The PNE is 100!

What a busy day I had at the Pacific National Exhibition! At noon I reflected on the 100th anniversary of the PNE and highlighted the great musical moments of the past which included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles to name but a handful. Pat Quinn preceded me onstage with a look back at 100 years of sports.

Randy Roy photo

From the main stage on the fair grounds I was driven in a golf cart over to Empire Field where I had the honor of introducing the Beach Boys and Bryan Adams.  Adams needed no introduction – he and the band just walked on to great applause. I looked out at a sea of faces and for me it was deja vu. I recalled Elvis in the stadium in 1957 and The Beatles in 1964.

Stuart Derdeyn of the Province featured a great shot of Bryan on stage and a great story on this outstanding event.

Friday August 20th I was honored to be asked to ride in the PNE parade in Vancouver for the first time in 15 years. We drove along Beach Avenue from Stanley Park to Sunset Beach. The wonderful crowd greeted me and the 1966 Mustang convertible with wonderful and unexpected applause. It was unexpected and touched me and almost choked me up.  Thank you for your great and much appreciated sentiments.

Jason Vanderhill photo

Back to Saturday and the P.N.E.  After the Beach Boys and Bryan Adams I walked over (no golf cart this time) to the backstage area to do an interview for Global TV with Kevin Costner.

I found him to be a very down to earth guy. I surprised him with three Vancouver connections. First, Bruce Greenwood, the Vancouver actor who  played JFK in Thirteen Days, the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Second, in the movie Field of Dreams Costner played Ray Kinsella. I reminded him that the book was originally called Shoeless Joe written by B.C. writer William Kinsella. Third, the soundtrack of Kevin’s blockbuster movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves featured the music of Bryan Adams with the song Everything I Do which became one of the biggest selling singles in history. I had heard that Kevin was in the media booth at Empire Field when Bryan hit the stage and sang the song.

Following this interview I drove to the Red Robinson Show Theatre to introduce the Doobie Brothers on stage. The group has a new CD and it has some very interesting songs. They are as cordial as ever. Needless to say when I got home I slept until 8am!

What a busy day I had at the P.N.E. At noon I reflected on the 100th anniversary of the P.N.E. and highlighted the great musical moments of the past which included Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles to name but a handful. Pat Quinn preceded me on stage with a look back at 100 years of Sports.

From the main stage on the fair grounds I was driven in a golf cart over to Empire Field where I had the honor of introducing the Beach Boys and Bryan Adams.  Adams needed no introduction – he and the band just walked on to great applause. I looked out at a sea of faces and for me it was deja vu. I recalled Elvis in the stadium in 1957 and The Beatles in 1964.

Stuart Derdeyn of the Province featured a great shot of Bryan on stage and a great story on this outstanding event.

Friday August 20th I was honored to be asked to ride in the P.N.E. parade in Vancouver for the first time in 15 years. We drove along Beach Avenue from Stanley Park to Sunset Beach. The wonderful crowd greeted me and the 1966 Mustang convertible with wonderful and unexpected applause. It was unexpected and touched me and almost choked me up.  Thank you for your great and much appreciated sentiments.

Back to Saturday and the P.N.E.  After the Beach Boys and Bryan Adams I walked over (no golf cart this time) to the backstage area to do an interview for Global TV with Kevin Costner. I found him to be a very down to earth guy. I surprised him with three Vancouver connections. First, Bruce Greenwood, the Vancouver actor who  played JFK in 13 Days, the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Second, in the movie “Field of Dreams” Kostner played Ray Kinsella. I reminded him that the book was originally called “Shoeless Joe’ written by B.C. writer William Kinsella. and third, the soundtrack of Kevin’s blockbuster ovie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves featured the music of Bryan Adams with the song “Everything I Do” which became one of the biggest selling singles in history.
I had heard that Kevin was in the media booth at Empire Field when Bryan hit the stage and sang the song.

Following this interview I drove to the Red Robinson Show Theatre to introduce the Doobie Brothers on stage. The group has a new CD and it has some very interesting songs. They are as cordial as ever. Needless to say when I got home I slept until 8am!