TEHKUMMAH—The Tehkummah Triangle Seniors’ Hall was abuzz on the evening of Saturday August 6 as members of the Northern Ontario Country Music Association Great Northern Opry came out to play with the soon-to-be inducted father-daughter duo of Ben and Katelyn Lentir.
Mr. Lentir, already a Great Northern Opry inductee, is now slated to be inducted into the NOCMA Hall of Fame, while daughter Katelyn will take her place as only the second recipient of the NOCMA Country Under 30 Award. The inductions this year will take place at the NOCMA Awards ceremony at the Quattro Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie November 7 to 9.
As is long standing tradition, a busload of Island country music fans will be travelling to the event, but don’t expect to get on the bus if you haven’t got yourself a ticket already as they are sold out. But don’t fret, you can try again next year, as Mr. Lentir, the NOCMA Manitoulin District representative (along with wife Crystal) noted, “we are always looking for new recruits and there will probably be room next year.”
NOCMA President Jennifer Patterson travelled from Lively to attend the Tehkummah event and welcomed everyone to the evening’s celebration. She noted that she had taken over the role of president as a promise to her father, the late Dave Patterson, one of the founders of the organization in 1989. Mr. Patterson passed away three years ago.
“I promised him I would take over, and that’s why I’m here,” said Ms. Patterson. She noted that the evening was also the return of the Country Critter mascot. “I thought it was time to bring back the Critter.” The Country Critter was a big hit with dance partners throughout the evening.
“I just wanted to announce the return of the Country Critter and I want to thank the Triangle Senior Citizen Club for helping us out with the venue here. It was a wonderful hall to have this event at, so thank you. Also thank you to the Manitoulin District rep who organized this event, even though he’s the inductee. That’s the second job of organizing all of that. So, thank you Ben and Crystal.”
“Thank you everybody on behalf of the Northern interior Country Music Association,” said Sudbury District rep Kevin Russell, who was attending with his wife and fellow director Joanne. Mr. Russel is himself being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. “I would like to welcome you all here to the celebration dance in honor of Ben Lentir’s induction into the NOCMA Hall of Fame and Katelyn on her Country Under 30 Award.”
“The first time in the 36-year history of NOCMA that we had a father and daughter receiving awards the same year, so it’s pretty special,” he said. “Ben is the 57th musician to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and Katelyn is only the second Country Under 30 Award recipient. Thank you to the Opry member band for providing the music tonight, as well as the many of our musical guests who will entertain us and thank you to everyone here who’s coming out to support this event.”
“We have keychain bottle openers up there at the back,” noted Ms. Patterson. “The pink ones are for Katelyn, and the red ones are for Ben. Please, please grab a whole bunch, take them, and make sure we don’t leave any behind.”
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, but it’s fun,” admitted Ms. Lentir when asked about how she felt being awarded as a Country Under 30 recipient. “I love playing music. I’m a little nervous about the trip to Sault Ste. Marie. It’s not that I am adverse to the award, or anything like that. It’s really cool to be able to have people to know me a little bit more than just from the Island and expand a little bit, so, it’s a lot of fun.”
“I am very proud of my daughter,” said Mr. Lentir. “I’m very proud of my little family, all three of them play, so I’m very, very happy with all three of them. But we’re very, very happy with Katelyn and her receiving the NOCMA Country Under 30 Award. That’s awesome.”
“There are a lot of very familiar faces here tonight, and a lot of few new faces in the crowd, which is always nice to see,” said Mr. Lentir. “The bus to Sault Ste. Marie is sold out, and the rooms are all full up at the Quattro and. Super 8. We’ve got attendance of approximately 500 people in attendance at the NOCMA Awards show. It’s very, very nice. Very busy, but yes, very enjoyable.”
Mr. Lentir noted that the main reason for the shows being held in the inductee’s communities is, of course to celebrate their induction and to help raise funds for 3, but also “so people can get out and enjoy part of it together.”
