase isn’t the most confident person. And I know it sounds crazy because you think you put on a lot of makeup and a wig. Chase is still there, but there’s something about it for me that lets me escape the day-to-day stresses. It’s such an escape from being me that it makes me feel so me.”

Hudson says watching Drag Race, getting ideas online and “a lot of trial and error” helped him develop his character and her name, a play on what he does as a pastry chef, whipping cream to stiff peaks. He asked a friend in Calgary to help him with the name. They sent him six to eight bakery-themed options.

“When I was coming up with my character, I always said I didn’t want to be a carbon copy of somebody or something else.”

Steph Peaks will be hosting the show in Liverpool and performing, with seven other artists — Randi E. Rogenous, Brooke Rivers, Mike Hunt, Katanna Skin, Andrew Guinness, X and Halifax drag icon Elle Noir.

“Listen, listen, when you get a good show, you have to bring the top-tier performers down.”

While drag has become more mainstream in the past few years, it’s also come with some considerable backlash. When the Astor announced the show on Facebook, some comments were so bad that the theatre had to issue a statement confirming their support for the LGBTQ+ community, performers and audience.

“It’s scary because at the end of the day, the eight of us who are coming to do the show, we’re coming to do one thing only and that is to entertain and get a little attention for ourselves. And if that is threatening or makes some people uncomfortable, … the best thing I can say is if you don’t want to go, don’t buy a ticket.

“That night, there are going to be so many people in that theatre that are there to have fun and are there to show love, and support the queer community and support drag as an art form.”

And Hudson says there will be lots to love on the Astor stage on Saturday night, with lip-syncing and live-singing divas, and some real show stoppers. He’s had a preview of what awaits the audience, and he says he’s “gotten goosebumps, I have cried.

“There are some seriously emotional numbers that these people have dedicated to some important people in their lives. And then we have Mike, who is top-tier vocals – they could be on that stage the entire 22 performances and I would still enjoy the entire show. And then we have the chaos of Randi, chaos embodied in human form, and everybody else is bringing such different drag that I think no matter who’s on that stage, (the audience’s) eyes will be glued.

“I think people should look forward to a show that Liverpool has never seen yet. There are so many things cooking behind the scenes for this show that I think if you don’t come to the show, you’ll hear from a friend that it was otherworldly. There’s something about a drag show in a theatre setting where these artists can truly do whatever they want because they’re not limited to the venue size that make this show next level.”

The Steph Peaks and Friends Drag Show is at 7:30 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 27 at the Astor Theatre. Tickets are available through Ticketpro or at the Astor box office at 902-354-5250.

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Architects will spend the next six weeks assessing what kinds of upgrades are needed at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor Theatre. File photo by Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens has hired architects to come up with a plan to modernize the historic Astor Theatre in downtown Liverpool.

DSRA Architecture of Halifax has experience working on heritage buildings such as the Lunenburg Academy, Province House in Halifax and Halifax City Hall. Councillors approved spending $17,500 from the accumulated budget surplus.

The region owns the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor. The Astor Theatre Society leases it from the region.

The Astor is limited in what kinds of events it can hold, especially in summer and fall, because it does not have a modern climate control system.

It relies on an oil-fired hot water furnace for heat and windows for ventilation.

The building also needs many upgrades to meet provincial accessibility requirements.

Elise Johnston, who is the region’s former accessibility coordinator and now its manager of capital projects, says hiring the architects will kickstart the process to assess the building’s needs. 

“As we know it can be quite stifling hot, especially in the summer,” she told councillors at a recent meeting.

“It’s very uncomfortable. So it affects their operations. It’s a big project. 
We have looked at a few independent reviews and designs, but then that didn’t take into consideration the accessibility (concerns). So if we’re going to do this, we need to do it in a holistic way.”

Johnston told councillors that the region and the Astor have discussed installing a modern HVAC system before, as well as an accessible lift to get to the second floor and a universal washroom. But those projects were discussed in isolation and not part of one overall plan.

She said hiring the architects will help get the necessary work started, “which would be to look at all the applicable codes, all the top priority needs, get some community engagement, and plan the steps forward. The main question is, what is priority, what can come first? 
How do we phase this over a period of time?”

Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that the much-needed upgrades could potentially be a multimillion-dollar project.

“All in all, they’re going about it in the right way,” he said.

“It needs an architect. It’s an old building. It requires a significant amount of work to protect its heritage. All good, all very, very good. And great support from the council.”

District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins asked whether the region gets any revenue from ticket sales at the Astor. 

Joanne Veinotte, the region’s director of finance, said a portion of each ticket sold goes into a special capital projects fund for the building.

Jenkins said that because the Astor is such a big part of downtown Liverpool, he’d like the region to develop a five-year plan.

“I think we need to do more to preserve this building and make it a viable building moving forward.”

Johnston said this project is meant to do that and to make it “a more revenue-generating building”.

She told councillors the architects plan to begin work immediately with a report back to council in about six weeks.

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Jean Robinson has been chosen as Queens County’s volunteer of the year for 2025. (Rick Conrad)

Part of Jean Robinson’s job more than 30 years ago was to choose Queens County’s volunteer of the year.

Now, the Brooklyn resident and consultant has received the award herself.

“I was really surprised and honoured to be selected and I’ve been thinking it’s kind of funny because I came here in the late ’80s as the recreation director for the county and part of my job was helping select the representative volunteers, so it’s a bit of full circle.”

The Region of Queens Municipality announced earlier this summer that it had chosen Robinson as its volunteer of the year for her “remarkable and diverse volunteer resume”.

She has a full-time job as president of Horizons Community Development Associates, Inc., but that hasn’t stopped her from giving much of her free time to non-profits and other groups in the community.

Originally from Beersville, N.B., near Moncton, Robinson moved to the area in 1988 and has made her mark with many organizations, whether that’s volunteering at her kids’ schools when they were younger to the Queens County Girls Choir and Queens County Seafest to her current volunteer gig as chair of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival.

She’s also helped shepherd local community theatre productions at the Astor Theatre and with the Winds of Change Dramatic Society as a producer.

She credits her parents with teaching her the importance of volunteering at a young age.

“I just think that arts and culture have a really important foundational role in community and in a healthy community, so this is my way of being part of that and it ties to my bigger value that volunteering is foundational to communities, to community development and having a healthy place to live, work and play.”

She’s been involved with the theatre festival since 2011 and it was that connection that also garnered her the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal in January for services to the arts.

Former Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc and his wife Patsy are big fans of the festival and he nominated Robinson for the honour.

“And that came as a complete surprise. I opened my email one day back in early January and I thought is this a real email?” she says, laughing.

“It was very special. It was a lovely ceremony. I was able to take two of my three adult children. … It was lovely to see the breadth of volunteers that were being recognized for their work, whether it was in civil society or in government or in Indigenous relations.”

She says volunteering is changing as people’s family lives and priorities shift. Many groups, especially in rural communities like Liverpool, find it challenging to recruit and retain volunteers.

