EPISODE 596 BENARES…MUSIC ON THE VERANDAH, June 2022
alan skeoch
June 13,2022
“Marjorie, would you and Alan like to attend a music concert at Benares?”, asked Janis Alton
“When?”
“Every Friday evening for the whole summer…different performers…this Friday
the Temple Band is coming…30 musicians…big brass band.”
“How much does it cost?”
“Nothing…they pass the hat at intermission, most people give a $10 donation.”
“Big crowd?”
“Varies but usually around 70 people….concert has a nice feeling of community…you
can sit on the grass but most people bring their own chair.”
“Benares is an odd name…strange…is it a house or a barn or a music hall?”
“It’s a grand Georgian mansion built in 1835 by a retired English officer
…Benares is a city in Indian where he served. Benares looks like an American pre Civil War
spiffy home…pillars and grand entrance…hard to describe but
sure worth seeing.”
“Private property, I imagine?”
“Nope. Owned by the City of Mississauga. Restored. Hidden away really. Most
people do not even know it exists.
“Are open air concerts common?”
“In the summer, ‘when the living is easy,” as the song says.”
“What song?”
“Old Man Rover/ “push that barge, tote that bail, get a little drunk and you land in jail.”
‘Get serous.”
“I am serious. Next Friday, June 16, the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus is coming…Welsh folk songs, Hymns,
even opera…”
“Like the Men from the Welsh coal mines in How Green Was My Valley’?”
“Imagine so.”
SO WE WENT TO BENARES — TO HEAR THE TEMPLE BAND — AND NEXT WEEK WE’LL SPEND
FRIDY EVENING BEING SERENADED BY THE BURLINGTON WELSH MALE CHORUS.
(and every Friday for the whole summer, a different musical performance….outdooor on the grass
for a suggested $10 donation….1507 Clarkson Road North – 905 625 4860)
“Any refreshments?”
“Cold drinks and sweet stuff “
“Parking?”
“Free parking…get here early though…6.30, performances begin at 7 p.m.”
“Hey, that mansion looks wonderful. Are there tours?”
“Rich history to the place…no room here for that…Tours in daytime”
“How did Mississauga get the place?”
“Donated….given to the City of Mississauga by the Sayers family…it was
once their home. “
“Couldn’t you tell a bit about the place?”
“No time right now, I am re reading How Green Was My Valley…you know
my mom was Welsh…I actually saw the miners coming up from the coal pits
near Aberdare…they were singing. Really singing. Sometimes history is not
exaggerated.”
alan skeoch
June 13m 2022