Hamlet honours its stompin’ son
Centre in honour of singer slated for opening in 2017 in his small P.E.I. hometown
SKINNERS POND, P.E.I.— This P.E.I. hamlet has begun work on a gamble: that Canada still loves Stompin’ Tom Connors as much as the countryfolk legend loved it.
Construction is under way on the Stompin’ Tom Centre and Schoolhouse, which will commemorate the life of Connors — known for such Canadiana-celebrating songs as “Bud the Spud” and “The Hockey Song.”
“He learned his love of Canada here and that is likely where he got his desire to find out more about the country,” said Anne Arsenault, general manager of the economic development group Tignish Initiatives, as she stood next to the one-room schoolhouse that Connors attended.
Work has begun to repair and re- store the building in Skinners Pond — a coastal community green with farmland, dotted with quaint homes and cottages and bordered with scenic sandy beaches.
Connors, who became known for his stories of Canada and the everyman, was born in Saint John, N.B. in 1936 to an unwed teenage mother, but was adopted by the Aylward family in Skinners Pond when he was 8.
It was here that he learned to sing and got his early education about Canada.
He ran away from home at the age of 12 to hitchhike across the country, but always considered Skinners Pond to be his home. Connors went on to become a household name across his cherished country, earn (and refuse) Juno Awards, get his own postage stamp and an appointment to the Order of Canada.
In the 1970s, Connors purchased the Skinners Pond schoolhouse, which was opened to the public to display some of his memorabilia, but the site eventually closed and his keepsakes were shipped to his home in Ontario. Before he died in 2013, at the age of 77, Connors supported plans to revive the museum and build a cultural centre.
“He thoroughly enjoyed this area. He loved it and talked very highly about it,” Arsenault said.
In July 2015, Ottawa and the province announced nearly $1.7-million in funding for a $1.9-million project. However, the plans had to be scaled back when $350,000 from the Department of Canadian Heritage was denied because Tignish Initiatives wasn’t considered a heritage organization.
“Now, we’re here today and we’re in the midst of renovations, and the construction will begin this fall of the new centre. Our opening is slated for July 1, 2017,” Arsenault said.
The schoolhouse will house the interpretation and artifacts. The Connors family has agreed to provide all the artifacts and memorabilia required.
“I think Tom would be happy. He’d be happy this is finally happening,” Arsenault said.