Kayla Turnbull, Sherri Bridden, Cory Lemenski, Sharon Leonard, Bonnie Turnbull, Vivan Calder, Marcel St. Louis and Janis St. Louis are among the donors and artists who brought together Piano in the Park. (Dan Walton photo)
Janis St. Louis hit all the right notes in fulfilling her vision to bring a piano to Gyro Park.
Just through putting the word out there, the project co-ordinator for Piano in the Park rounded up support from more than a dozen donors, both business and personal, to cover every component that goes into a well-functioning outdoor piano.
“I want give people more reason to come down and use the park because it’s a beautiful setting,” she said.
The idea first came to St. Louis’ mind after hearing about an experience her niece had while visiting Kelowna, where she was very impressed to find a public piano sitting along the waterfront for anybody to use.
“She thought it was cool and was really excited to tell me about it,” she said. “And I thought, we’ll do that here.”
St. Louis shared the concept with her friend Bonnie Turnbull, whose family happened to have a piano they were able to part with.
But at that point, the piano was in no shape to live in a public park, but it was no time before a myriad of help from the community came pouring in.
To make sure it’s protected when it needs to be, a sturdy wooden casing was built for the piano by Desert Valley Renovations and Roofing. Locks to keep it safe at night were donated by A-1 Security, and the instrument was welded into place by Joe Carvalho. Local artists Sharon Leonard and Sherri Bridden put a flowery coat of paint on the piano with supplies donated from Home Hardware. Additional building supplies were donated by Home Building Centre, and Vivian Calder donated money that was used to tune the instrument by Andrew Wedman, who offered his service at a discounted rate. Another good deal came from Osoyoos Signs, which created the commemorative plaque on the back of the piano. Also thanked was the Town of Osoyoos for endorsing the project and installing the hardware, as well as the team of piano sitters who look after it daily.
During the inaugural performance on Sunday, June 12, Mayor Sue McKortoff was among the dignitaries to speak.
She said the community now has a great new asset to look after, and she thanked the Turnbull family, to which the crowd broke out in applaud.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy music on the beach,” McKortoff said, adding that it should be used by locals and tourists alike of all ages.
The Piano in the Park expands upon Music in the Park, which is a project St. Louis started last year. Every Friday in July and August, live music is booked at the Gyro Bandshell between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
The piano will be covered at night time and during rainy weather, but is otherwise free to use at anytime. If all goes well, the piano will stay at the park until mid-September, when the Town will place it in storage for the winter.
“We’re hoping nobody gets stupid and tries to damage it,” St. Louis said.
DAN WALTON
Osoyoos Times
During an introductory ceremony on June 12, Kayla Turnbull was one of the first musicians to use the piano at Gyro Beach, which was donated by her family for the public to enjoy. (Dan Walton photo)