“I think it is still a struggle and I think that the days of folks volunteering for many years with an organization is maybe more of the exception than the rule than it used to be and just the ongoing long-term volunteer is a little more difficult to get now.”

Robinson is bucking that trend by staying with organizations like the theatre festival for the long haul. She says volunteering has helped her form and strengthen long-lasting friendships.

“People volunteer for different reasons and so, understanding that people may want to volunteer for social connections, they may want to do it for building skills which could then even potentially help on a resume.”

She says volunteer-run groups have had to adapt to remove any barriers to bringing new people on board.

“Knowing that there aren’t financial barriers for them to being involved and understanding that as an organization. Thinking about the strengths that volunteering brings to a person in the community but also how can we break down the barriers and support people to be part of the community. How do we open the door and make them feel welcome?”

Robinson will be the Region of Queens delegate to the provincial volunteer awards ceremony on Sept. 29. She’ll be one of 70 from around the province to be honoured with the award.

The Queens volunteer of the year is chosen from nominees for the region’s Ripple Effect volunteer recognition program which allows the public to nominate fellow community members for their volunteer efforts. More information about the Ripple Effect is available here on the Region of Queens website.

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Brian Muldoon of Protect Liverpool Bay says he hopes people will come out for the New Privateer Film Fest at the Astor Theatre. (Rick Conrad)

Hearings into fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay have been on hold for more than a year, but a group that fights ocean-based aquaculture says the issue isn’t going away.

To help keep awareness alive, Protect Liverpool Bay is holding a mini film festival on Thursday at the Astor Theatre.

Brian Muldoon, spokesman for the group, says they’re teaming up with Healthy Bays Network to put on the event.

“And we thought this would be a perfect time to bring people up to speed, show a couple of documentaries, and so the New Privateer Film Fest is this Thursday, June 26th at the Astor Theatre. (It’s) free to get in, and it’s from 6:30 to 9:15.”

Documentaries being screened are the CBC-produced The Salmon that Divides the Maritimes, a Greek documentary called The Sanctuary of Poseidon and Scale of Change from Hooke and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

“It’s three excellent films,” Muldoon says. “I hope the community will come out and watch them, and then there’ll be an update on Protect Liverpool Bay and where the application stands with the Aquaculture Review Board.”

Last March, Nova Scotia’s ARB suspended planned hearings into an application by Cooke Aquaculture’s Kelly Cove Salmon to expand its operations near Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay and add two new fish farms off Brooklyn and Mersey Point.

Since then, there has been no movement on the hearing and no word from the aquaculture review board.

“It hasn’t gone away, and when I speak to different individuals in town, they go, ‘Oh, I thought it was a done deal,'” Muldoon says.

“I think it’s good to keep them updated and to keep top of mind, and here’s an opportunity leading up to our infamous Privateer Days weekend of celebration to give people an update. This will kind of bring them up to speed on what’s happening with fish farming on the East Coast.”

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told a business crowd in Liverpool in February 2024 that he was personally opposed to the expansion. But he has since talked about the need to expand resource development in the province.

“On the West Coast, they’re closing down fish farms, not renewing licences, trying to get them out of the waters and yet on the East Coast the message is ‘we’re open for business, come and let’s expand.’

“And we just don’t think that’s right.”

The New Privateer Film Fest begins Thursday at 6:30 at the Astor Theatre. It’s a free event, but Muldoon says donations to Protect Liverpool Bay are welcome.

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Easton Goodwin and Desmond Smyth tied for the People’s Choice Award at the Atlantic International Film Festival’s youth film competition. (Rick Conrad)

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Two young filmmakers from Liverpool have won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Atlantic International Film Festival youth film competition.

The short films by Easton Goodwin and Desmond Smyth tied for the award, which was decided by a round of online voting. Their films were among 16 finalists out of 40 submissions.

Desmond, 16, says he’s happy that he and Easton are sharing the award. 

“I got an email that said I had been selected for the People’s Choice Award but there were two really great films that tied for the category. And I was like, man, if there is one person that should have gotten this award it was Easton. So I texted him to see if he got anything and it ended up he did.

“It’s a very cool experience and I’m glad that Easton got the award because he really does deserve it. He put a lot of time and effort and he put all of his heart into the film.”

Desmond’s film November Moon is an homage to David Lynch’s movies. It follows a teenager who has visions of creatures haunting him.

Easton’s film Past Echoes is a more personal look at a young boy dealing with depression, anxiety and bullying at school.

“I couldn’t believe it honestly,” Easton, 17, said Wednesday in an interview.

“Growing up, film was one of my biggest dreams and to get to share this award with one of your best friends, it really is a pleasure. I loved Desmond’s film so much and so much work was put into it, it was great and I loved it. I think it’s awesome that we get to share it.”

The two students at Liverpool Regional High School have collaborated before on a short that also got attention at the Atlantic film festival’s youth competition. Last year, they and some friends made The Absence, which was the runner-up in the people’s choice vote.

Desmond and Easton are members of the Astor Theatre’s filmmaking club, which began in September. More than a dozen youth meet every week to work on their own projects and collaborate on bigger ones.

The club is overseen by three adult mentors, Desmond’s parents Kyle and Lori, and Dan Williams.

“There’s a lot of really, really talented kids at the film club,” Desmond says. “They certainly helped me with my film. They’re very supportive of the whole thing, which I think is awesome.”

Easton says that being part of the film club has helped him hone his filmmaking.

“The film club we can’t thank them enough, they were really helpful. They all have talent and they really did help our (pictures).”

The club wraps up for the year when school’s out for the summer. But Easton says more kids should join when the club starts up again in September.

“If you have children who might be interested in film tell them to come out because we have a great group of people and they’re all so welcoming.”

In the meantime, Easton and Desmond say they’re going to keep working on their own projects and help spread the word about the film club and the Astor’s stop-motion animation club, which will also get going again in September.

“I guess keep making films and hope for the best,” Easton says. “The best advice I ever got is to just making films, keep writing, keep filming every day and eventually it will improve and then hopefully I’ll be in the industry at some point.”

To see all the finalist films in the Atlantic International Film Festival’s youth competition this year, go to the festival’s YouTube channel.

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Kaleb Whynott, Desmond Smyth and Thomas Lenco edit parts of The Movbee, one of the films that will be featured at the Astor Academy Film Festival on Friday. (Rick Conrad)

A small group of young filmmakers in Liverpool is already making a splash on the big screen.

Two members of the Astor Theatre Academy’s film club were finalists in the Atlantic International Film Festival’s youth film competition in Halifax last weekend.

Easton Goodwin’s five-minute short Past Echoes and Desmond Smyth’s four-minute November Moon made the final cut from about 40 submissions.

Now, movie lovers in their hometown will be able to watch those two short films and others produced by the club at the Astor Academy Film Festival on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Astor.

About a dozen youth from 13 to 17 years old meet every Monday at the Astor Theatre to learn the craft of filmmaking. It’s the first year for the club, overseen by three adult mentors: Kyle and Lori Smyth and Dan Williams.

Members of the film club have created their own projects and have collaborated on a bigger film.

