Thresher Reunion 2024: Van Egmond, Pritchard form entertainment dream team
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
It’s no surprise that live, old-time music is one of the big draws at the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association’s (HPTHA) reunion weekend in Blyth. For almost as long as there’s been plowing in Southwestern Ontario, there’s been live music to accompany all the hard work. It wasn’t ever anything fancy - usually just a local fiddler playing some tunes for farmers and their families after a long day spent out in the fields. Bringing in the annual grain harvest was a huge community effort, which made it especially important to have a bit of entertainment to keep everybody’s spirits high during threshing season.
It takes a lot of work to organize an entire weekend of music and dancing that entertains crowds the old-fashioned way, and even though the big event is fast approaching, long-time reunion Entertainment Co-ordinators Gladys Van Egmond and Annie Pritchard kindly took some time out of their busy day to sit down with The Citizen for an edifying conversation about how they manage to pull off such a great entertainment program, year after year.
For many years, the reunion’s weekend-long musical program has featured a fiddle and step dance competition, as well as live bands and jam sessions that perform all over the grounds. There are also free workshops for people who want to work on their fiddling. Van Egmond thinks they have almost everything ready to go for this year’s celebration. “We’ve got things kind of lined up so it will run smoothly, hopefully,” she said. “But there’s always something that goes wrong, of course.” By her estimation, the pair begins the planning process on the first day of February each year. They start by booking the performers - this year, visitors will be treated to the familiar song stylings of Thresher Reunion favourites like the Irish Cowboys, Twilight Serenaders, the Country Versatiles, and more. “Every year, we get older, as you know, so I hope I recognize everybody,” Van Egmond joked.
The fiddle competition, which takes place on Saturday, has age classes that range from 18 and under to 70 and older. This year, the prize money for both the fiddle and step dance competitions has increased. Van Egmond thinks the prize money is at a good level, compared to other contests in the area. “We’ll be drawing more contestants, far afield, we hope,” she said.
Pritchard’s job is to manage the Friday program, which has been the reunion’s designated day for senior and disabled visitors since 1992. Each year, they invite residents from 20 nursing homes to come to the reunion on Friday for a whole day of entertainment, and a fully accessible people-mover brings the groups around the grounds to see all the goings on. She also looks after the Sunday church service, which is always popular. Both on Seniors Day and while performing at local nursing homes, these artists have witnessed the transformative power that live music can have on people of all walks of life, time and again.
Pritchard may see herself as more of a “right-hand man” type, but Van Egmond thinks of her as a partner. “We work as a team, and always have,” said Van Egmond. “We’ve had some disagreements, but we work them out.”
In addition to organizing the event, both Van Egmond and Pritchard accompany fiddlers on the piano, which is no mean feat - they need to play by ear and have perfect rhythm to keep up. Van Egmond has what they used to call a “a real ear for music.” She doesn’t just play piano, she also writes her own compositions, which is an increasingly rare skill to have. But she doesn’t like to talk about it. “That would be blowing about myself,” she explained. She even had to be convinced that it would be alright to include that information in this article.
Pritchard is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. “I learned to play by ear because Ross Mann, who used to be on CKNX Barn Dance, told me that you either memorize it, or learn to play by ear, because you can’t always lug music with you.” She started training her ear using the family radio while she was supposed to be doing chores. “The problem with that is, when the music comes over the airwaves, it’s a different key. So I had to learn to play in all keys. The black notes and everything.” Pritchard has been playing piano since she was eight, and became a church organist when she was 14. She also spent 16 years spreading her love of music by teaching piano lessons. “Then I got really silly and learned the bagpipes, and I became the pipe major for the Lucknow Legion Pipe Band,” she said. She also plays the ukulele, and believes that music is an essential service. “It’s supposed to provide peace of mind,” she explained. “Every country, even during wars, makes music. You have to have music - it’s one of the arts, and you have to have arts. A country without arts is bankrupt. I don’t care if you’re good - my mother couldn’t carry a tune in a pail, but her toe would tap.”