A Grand Opening for Investors Group Field

Photo by Sangeetha Nair 

The much anticipated “opening ceremony” for Investors Group Field was nothing short of grand.

One Heart Winnipeg, a massive gathering of 85 churches was the first event to be held at this venue. This event was also an opportunity for the venue to test out their ticket scanning system as 20,000 free tickets were printed and handed out at the main gate.

Venue Staff, Gordon Harry handing out free tickets.
Photo by Sangeetha Nair  

Event organizers went all out at making the event memorable and enjoyable to not just Christians but any proud Winnipegger who was there to get a peak of the new stadium.

                          

There was a special appearance by former Blue Bomber Milt Stegall, 35 different Disney and Marvel comic characters and clowns. There were also performances by rapper Fresh I.E and YouTube sensation Sean Quigley.

In his speech, Stegall said that it was great that the first event held at the stadium was dedicated to God and joked that this would not guarantee that Bombers will win all the games.

In the middle of the afternoon, during the sermon, a cluster of jet planes launched from behind the big screen and flew past the stadium, making the crowd cheer. The experience was certainly overwhelming.

Sean Quigley                             Greaves and Kowalczuk
                                                 Photo by Sangeetha Nair 

Throughout the event, Bomber fans lined up to take photographs with players Chris Greaves and Chris Kowalczuk and the rest of us just had a hard time putting down our smartphones and cameras. #investorsgroupfield was the tag of the day.

For the past three years, One Heart Winnipeg was held at the MTS Centre in January. This year, the organizers could not get an available date and the Blue Bombers had come to their rescue by offering them this new venue. After this experience, one wonders if the event organizers would ever go back to MTS Centre.

Photo by Sangeetha Nair 

Photo by Sangeetha Nair

Many thanks to Community News Commons for publishing this article. 

Not so duh about the The Duhks

I had gone to watch The Duhks at the West End Cultural Centre in March. I must admit that before that day I had never heard their music. The only reason I was there was because of their lead singer, Jessee Havey.   

Jesse and I were both performing at the Peace Service in Temple Shalom last fall. Jesse deserved to be there. I was just lucky. The moment she opened her mouth to sing, I knew that she was a star. It was one of those pinnacle moments in my life. Like the time I was standing in front of Queen Elizabeth, the time I held the Winter Olympic torch and the time radio celebrity Ace Burpee offered to buy all my paintings. Sure enough, I later found out that The Dukhs were a Juno Award winning band who was also nominated for a Grammy in 2007. 

Their concert was a sell out and that came as no surprise. The Duhks are back Winnipeg, and let's hope that they are here to stay! 

Leonard Podolak and Scott Senior got the crowd dancing to their beat.

Jessee Havey is a true star.

Jordan McConnell skilled not only at playing the guitar but also at building guitars

                       

Tania Elizabeth played some beautiful instrumental pieces on her fiddle. 

Scott Senior is one of the best percussionists I have heard.

Kelly Bado

Kelly Bado is an extremely talented young singer-songwriter based in Winnipeg. Not only does she have a powerful voice, she is also a person with a beautiful soul. I'm honored to have met her and given this opportunity to photograph her.

Born in Ivory Coast, Kelly discovered her artistic and musical potential at the age of 10. She joined her church’s choir, then her high school’s choir. Since her arrival in Manitoba in December 2007, she volunteered in the musical and social departments of her first church in St. Boniface. She is now a part of the community of Winnipeg as an active member in various bands and one of the lead singers at Springs Church and continues to live her passion.

Here's a Video of her singing her song Set Me Free