The shorts and the longer film will premiere at the film festival on Friday. 

QCCR dropped in on the club this week to talk to some of the members while they put the finishing touches on their group project, The Movbee.

You can also vote for Easton’s and Desmond’s films for the People’s Choice Award in the Atlantic International Film Festival’s youth film competition by going to the AIFF YouTube channel.

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Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, speaks to theatre supporters on Thursday. Karen Murphy, of the J&W Murphy Foundation, and Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor board, look on. (Rick Conrad)

The board of the Astor Theatre on Thursday unveiled some details of a plan they hope will make the theatre the centre of arts and culture on the South Shore.

“We are definitely the envy of a lot of other theatres in Nova Scotia,” Astor Theatre Society chairman Eric Goulden said.

“And it is a very, very valuable treasure.”

The historic Liverpool theatre, which opened in 1902, recently received a $500,000 donation from the J&W Murphy Foundation. The five-year funding commitment will help with the Astor’s operational expenses, and help improve its marketing, promotion and fundraising efforts.

Board members invited the community on Thursday afternoon to learn more about the foundation’s support.

The contribution will help the Astor work on long-term projects to make the theatre sustainable. Three consultants will be hired to come up with fundraising and communications plans and oversee the process.

Heather White Brittain, the director of development with the Imperial Theatre in Saint John, will lead the Astor’s fundraising and sponsorship development efforts. That will include creating a fund development database that will help the Astor secure more sustainable donations from corporations and other foundations.

Cathy Neumiller, a communications and marketing professional based in Halifax, will help create a new marketing and communications plan for the theatre. That will include a newly designed website, a subtle rebranding and more community outreach.

“We don’t have the capacity in house to do this work,” said Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor board. 

“(The employees) do miracles every day with what they have to work with. But the fund development and marketing communications side are specialist areas and require specialists to do them.”

Cochrane said a lot of the work for the first year will be behind the scenes. But lovers of the Astor should start seeing some changes by the end of this year.

Neumiller says she hopes to harness the enthusiasm of the Astor’s sizable and dedicated group of volunteers.

“It’s really about relationships,” she said in an interview.

“The ultimate with communications is striking up a relationship with someone and finding out what they’re passionate about. The goal is to find the people that are the most passionate and get them on board to help achieve the things that need to be done because there’s a lot.”

Jean Robinson-Dexter, a former executive director of the Astor and longtime chair of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, will act as a project manager.

The president of Horizons Community Development Associates also helped Cochrane create the funding proposal to the Murphy foundation.

“I guess I’ll be a bit of a trouble-shooter and a bit of a historian about the organization and the kinds of things that the theatre does,” Robinson-Dexter said in an interview.

“I’ll be doing regular check-ins with the two wonderful consultants and sharing that back to the board, making sure we’re on track in terms of deliverables and timelines. It’s a great opportunity to be back and contributing to the Astor again.”

The Astor announced the “life-changing” contribution from the J&W Murphy Foundation in April. 

The foundation was established in 2008 by the late Janet and Dr. William Murphy, longtime Liverpool residents. Dr. Murphy co-founded the thriving Mersey Seafoods in 1964. 

It contributes to a wide variety of charitable causes, especially in Queens County.

The foundation’s Karen Murphy told QCCR on Thursday that they had many discussions with the Astor board about how to help.

“And our conclusion was that we could assist in some funding to take away some of the operational worries so the focus could be on future-proofing the facility,” she said.

“It’s often capital projects that get a lot of attention. But we found with especially small- and medium-sized organizations, operational funding is often forgotten. And sometimes that’s the key to all the other creativity-building that needs to happen.”

She said that she and her family have been longtime supporters of the Astor and were happy to help “take it to the next level”.

“When people find out I’m from Liverpool, they invariably mention the Astor. That tells you what a legacy is already in place. And it’s on all of us to keep adding to that and to keep building it up. This place has to be here for the next 100 years like it has been already.”

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Members of the South Queens Middle School Grade 7/8 band perform at the Queens County Music Festival in late April. (Rick Conrad)

It looks like the band program at South Queens Middle School in Liverpool will live to play another day, though it’s unclear in what form.

Parents and others vented their frustrations online a couple of weeks ago when they heard the school planned to cut the program for next year.

It came on the eve of the 80th annual Queens County Music Festival at the Astor Theatre. The festival features young musicians and vocalists from school and private music programs being scored on their performances by trained adjudicators.

The middle school’s Grade 7 and 8 band competed at the festival.

Principal Stacy Thorburn told QCCR on Wednesday that she hopes to have good news for students and parents by the end of the week.

“It’s in the works. I’m in conversations to find out how it will look next year.”

The program includes about 40 students. 

In a message to students and their families on Friday, the school said they’re looking at ways to continue offering it next year. 

“School administration is having ongoing conversations with nearby schools to explore potential collaboration opportunities and are looking at creative staffing solutions, all with the intention to continue offering the band program,” the note read.

“Additionally, discussions regarding the band program are planned with the school advisory council.”

Thorburn didn’t want to comment on what led to the worries about the program’s survival.

“I would rather not because there are lots of things that go into play. And I’ve had conversations with our (school advisory council) and members of our community who have asked so I’d rather keep it at that for now, until we know for sure what’s happening.

“It will be here next year in some form.”

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Donna Croft and Gil Johnson of Queens County Transit in Liverpool are gearing up the group’s Yuk Yuk’s fundraiser at the Astor Theatre on Saturday. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County Transit got on the road seven years ago with one used wheelchair-accessible van catering mostly to seniors in Liverpool.

“When we started out, we had one old used wheelchair-accessible van that we got from over in Clare. And I think it was in the garage more than it was on the road,” says chairman Gil Johnson.

Now, the community organization based in Liverpool provides affordable transportation around Queens County and beyond.

It’s one of 23 rural transit services around Nova Scotia.

The Queens County Transit fleet has grown to eight vans, five of which are accessible. And it employs 11 people, nine of whom are drivers.

Ridership is up too, by almost 30 per cent over the past two years. In 2023/24, the service completed 8,218 trips. About three-quarters of those were for seniors. Ridership so far this year is up by more than 1,000, with only half of overall passengers seniors.

But with increased popularity come increased costs. 

“Without community support we would be dead in the water, we wouldn’t be operating,” Johnson says.

“Seven years ago, Queens County was one of four counties in the province that did not have a transit system. Today, we’re one of the leaders and we’re proud of that and we want to be able to keep going but we can’t do it without funding partners, fundraisers. ”

That’s why Queens County Transit has organized its first major fundraiser at the Astor Theatre for this Saturday, May 3. They’ve teamed up with the Yuk Yuk’s standup comedy tour for a show at the historic theatre at 7:30. 

Comedians Francois Weber, Andrew Evans and Ian Black are set to hit the Astor stage.

“That’s going to be a good event,” Johnson says. “It’s going to be something new. Yuk Yuk’s haven’t been to Liverpool in quite some time.”

They’re also planning a silent auction at the event.

Queens County Transit gets about 35 per cent of its operational funding from the province and some other funding from the Region of Queens. 

