Marking the 30th year of a local holiday tradition, the Capitol Centre was sold out for the evening of Haleyfest, Wednesday night.
Seven local and school choirs took to the stage to perform holiday music, including the North Bay Interlink Choir featuring Silver Birches, as well as performances from the school of St. Theresa, St. Hubert, Holy Cross, St. Francis, Mother St. Bride, and St Luke.
Dennis Chippa, Artistic Director and Master of Ceremonies for the evening, welcoming the crowd of hundreds to the evening of melodies, offering both bad jokes—at no fault of his own this year, but the book of Christmas jokes he had ordered—and a plethora of holiday hats, silly and extravagant.
“There are two things that I’m known for,” he told the crowd with a great big smile after the first set. “Hats and the bad jokes. So here’s the thing, every year do these jokes up here in a felt hat and people complain about my jokes. So this year I went on the interwebs, I looked up the Google and I got the little book of Christmas jokes. Any of these jokes that are bad, no longer my fault.”
And between each choir he quipped with the crowd, a night full of joy and laughter.
Art Haley was the Chairman of the North Bay Santa Fund for over forty years. He was a City of North Bay employee for 37 years and Fire Chief for four more, retiring in 1975. He and his wife Doris proved a powerful driving force behind the North Bay Santa Fund for those forty-one years and beyond. Unfortunately, Doris and Art are no longer with us, but their spirit and legacy live on year after year.
The Haleyfest concert was initiated and named for Mr. Haley by Mayor Stan Lawlor in 1986, as a tribute to the Haleys' dedication to the Santa Fund and to raise awareness for its annual drive to fill baskets with food and gifts for those people who are in need in the community.
It was evident from the first year that it was a great way to start the holiday season and Mayor Jack Burrows carried on the tradition, transitioning the celebration from the City to the Capitol Centre.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of this wonderful community event of a variety of local and school choirs gracing the stage with good holiday cheer.