A historical note

New Glasgow - Vernon Burns remembers the nights he spent playing at the New Glasgow Stadium in the early 1950s, as a thousand people packed the rink to dance along.
It was the days before DVDs, satellite radio and cable TV. Pictou County residents were anxious to pay 50 cents a head to bop along as rock and roll began to sweep through the region, changing the county's music scene completely.
Sometimes, they'd have all-night twist competitions, where bands would play as couples did the twist. Whoever was left standing the next morning won the prize.
Today, though, dances aren't as popular. Bands don't pack rinks and auditoriums the same way. And the musicians who played to those crowds are slowly dying off.
"Charlie Ward's passed away, Wayne Scott, he's gone. I think it really hit home for me when I lost so many friends in the last year," said Burns.
And these musicians are people who deserve to be remembered, he says. Some of them went far with their careers - New Glasgow's Don Haggart, for instance, got his start playing in a rock and roll band during that magical period of time and went on to play at the Grand Ole Op'ry - while some just went from dance hall to dance hall. But they all contributed to the rich tapestry of the county's musical history.
It was 51 years ago when Wayne Petrie started playing with Burns. Bands in those days had drawing power - they didn't need big-shot labels behind them to bring in a crowd. There's a picture of the members of the band somewhere in Burns' albums, holding fistfuls of dollar bills. They'd packed 595 people into the tiny Trenton Fire Hall.
It wasn't uncommon for the fellows to make $2,000 on a Friday night playing at a dance. They'd perform every night of the week, going from dance hall to dance hall, and the young people would flock after them.
It was a time when every community had "their" band, says Petrie, all playing good music and attracting young people like the pied piper.
A young Haggart was one of those people attracted to the good music and the atmosphere that filled the dance halls. It was the 1950s and times were changing, even here in quiet Pictou County, where 99 per cent of men only owned a gray or a black suit and women wore respectable dresses.
"I think it was the excitement of rock and roll in part," Haggart says. "It was the kind of time when people wanted to shrug off the old and didn't want to be saddled with the restrictive conservatism of their parents. Back then, staying out late was rebellious. It was a more innocent time, and people wanted to break out of the mould."
Those monotone suits were ditched in favour of the classy tux jackets worn bymusicians or the white sports coats, complete with a dapper pink carnation attached to the breast for decoration, favoured by the dancers as they picked up their ladies, clad in frilly dresses. Pictou County was primed for the hippy movement that was soon to arrive.
"The hippies just took it to the extreme, what we were doing," said Haggart.
People would congregate in soda fountains, where they could afford treats like a soda or a bag of chips or sundae, the desperation of the Great Depression almost forgotten.
"If you had a job, even pushing a broom, you were respectable," Haggart said. "The Depression was a long time before - things were looking pretty good then."
Bars and lounges weren't on their minds - young people just wanted to dance.
"Dancing was their outlet. It was…it was just the time of their lives," Haggart said.
That social scene was Petrie's entire life - it was where he worked and where he met his wife of nearly 46 years.
"We were at a dance at the Oddfellow's Home. A lot of people have good memories associated with bands from 40 years ago. It's probably the same with bands today.
"Things have changed, though," Petrie says, sighing. "They've changed."
The dance halls are long gone. The Goodman Auditorium is something that the younger generation may not realize ever existed. Like the swing bands before them, old-time rock and roll met its demise as well.
"There's no audience now," says Burns. "I don't know what happened to dances today, no one goes out. I play once in a while with my son, Marty, but it's nothing like it used to be."
The disco era and the karaoke trend of the 1980s each chiseled away a little at that live music scene, says Haggart.
"There were so many bands…I think they started to play elsewhere. There just weren't as many places to play here," he said.
It was the 1990s when things started to change, Petrie believes.
"Things started to kind of die down…I don't know why," he said. "I was on the road for several years, that's how I earned my living. I'd have to call my booking agent two months in advance if I wanted a week off. I wouldn't want to do it now."
The change isn't just here in the county, either, he adds.
"It's all over the place. A fellow I worked with in Ontario says it's the same up there," Petrie explains.
Haggart still plays - this fall he released an independent gospel album - but he, too, says things are different now. But the impact those trendsetting musicians of the 1950s had on people like Haggart is clear.
"The fifties were a big influence on me. I was a child - I saw my brother Jim in the music business. They attracted a lot of friends, a lot of people admired them. It was a very exciting scene, and I wanted to be like that," Haggart recalls.
He says he "almost idolized" some of the fellows in the music scene at the time.
"They were good-looking, they all wore tuxes and fancy outfits, and they kept the whole house rocking all night long," Haggart recalled.
And inspire him they did. Haggart learned to play the guitar and joined a rock band - but it wasn't quite the right fit for him. He was heartbroken when he was kicked out of the band.
Jim and Don Haggart went on to make a name for themselves in the country music scene, but they weren't the "norm" of the time.
"Jimmy and I were probably a little less formal than a lot of them at that time - most of them still had pompadores. Country was pretty conservative and we were pretty progressive. We probably looked a little odd on the country scene, and our music was a little different than the southern tones of the time, a little more upbeat and poetic."
They used to be household names. Now, it can be hard to immediately recall their names.
Burns wants that to change. He wants people to remember that rich musical history and the people who made it happen.
"I've often thought about a musical hall of fame for Pictou County," he says. "I envision something where people from the industry, us older guys, are in there playing when people are coming in. I envision having a record of that history."
It's a thought that's been on Haggart's mind a lot as well. Four years ago, he and his late brother, Jimmy, were inducted into the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame.
Founded in 1997, the organization typically honours between two and four inductees each year, chosen by judges from the nominations that come in from all areas of the province, explains Carol Penney, who has been the president of the Nova Scotia Music Hall of Fame for the past four years.
"It's like any award, like the Country Music Awards in Nashville - it's good to have on your resume," Penney explains. "We don't just pick anybody. They have to have made a contribution to music here. And yes, it is an honour. It's similar to a hockey player being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame."
That recognition means a lot, "like your life's work is there to inspire someone else," Haggart says, but that hall of fame really has no home either.
Right now, the two foot by two foot plaques for the honourees are hung on a wall of the Hank Snow museum in Liverpool, while the majority of the board of directors live in the Bridgewater area. They want to expand into other areas of the province, says Penney, but that hasn't occurred yet.
Haggart's made a case that the hall of fame should be located here in Pictou County. The challenges are plentiful - finding a building, fundraising, becoming a registered charity in order to accept donations.
That's likely a long way off, however, if it ever occurs. And it doesn't even encompass the talented individuals who perform in a genre other than country.
"I've often thought Pictou County should have its own archives, just for local talent, never mind it being a Nova Scotia thing or a country thing," said Haggart. "There's no end to the music down here."
That's why The News has decided it's time to honour Pictou County's musical greats of all genres, in The News' Virtual Music Hall of Fame, hosted at www.ngnews.ca.
Over the next two weeks, county residents can nominate individuals, groups or builders by dropping off a nomination form at our office or by emailing jlittle@ngnews.ca with your suggestion. Please include the name of the group or individual, how they've contributed to the local music scene and why they deserve to be nominated, along with your name and telephone number so we can contact you if we need any more information.
Nominations will close on Feb. 15, and on Feb. 20, we'll announce the finalists. Then we'll turn it back over to the readers to vote on the first round of inductees into the virtual hall of fame. The nominees will be announced on March 6.