That funding and community support are vital so that the service can continue to offer rides to residents at reasonable rates.

A round trip within Liverpool, Brooklyn or Milton costs $10. That goes up to about $15 for longer rides to other areas of the county.

But the service also offers much-needed subsidized rides for medical trips to Queens General Hospital in Liverpool or to Halifax.

Manager Donna Croft says that through funding from the Queens General Hospital Foundation, it can offer a round-trip to an appointment in Halifax for as little as $100. The full cost is usually $160.

“It’s not only the seniors we’re catering to,” Croft says. “We’re catering to all ages. Say a mom with an infant has to go to the city to the IWK and she has no means of getting there or she has to wait for an ambulance to take them through. We have the monies through (the hospital foundation) that we can do that drive for them to get her to the IWK.”

“That’s a huge piece of the mandate of community transit, is to be able to get people to those appointments in an affordable fashion because it goes back to our funding partners,” Johnson says. “They’re the ones who help us subsidize those rides. But if you wanted to rent Queens County Transit to go shopping just on your own or to go for a drive, that’s available as well. It wouldn’t be subsidized. It would be fully funded out of pocket.”

Tickets are still available for the Yuk Yuk’s comedy fundraiser through the Astor Theatre box office or Ticketpro.ca.

And if you need a ride on Queens County Transit, they ask that you contact them at least 24 hours in advance by contacting them at 902-356-2670, by email at info@queenscountytransit.ca or message them on Facebook.

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The Astor Theatre is the oldest performing arts space in Nova Scotia. (File photo by Ed Halverson)

UPDATED APRIL 3, 3:15 P.M. 

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool has secured $500,000 in funding from the J&W Murphy Foundation.

The five-year commitment will give the Astor $100,000 each year to help beef up its programs and promotion.

Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that it’s a game changer for Nova Scotia’s oldest performing arts theatre.

“It is significant. It’s huge. This is the largest donation the theatre has ever received,” she said.

“We’re thrilled. It will be life-changing for the theatre.”

Cochrane said the board began discussions with the J&W Murphy Foundation about a year ago on a plan to make the Astor sustainable.

“So the Murphy foundation is giving us an opportunity to set ourselves up for future success.”

The J&W Murphy Foundation was established in 2008 by the late Janet and Dr. William Murphy, longtime Liverpool residents. Dr. Murphy co-founded the thriving Mersey Seafoods in 1964.

The foundation contributes to a wide variety of charitable causes, especially in Queens County.

Lisa Murphy, chair of the foundation, told QCCR that she views the donation as an investment in a cherished centrepiece of the community.

“The Astor has always meant a lot both to the town and to our family. Our mom was a huge supporter of the arts,” she said.

“If what we have done is perceived as a vote of confidence, then we’re also happy about that, because it’s intended to be. … We’re thrilled to be privileged enough to be able to extend this funding that can help settle some of the swirling concerns that an organization such as the Astor has struggled with over the years and to enable them to build on that to secure their future. I can’t think of Liverpool without the Astor. I cannot imagine the town without the Astor.”

Murphy says she hopes the foundation’s contribution will help the Astor secure funding from other donors, and to help the theatre cover operating expenses. But she says it’s up to the board to decide where it will do the most good.

“Our grant is specifically to say, free up your resources to think bigger.

“There’s no wishlist. We speak about a vote of confidence, we are saying that we’re trusting the leadership of this organization to make responsible decisions about what it wants to do with it. And they are in the best position to set the direction of the society. … That’s not for us to say.”

In the first year of the five-year commitment, Cochrane says the board will work on improving its fundraising, including creating a donor database. It will also create a cohesive marketing plan to help grow the Astor’s audience and its revenue.

That will include a new website. Cochrane says the board is in talks now with professionals in corporate fundraising and marketing and communications.

And they’ll work on getting the community more involved in their programming, asking people what kinds of shows they’d like to see.

The theatre’s board also plans to expand the Astor Academy in the second year of the funding, to bring in outside theatre professionals to give more training to youth and seniors. 

“The Astor, like all arts centres, operates on one-third of its revenues from (government) grants, the other third is from revenues actually generated from concerts, events, and the other third is from donations,” Cochrane said.

“We really want to shore up the donation side. We come to the end of the year and we tend to be hand to mouth.”

Cochrane said people will likely start to see the results of the Murphy family’s investment in the fall. 

“The board is thrilled. It’s a very generous donation at a time that the theatre is really going to have an opportunity to benefit from it, and hopefully make it live on for another 100 years.”

The Astor Theatre opened in 1902 and was originally known as the Liverpool Opera House. It hosted local and touring shows until silent films were introduced in 1917. Many Canadian and international artists have performed at the theatre over the years, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rufus Wainwright, and even Mr. Dressup.

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Justin Freeman launched Letterswitch Publishing on Saturday in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

In a town without a bookstore, starting a publishing business might seem like a leap of faith.

But Justin Freeman of Liverpool says he’s realizing a childhood dream by launching Letterswitch Publishing. 

“I’m content to just put out beautiful books that entertain and educate and encourage new parents, and parents of young kids especially, but everybody in a family,” he told QCCR.

“I hope it goes off well. Publishing is not exactly the most robust industry to be jumping into feet first at the moment, but I’m hoping with kind of the niche aspect of it and keeping things small and focused that it’ll be a success.”

Freeman unveiled his micropublishing company on Saturday at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. The stay-at-home Dad moved to the area a few years ago with his young family. 

“(We) moved to Liverpool in 2022 after my son was born. My wife got a job at the hospital … and this is home now. We’re putting down roots and are looking forward to a lot of years here.”

Freeman says he’ll be concentrating at first on publishing his own work through Letterswitch. 

His first book was on display on Saturday. Called A Little Grieving, he partnered with a pediatric crisis counsellor on the parent’s guide to helping your child through the grieving process. 

He also plans a kids’ picture book called One Veggie, a middle-grade chapter book called Molly Moss Runs for Office and a western novel called Crimson Shadow.

“It’ll be a slow rollout. I’m a stay-at-home dad and I’ll just try to get things rolling here in the next couple years. But once both kids are in school, I look to open up to other authors and just get a nice catalog of titles.”

Freeman grew up on a farm in Missouri. He had an eclectic career before moving to Nova Scotia with his wife, Dr. Alison Freeman, and their kids Molly and James.

“I was formerly a police officer in Missouri in the city of Springfield. I was also a minister for a few years, and sold shoes and grew up on a farm and just have a varied background that kind of informs and inflects different writing. Thus all the different type of books that are coming out.”

The name of the company comes from how he met his wife, when he was still on the farm in Missouri and she was at home in Nova Scotia.

“Essentially, back in 2000, I was on the family farm using ICQ, a messaging app, and this message pops up saying, ‘Do you want to catch up?’ It was obviously a misdirect, but I went to reject it and something told me to accept it, so I did. And it was somebody looking for somebody named Justin Freeman that they had met in Massachusetts. And instead of typing MA for Massachusetts, they typed MO.

