Quitting cold turkey
An end to the Turkey Rhubarb era
Hamilton-based children’s entertainers, Turkey Rhubarb, will perform their last concert this Saturday
If you’ve raised a child in southern Ontario over the past 18 years, you’re probably familiar with Turkey Rhubarb (or, if you’re a toddler, “Tukie Woobab”).
The Hamilton-based singing trio has performed hundreds, probably close to a thousand, children’s concerts throughout the area — libraries, schools, birthday parties, child care centres, art galleries, festivals and fundraisers.
Your kids have probably seen them, even if you haven’t. It’s hard to avoid them. They rival Bruce Springsteen in concert numbers — something like 50 shows a year since 1998 (granted, Bruce’s shows are a tad longer).
You may have one of their three albums on your shelf. You may even know the words to Turkey Rhubarb classics like “Humpty Dumpty,” “Three Fine Mice (no violence in these lyrics),” “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Old McDonald’s Farm” and the ever-popular “We’ve Come All The Way From Hamilton.” They even sing a few songs in Spanish and French.
But all that is coming to end on Saturday, at 11 a.m. when Turkey Rhubarb — Dale Behnke, Gerry Dion and Paul Fralick — perform their final concert on the fourth floor of the Hamilton Public Library.
Yes, it’s the end of the Turkey Rhubarb era.
Age, unfortunately, has caught up to the band. All three are longretired from their jobs as instructors at Mohawk College.
Behnke is 74. Dion is 72. Fralick is the baby of the group at just 67.
“This last year and a half or so, I’m so bagged (after a show) it takes me a couple of days to recover,” says Dion, who also suffers from arthritis.
“I think we’re at the top of our form. I’d much rather leave when people are clapping and stomping rather than holding their noses and sniffing.”
“… Or feeling sorry for us,” adds Behnke.
They started in the mid-’90s playing fundraisers at Mohawk College. Behnke and Dion, both Métis, taught language studies. while Fralick taught early childhood education.
They all had a love of folk music and had played in various other groups before meeting.
Friends and colleagues at Mohawk told them they should take their music more seriously, perhaps cut a record. So they did. But first they needed a name.
They found it in a traditional folksong recorded by English folksinger Maddy Prior in 1969. It was called “Turkey Rhubarb” and it was about a medicinal plant with reported purgative qualities.
“It was Dale’s idea that we call ourself ‘Turkey Rhubarb’ and it really worked,” says Fralick. “It makes the kids laugh.”
Explains Behnke: “It’s mentioned throughout literature in the 19th century. People used the plant as a medicine.”
The three friends say they hope to see many fans when they perform their final show Saturday.