Peart task force ‘thinking big’ while keeping it humble
Brisk sales of Lakeside Park T-shirts have members of a task force helping plan a memorial to Rush drummer Neil Peart hoping a fundraising drive will be just as successful.
“We, as a committee, are trying to think big with this project, given Neil’s stature as a musician and author,” said task force chair David DeRocco.
The group is still in what he called “its infancy,” working to come up with recommendations to help the city honour Peart, who died Jan. 7 from brain cancer at age 67.
Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie. In his teens, he worked on the midway there and as the group’s lyricist later wrote a song called “Lakeside Park,” recalling “dancing fires on the beach, singing songs together” every May 24.
A GoFundMe account set up a while ago to help with preliminary planning, combined with the sale of Lakeside Park T-shirts by task force member Chris O’Connor, has collected more than $10,000.
“This project has really made me realize the reach of Rush is insane, and the amount of passion that surrounds these guys and their work is incredible,” said O’Connor.
A larger campaign to raise money to pay for the actual memorial will come later.
Since he started selling the shirts, O’Connor said, “They’ve gone global — they’ve gone to South America, Brazil, all over the U.K., Scotland, Finland.
“Just two days ago, we sent a couple (of shirts) to Australia. And every order comes with a story” about the person’s attachment to Rush and its music, he said.
The shirts are available at ptdalhousie.com for $29.99 each.
Peart — widely recognized as one of rock’s greatest drummers — was also a thoughtful, prolific author and traveller.
The task force hasn’t settled on a recommended location for a memorial, DeRocco said, but it should be somewhere near the pavilion at Lakeside Park that earlier this year was named in Peart’s honour. He said the form it eventually takes will depend on artists’ responses to arequest for proposals the city will issue.
He believes it should keep in mind the fact Peart remained humble despite his rock star status.
“We certainly want something that is photographic and reflects the beauty of the park and the imagery Neil created in the song ‘Lakeside Park.’”