“And we struck up more conversations, postcards from abroad, kept up over the years, and then 15 years later, wound up meeting finally, fell in love. I’m now married to Alison and we have two beautiful kids. And so the letter switch is an homage to that switched letter that started our entire story.”

For the launch event, Freeman teamed up with local artisans to feature some of their work, including local baker Gabby’s Bread Basket, who catered the event, and the Covey Candle Company, who created a couple of limited-edition scents. 

“And there’s also a piece that I commissioned by local artist Katie Kripp called Bound for Novel Passages. And it’s a sailing ship with books for the sails and it just represents a new journey for me and some other creatives I look to work with. I find myself surrounded by creative people here in Liverpool and I wanted to work with a few of them for the launch.”

People at the Letterswitch launch, like Jaqueline Duck of Liverpool, said it was exciting to have a publisher in the area.

“I think that’s amazing because there are writers here and they have to go and find a publisher. If we have one in Liverpool, it makes everybody’s life that much easier. And it’s good business.”

Freeman says that while he’ll be busy for the next few months on his own work, he’d still like to hear from people interested in his new venture.

You can find Letterswitch Publishing at letterswitchpublishing.com or email Freeman at hello@letterswitchpublishing.com.

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Eric Goulden is taking over as chairman of the Astor Theatre Society in January. (Photo courtesy of Eric Goulden)

The Astor Theatre Society will have a new chairman to begin the new year.

Eric Goulden will take over on Jan. 1.

The resident of Beach Meadows is a community volunteer and retired entrepreneur. Since buying a house here with his wife Karen in 2013, he has developed and restored many older buildings on Liverpool’s Main Street and in Milton.

He’s been a full-time Queens County resident since September 2020.

At an event at the Astor last week, Goulden told QCCR he’s looking forward to heading the theatre’s board of directors for the next few years.

“I’m amazed at this building and the history behind it,” Goulden said, “and I really feel that if we can stabilize a lot of the operational side of things, I think it’s got a lot of growth and I think it’s going to be very, very welcoming and a safe place for everybody.”

Goulden will be taking over from John Simmonds, who has been chairman since September 2020. He will continue on the board as past chairman.

Simmonds helmed the board through Covid and helped revitalize the theatre. He also was chairman during some turmoil at the theatre in the past year, with the resignation of popular director and producer Ashley-Rose Goodwin.

But Simmonds said the community is once again rallying around the Astor. He said he’s looking forward to working with Goulden and the rest of the board.

“We have a good board, they’re communicating amongst themselves very well so I think we will do some good things. It’s onward and upward, so we’re excited.”

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Lynn Cochrane is the vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society. (Rick Conrad)

Liverpool’s historic Astor Theatre is launching a new endowment fund to help put it on firmer financial footing.

About 60 supporters of the Astor turned out at the theatre on Tuesday evening for the announcement.

The Astor Theatre Endowment Fund is separate from the theatre’s annual fundraising campaign. It’s a longer-term investment fund that would accept larger legacy donations from corporations or people’s estates.

Once the fund is built up to a certain point, the Astor could then use interest from the investments to cover yearly operational expenses and invest in new programs.

Outgoing Astor Theatre Society board chair John Simmonds said ticket sales from events account for about 40 per cent of revenues. Grants and fundraising are the theatre’s main sources of revenue.

Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, spearheaded the effort to set up the fund.

“I’ve been on the board for a couple of years now and every year we come up with a bit of a shortfall,” she said in an interview, “and I started looking at ways of helping the theatre counteract that shortfall, talked to a number of other theatres and they have endowment funds or investment funds that donors can donate to and their money lives on for yers and the returns come to the theatre to cover those shortfalls every year.”

Cochrane and Simmonds said that they hope that in a few years, the principal in the fund will grow to about $1 million. At that point, the Astor can decide whether to use the annual interest earned or reinvest it and continue to grow the fund.

It will be managed by Mark Sapp at Scotia McLeod in Bridgewater.

Jean Robinson-Dexter, former interim executive director of the theatre, said the endowment fund is a great step toward securing the Astor’s future.

“I think there’s lots of work to do in the whole fund development area for the organization. So I think this is a great launch for the sustainability and long-term care of the organization.”

Tom Raddall, whose family are longtime supporters of the Astor, said he believes the community will support it.

“I know the community appreciates this theatre. I know our family does. I mean, my grandmother played the piano in the silent movies in this theatre. There’s a connection for probably for most of the people that have been born and brought up here and a connection for the people who have moved here.”

“I think a lot of people including myself will give this a hard look when we go home tonight and talk about our future plans.”

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The Queens County Museum in Liverpool reopens this weekend with its popular annual event Dickensville and the Festival of Trees. (Rick Conrad)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Liverpool, with multiple events planned for the historic Astor Theatre and the rest of downtown Liverpool this weekend.

Last weekend’s popular 14th annual Liverpool Fire Department Christmas Parade kicked things into seasonal gear.

The South Queens Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the Queens Holiday Festival on Saturday. That includes a tree lighting in front of the Astor at 5 p.m. with Christmas carols, and a free multicultural holiday concert inside the Astor at 5:30. 

Earlier in the day, local businesses will be participating in the Christmas on the Mersey food crawl and holiday shopping party.

On Sunday at 7 p.m., the 93rd annual Kiwanis Community Christmas Concert gets underway at the Astor. That event is sold out.

Local businesses are also decorating Christmas trees in the park on the Liverpool waterfront and at the Queens County Museum. 

And the museum will be open extended hours on Saturday as it unveils its popular Festival of Trees and Dickensville.

ATLANTIC CANADA 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT

International Filmmaking Competition is open to all in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador & New Brunswick! www.48hourfilm.com/AtlanticCanada. On the 6th of September, 2024 in Mi’kma’ki, Nova Scotia, conducting our activities on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq, which is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship. We are all Treaty People.

From Dream to Screen, to Filmapalooza and Cannes!

157 filmmakers hit the streets in one wild and sleepless weekend, 23-25 August, in PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, to make 19 short films, totaling 95 films in the last 9 editions of Atlantic Canada 48 Hour Film Project.

All 19 short films will Premiere on 22 September, Sunday,1:30 pm at ASTOR Theatre, Liverpool, Nova Scotia and ONLINE. The BEST film will receive $1,000 prize from Tidekite and will compete internationally at Filmapalooza with a chance for the prestigious Cannes. The Audience will also vote for their favorite film for the Audience Award.

