There Is A Town

Of course, it comes as no surprise to anyone that I am a certifiable Neil Young freak.  It's heading into the fifth decade of my fascination with his music and it shows no signs of dimming any time soon.  I can still remember the first time I ever heard Helpless, and I'm sure I've heard it 27,000 times since - and it still sends chills up my spine even today.

 For years I've been talking about making a pilgrimage up to his hometown of Omemee, Ontario, Canada.  My excellent friend Mike Lange arranged for us to have our own version of the Trip of Excellence that I took with my friend Sanford.  The theme of this trip was music, with both Young and Rush, Lange's favorite band, having roots in Ontario.

Our first stop was in Young's hometown of Omemee, which we entered on a wonderfully overcast summer day.  Somehow a bright and sunny day would not have fit my perception of the town, and certainly not his music.  As it turns out Omemee is actually not in north Ontario at all, but rather much farther south - although I think north works better in the song (or maybe it just seemed north if you were in Toronto).  I'll include some posts chronicling the other parts of the a great trip.  The Youngtown Museum wasn't open that day, which, truthfully, was fine because it gave us the opportunity to just walk around the town, which I think, as a historian, actually worked better for me anyway.

"There is a town in north Ontario, with dreams, comfort, memory, despair." Allegedly the actual end of the line is "to spare" but I simply can't hear it that way.  Beyond decades of hearing it one way, I just don't think it fits the elegiac nature of the song itself.

Obviously, it's a very small town but also a very pleasant one.  I was surprised that there was no sign commemorating Young's birth, but that may just be a Canadian thing.  The nice shopkeeper we ran into thought it was a good idea.

Lange when he discovered that the town had nothing at all to do with Rush.  I tried to convince him to watch the Trailer Park Boys episode featuring Rush but was unsuccessful.

Sadly, the Youngtown Museum wasn't open.  I think Lange was much more disappointed than me, mainly because he really wanted me to have a great time (and I did).  He actually swapped emails with the volunteers who run the place and tried to convince them to come in on their off-day simply because I was in town.

And, yes, as the song reminds us, the chains were locked and tied across the door.

None of this stopped me from having a great time.  I made certain that we were playing Helpless as we drove into town.  I'm definitely planning on heading back there again sometime when the museum is open.

A nice understated homage to one of my favorite Young songs.

We did meet one really nice shopkeeper who actually knew Young, and she graciously talked to us for an hour about him.  She didn't have any Young souvenirs so I purchased a University of Omemee sweatshirt.  There's no such place, but they were made to pay for a new junior hockey center.

A picture that she shared with us.  She simply referred to him as "our Neil."  She said he was nice but also really shy, and that it was hard to get him to open up, but once he did he was very friendly.

A great trip with a great friend.