The 19 films and teams Premiering and competing:

• Clipped Wings by 6 Lock Productions (Daniel McKenzie) NS
• Pictures of a Bird by B Reals (Jack Hunter) PEI
• Departing R.E.M. by Cinematic Cookhouse (Evan  Cook) NB
• Timbit by DD2 Entertainment (Dan Mendoza Kariya) NS
• Equal and Opposite Reaction by Dartmouth Productions (Patrick  Kidston) NS
• Inside Feather Cake by Death Horse (Lee-Anne Milne &  Mark Sawatzky) NS
• What A Time To Be Alive by G.A.M.E. Productions (Phillip R  Gannon) NS
• The Journey of a Lifetime by House of Daisies (Joseph Raymond Ciarrocco) NS
• The Feather by I Heart Beeno (Romi Robinson) NF&L
• Family by Once Upon a Midnight Dreary (Danielle Marie MacQuarrie) NS
• Colours of You by PEI P.O.V. Productions (Kirstin Lund) PEI
• This Hour has Five Minutes by Principals Productions (Bridget A. Ricketts) NF&L
• Dancing on a thread by Riff Raff (Oshean Juneja) NS
• Scott, Relax by Shwing Entertainment (Connor Locke) NS
• Ticket to Love by Stenvar Creative (David Jakub Moravcik) NS
• Going Under by Studio E (Liz  Neubauer) NS
• Dudes With Guns by The Boys (Ben Ruffett) NS
• Redemption by Tromboncino Productions (Daniel  Luques) NS
• Freehold by Boshat FILMS (Ryan  Cyr) NS

Join the filmmakers for the After Party, 4PM at Hell Bay Brewery, Liverpool, NS. Thanks for the collaboration and support: Tidekite, Astor Theatre, FILM PEI, QCCR 99.3 FM Queens County Community Radio and Queens Crown Newspaper, Hell Bay Brewery.

Get your tickets for Astor Theatre and Online Screening on the Official website: www.48hourfilm.com/AtlanticCanada

EMAILS: halifax@48hourfilm.com | ac48hfp@gmail.com

Deborah Raddall and Jean Robinson are part of the team organizing this year’s Liverpool International Theatre Festival. (Rick Conrad)

It happens every two years, it’s less than two months away and the organizers of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival want you to be part of it.

The festival is looking for local residents to open their homes and help welcome the almost 90 people coming to Liverpool from 10 different countries for the four-day event.

The volunteer-driven festival is celebrating its 16th edition from Oct. 17 to 20 at the Astor Theatre.

This year, amateur theatre troupes from Morocco, Egypt, the country of Georgia, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Wales and the U.S. will be putting on one-act plays in an event that celebrates theatre and international friendship. Winds of Change from Liverpool will also be putting on a play at the festival.

“For those that haven’t been to the festival in the past,” says festival chairwoman Jean Robinson, “they are one-act plays and they have to be between 25 minutes long and 50 or 55 minutes long. And so, it’s a great introduction to theatre and different types of theatre.”

Deborah Raddall is in charge of LITF’s marketing and promotions. 

“LITF is a celebration of culture and theatre and community. And it’s a chance for us, meaning Liverpool, to experience the world.”

The festival relies on 40 to 60 volunteers from the community to make it happen.

Members of the theatre troupes are billeted at homes around Queens County. This year, organizers are putting an urgent call out for people to open their homes to the actors and crews coming to Liverpool.

LITF asks hosts to provide a bed and some breakfast for festival participants. The festival looks after everything else, including other meals and transportation. Hosts also get two free tickets to the play involving their guests.

Raddall and her husband Blair have hosted troupes in their home for many previous festivals.

“It’s a wonderful experience, my experience has been really great with that. We’ve been hosting almost every year and we’ve made wonderful friendships and connections. It’s quite unique for a theatre festival.”

“All you need to do is have a bed. It’s a bed and breakfast situation. What we ask of our hosts at a minimum is to provide a bed, provide a breakfast for them in the mornings and to pick them up when they arrive, if it’s a reasonable time. … At a minimum interaction, make them welcome in your home, give them something to eat in the mornings and our festival is designed to pick up all the rest of the stuff. … We’re really looking for a welcoming space and a little bit of breakfast.”

Robinson said hosts and guests have made lasting connections.

“Hosts can be as engaged in the festival as they want to be. We know that these have become lifelong friendships and also new experiences. People have gotten to go skating for the first time with their host, even being taken to the ocean to see a beach for the first time, going out on a lobster boat or things like that that have really cemented those relationships.”

Raddall says they’re still looking for space for about 40 troupe members. Troupes and potential hosts fill out questionnaires so that organizers can help make sure the experience is as positive as possible for everybody.

“It’s a process that’s not just we’re just going to chuck somebody on your doorstep without having a conversation about what works best for you and what works best for them.”

If you’re interested in becoming a host for the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, you can contact info@litf.ca , check out their website at litf.ca or message them at their Facebook page.

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Hundreds of Sarah Mitton fans cheered on the Olympian on Friday afternoon at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

It was a disappointing result for Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton on Friday in the shot put at the Olympics in Paris, but for the hundreds gathered at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool, she’s still a hometown hero.

It was a boisterous crowd that cheered Mitton on at the live viewing party as she tried for Olympic gold in the shot put. People were decked out in red and white and waved Canadian flags. Every time Mitton showed up on the big screen, people erupted into cheers and applause.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Mitton’s day.

After three throws, Mitton did not make the cut for the final eight competitors. Her best throw was 17.48 metres in rainy and wet conditions.

Her third throw appeared to be close to the 20-metre mark, but she fouled out after losing her balance and stepping out of the throwing circle.

Mitton was a favourite going into the Olympics, after dominating most events this year. She won the World Athletics Indoor Championship in March and broke her own Canadian record three times. She also qualified easily for the Olympic final, with her first throw of 19.77 m.

Before the event, anticipation was building for the 250 people gathered at the Astor to watch Mitton compete live. 

People travelled from around the South Shore and beyond to cheer her on.

Karen Hofrichter of Hubbards was there with her granddaughter Lily Lantz of Chester. Hofrichter and Lantz arrived an hour before the viewing party and snagged seats front row centre.

Lantz is a 14-year-old shot put athlete herself at Chester Area Middle School. She said she was at the Astor to cheer on her idol. 

Hofrichter said the result wasn’t what they expected, but she’s confident Mitton will be back.

“Unfortunate. It was a tough day, tough with the weather, I think. Not everyone was doing their best. But you know what? We still love her. She gave it her all. And she can regroup and come back. We know she’s got it in her.”

Lantz said that the conditions didn’t help. Early on in the final round, another athlete slipped on the rainy surface and fell after her throw.

“I personally feel like (Mitton) might have gotten in her head after that one girl had slipped,” Lantz said.

“She tried her best and unfortunately lost her balance on that one throw, her good one out in the 20s. Which is OK, she tried her best and she’s gonna come back and she’s gonna hit harder.”

Ruth Anne Zwicker of Liverpool said despite the result, she’s still proud of what Mitton has accomplished.

“I’m so proud of Sarah. She’s worked so hard. My heart’s sad for her today because I know this isn’t where she wanted to be. But I’m excited that her mom (Bonnie) is there with her today. And proud to be a Canadian.”

Dave McKiel of Alberta was visiting his parents and watched Mitton compete.

“I know that the community is very proud of her and her efforts up to this point. It’s kind of disappointing that she didn’t advance today but she’ll receive a hero’s welcome the next time she’s back because everybody is super proud of her efforts.”

“The turnout and the crowd, you can tell the community loves her and supports her.”

German athlete Yemisi Ogunleye won gold in the event, with New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche taking silver  and China’s Jiayuan Song capturing bronze.

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Liverpool artist Jane Stevenson created this tribute to Sarah Mitton on Wednesday in the sand at Summerville Beach. (Jane Stevenson photo)

For most people, a day at the beach might involve some swimming or lounging on the sand.

For Jane Stevenson, a day at the beach involves creating a 120-by-60-foot piece of sand art as a tribute to Olympic shot putter Sarah Mitton.

The Liverpool artist’s creation on Summerville Beach featured an 85-foot Eiffel Tower with a Canadian flag in the middle and the Olympic rings at the base, with Paris 2024 on one side and “Go Sarah!” on the other.

“She’s a friend and she’s a marvellous person,” Stevenson says of Mitton, who is from Brooklyn.

“I’m enjoying drawing in the sand and I thought what a great thing to be able to do. So I started with the rings one day and I thought that’s not enough. So I stuck a little Eiffel Tower on it and looked at it at home and said that’s not good enough. So, four more tries and not succeeding. Finally, new strategies and a little more homework on the design, on the fifth try, it all came together.”

Stevenson created it in about two and a half hours late Wednesday afternoon. 

She shared a photo and drone video to her Facebook profile Wednesday evening. That post was shared widely. And CBC’s Olympics reporter Devin Heroux posted the photo on his Twitter feed Thursday morning after Mitton qualified for the shot put final.

“It’s gone far and wide, so that’s kind of cool. And lovely comments about it. So that’s really nice too. People really enjoyed the picture and the sentiment behind it. It was fun.

“That’s the most far-reaching anything I ever do will get. So that’s quite a compliment to have them want to do that with it. So I’m pleased with that, it’s more than I thought would happen with it.”

It was Stevenson’s fifth time trying to get her design down in the sand, after plotting it out precisely on paper.  

“The first one went down on the sand on the 27th of July, so between then and yesterday I finally got it right.”

She and her husband Garth used a very long tape measure and a homemade compass to plot out the basic lines of the piece. And then she used a rake to fill in the detail of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings.

Stevenson says that she used the drone only once as she was putting it together.

“Just eyed it. Did it by eye. My lines and my paper that I was going off of were really precise and then we really measured precisely this last time. I had my homework really well done on the fifth try. And then you can just can tell visually that it looks alright. It was math, and drawn lines.”

Stevenson has created eye-popping pieces of public art before, most recently for a Privateer Days parade float for the Mersey Rose Theatre Company. That featured a huge tea party set for the company’s upcoming production of Alice in Wonderland Jr. She’s also created displays for the Astor Theatre, including a life-sized Barbie doll package.

She’s done six or seven other beach art pieces this summer, but this one was the biggest and most complicated. She started at 4 in the afternoon near low tide and finished it around 6:30, racking up about 50,000 steps along the way. 

“I thought I’d won the gold medal, the gold medal in the Olympic sand drawing. It was a very good feeling to get the result I wanted.

“This was fun to do. I really wanted it to work for Sarah. … Not bad for a day at the beach.”

She’s not sure if Mitton has seen it yet, but she knows her mother Bonnie has. Stevenson says she’ll be at home on Friday afternoon cheering on Mitton as she goes for gold.

Mitton qualified for the final on Thursday with her first throw, which was also the farthest in the field.

The Astor Theatre is holding a live viewing party of the shot put final from 2 to 4 p.m. It’s free to everybody. The final is scheduled to begin at 2:37 p.m. Atlantic time.

“On the edge of our seats. She’s looking pretty good. This morning it looked effortless for her. She qualified so easily. I have good feelings for her tomorrow. I think she’ll do well. She’s worked hard, she’s ready.”

Stevenson says she appreciates all the positive feedback she’s received on her beach sand tribute.

“Thank you to everybody who has commented on it. That means a lot as well that they have enjoyed it so. That’s made it even more worthwhile. And, go Sarah!”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, Queens County, has qualified for the shot put final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This is a photo from the World Athletics Indoor Championship in March where she won gold. (Sarah Mitton photo)

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton qualified for the shot put final at the 2024 Olympics in Paris this morning on her first throw.

The 28-year-old world indoor champion made it through to Friday’s final with a throw of 19.77 metres, which was the best of the qualifying round. The qualification standard is 19.15 m.

“That’s the way I like it,” Mitton told CBC Sports. “It’s a lot less stressful when you’re one and done.”

Mitton’s mother, Bonnie, was in the Stade de France to see her daughter go through to the final.

The top-rated American and two-time world champion Chase Jackson did not make it to the final. She missed her first two attempts and threw 17.6 m on her third.

New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche was the second-best qualifier at 19.25 m and Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye was third with a throw of 19.24 m.

The final is scheduled for Friday at 2:37 p.m.

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is holding a watch party so that Mitton’s Queens County fans can watch the event live. That goes from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday.

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Jerri Southcott has resigned from her job as executive director of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad / File photo)

The Astor Theatre will soon be without an executive director for the third time in the past 15 months.

Jerri Southcott, who took over the top job at the historic Liverpool theatre in February, recently tendered her resignation.

Her last day at the Astor will be Aug. 9.

In a letter to members of the Astor Theatre Society, the board said Southcott is resigning for personal reasons.

In an interview on Tuesday, Southcott told QCCR she didn’t want to go into details. But she said she decided to return to her career with the federal government.

“At this point, it’s a personal decision and it’s the right one for my family and me right now.”

Before she took the Astor job, Southcott worked in communications for Health Canada and with other federal departments. And before that, she worked as a journalist with CBC and Advocate Media.

Southcott, who lives in Mahone Bay, was in the job for just over a month when associate artistic director Ashley-Rose Goodwin resigned. That set off a firestorm among some in the community, angry that Goodwin was no longer at the theatre.

Some of Goodwin’s supporters vowed to oust the Astor board. That didn’t happen and the controversy eventually died down. 

But the episode at times was heated and personal.

Southcott said that did not play a part in her decision to leave.

“I have a real passion for the organization, for the Astor Theatre. I see a lot of potential and hope there is somebody who will take over and realize its potential.”

John Simmonds, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, said Southcott did a lot of great things in her short time as executive director.

“She’s been a stalwart and accomplished some significant things with grants and operations and community outreach and contact. So we’re very sad to see her go.

“Jerri was very much happy in her job. She loved what she was doing and she saw the contributions and she had the support, for the most part, of the board. But I think she decided maybe this is a better route for (her) to go.”

Simmonds said the board hasn’t decided yet when or if it will search for a new executive director. It’s been difficult for the theatre to find and hang on to one.

When Southcott was hired, it had been four years since the Astor had had a full-time executive director. Jean Robinson-Dexter filled in on an interim basis at various times since September 2020.

In May 2023, the theatre thought it had found a new manager, but that person decided not to take the job after all. Another search resulted in the hiring of Lesli Chandler, who began the job in July 2023 but resigned that September.

“We’re going to regroup,” Simmonds said. “We’re going to do some fundamental thinking, both staff and board, to determine what our best next approach should be.

“Our staff is very loyal and committed to doing what they need to do to get us through this. … We can take the time with a clear head and sort out what the best future for the Astor might be and how to prepare for that future, whether it be staffing or organizational change.”

Simmonds said that Southcott has committed to do what she can before she leaves to ensure the transition is smooth. And he said regardless of what happens, the board wants to make sure the Astor continues to serve the community.

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More than 70 people turned out for the Astor Theatre Society’s annual general meeting on Monday evening in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

After years of discussing the need for it, the board of the Astor Theatre says that 2024 will be the year that they get serious about securing funding for a modern HVAC system.

The 122-year-old building has only ceiling fans in its performance space, making it pretty steamy in the middle of the summer.

The Astor Theatre Society board announced at their annual general meeting on Monday night that it plans to go after federal and provincial funding this year to make the whole building more energy-efficient and to install a state-of-the-art heat pump system.

That system would keep the Astor cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They also plan to replace windows, reinsulate the roof and change all lighting to energy-efficient LEDs.

Board member Lynn Cochrane told about 70 people gathered for the AGM that the board will work with the Region of Queens, which owns the building, to ensure they maintain the structural integrity and acoustics of the Astor.

She said it’s part of a major capital campaign that the Astor will launch this year.

They also plan to create an endowment fund, supported by corporate and individual donations, to ensure the Astor’s financial security.

“It is our Astor,” Cochrane said. “So this endowment will protect it for many years, and hopefully save us from having to go hand to mouth with our finances every year.”

The Astor also got a $100,000 donation from the Greenfield-based sawmill Harry Freeman and Son Limited. 

Board chairman John Simmonds told members that the Astor is in good financial shape, even though it reported a $40,393 deficit for the nine months ending Dec. 31.

The theatre’s total audience last year from April 1 to Dec. 31 was about 12,000, with 60 per cent of that coming from Queens County and 40 per cent from outside the region.

“So we’ve had a lot of people through these doors,” Simmonds said.

The first four months of 2024, however, were stronger, with 18 events bringing almost 3,750 people to the theatre, and a net gain of $27,900.

The Astor hosted many popular concerts and events from January to April, including the late February/early March production of Follies, its first adult musical production since 2018.

“The last few months have been very important to the Astor, we’ve been so successful, we’ve had so much going on,” Simmonds said.

He said the board plans to sign a 10-year lease with the region, which will help the Astor in its fundraising goals. 

“It also gives us an opportunity to go after grants that require a 10-year lease so that we can establish to the grantors that we are going to stay around for a long time. So that could bring in some fairly big numbers to allow us to do some of the things we want to do.”

The Astor’s net assets as of Monday’s AGM are $232,000, according to treasurer Loris Azzano.

The Astor Theatre Society’s members also voted to add three new people to the board of directors, bringing the total to 11.

They are Melanie Atkinson, who also volunteers at QCCR, Terri Faber and Cynthia Walker.

They join Simmonds, Azzano, Cochrane, Anne Espenant, Willo Treschow, Dan Williams, Heather White Brittain and Colleen Wolfe.

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Scot Slessor at his stained glass studio SAS Glass, just off Main Street in Liverpool. Slessor is one of the organizers of the Queens Coast Art Tour on June 22 and 23. (Rick Conrad)

Liverpool stained glass artist Scot Slessor wants the Queens Coast Art Tour to be memorable.

But he also wants the map for the tour to be just as unforgettable, and useful. Last year, he recruited Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman to help him with a video explaining how to make a paper airplane out of the map.

Obviously making a paper airplane isn’t the map’s most important function. In fact, Slessor wants people to unfold it to reveal the many Queens County artisans listed there and pay them a visit during the Queens Coast Art Tour.

The map plots all participating artisans and businesses, with QR codes that link to their websites or social media accounts.

Slessor owns SAS Glass in downtown Liverpool. He and some other local artisans got together last year to form the Queens County Arts and Crafts Society, taking over from the Queens Arts Council. 

One of their first projects was to create an art map and studio tour. That happened last October, and it included almost 25 artisans from Liverpool to Western Head to Port Medway.

This year, it’s expanded to more than 40 artists, shops and popups all over Queens County. And there will be two chances to participate, in June and October.

The first one is coming up on June 22 and 23. The tour runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Slessor says it’s all about promoting Queens County as an arts destination, and about artisans opening up their studios or demonstrating their craft to local residents and visitors.

“I’ve been on a ton of these studio tours,” Slessor said in a recent interview.

“What I’ve told everybody, you’re just not another sale. Just don’t put stuff on a table. If you’re painting, paint. I’m glass, I’ll be doing something with glass those days. People can come in, I can show them what I do, what the materials are, how I play with them. That has to be there, because people do find that interesting. … We need to be different. Everybody does craft sales up and down the shore. So what’s the difference? I think the difference should be come on down, we’re throwing some pottery, we’re making some jewelry, you can see what we’re doing.”

Slessor says last October’s art tour was a success for many of the artists, some of whom were surprised by how many people dropped by to see them in action.

“I had 30 people each day in here. All I did was gab all day to people. And then I talked to other people who never really opened their studio and they said, ‘I can’t believe all these people showed up to my studio.’ So, it was kind of cool.

“You might show one person your studio and have a cup of coffee, but when you have 20 people rolling through in a day, it is kind of neat.”

In addition to visiting artisans at their studios or work spaces, art lovers can also meet them at three popup locations: the Astor Theatre, White Point Beach Resort and Coastal Queens Place in Port Mouton.

“Some artists are very quiet and unassuming. And suddenly you find there’s a guy on the street here who’s a fantastic portrait painter. You didn’t even know he was there. And locally, I think it’s important. Last October, when we did this, a lot of folks who came around were local.

“One of the wider goals of something like this is you feel like you have a sense of community and that you’re not working totally in isolation. Doing art can be a very isolating thing. To let them know that they have a community to be part of.”

Aside from the obvious goal of giving artisans more chances to sell their work, another objective of the tour is to bring art lovers to the area from all over the province and beyond.

“In the perfect world, I’d love to see artisans selling stuff and making some money,” Slessor says.

“I think if we bring people to the county, whether they buy from one of us or just spend some time in a restaurant or going to the Astor or doing whatever, that’s all positive. So we (hope to) increase the number of people coming into the county.”

Slessor says the Queens County Arts and Crafts Society has also applied for provincial funding to help them work on their online marketing and promotion. 

And he says he’d like to see international artists come to Liverpool for four-week residencies.

The former diplomat has reached out to some of his contacts overseas.

“It would be great to have, I don’t know, a Taiwanese artist here for four or five weeks. They’d be at the Astor. We would introduce them to other artisans. It would be fun and informative and something totally different.” 

People can pick up a Queens Coast art tour map in Liverpool at the Visitor Information Centre, the Astor Theatre, Main and Mersey coffee bar, Shore Thing Studio and Emporium or at SAS Glass just across from the Astor.

You can also find the map online here: https://sasglass.ca/resources/map6.jpg or follow Queens Coast Art Tour on Facebook.

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