Summer Starts Here

SHE'S BACK! UNPACK THE ADVENTURE #NONSUCH Step aboard the Nonsuch, a replica 17th-century ship. Enjoy an immersive experience that invites you to sail back in time! The rest of the country got to see just how passionate sports fans in this province can be during the Winnipeg Jets' playoff run this spring. Those same fans should have plenty to cheer about this summer. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (bluebombers.com) kicked off their 2018 season on June 14 and will return home Fri., June 29 for one of the most anticipated games of the season when they take on the archrival Hamilton Tiger-Cats and new quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Big Blue are coming off an impressive 2017 season in which they posted 12-6 regular season record and hosted a home playoff game for the first time in several years. They looked poised for another strong season with the return of players like quarterback Matt Nichols and running back Andrew Harris and the addition of linebacker and former CFL Defensive Player of the Year Adam Bighill. If horsepower is more your thing, check out Assiniboia Downs (asdowns.com). One of Canada's most storied horse racing tracks features live racing Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and select Sundays and Mondays until the second week of September. One of the highlights of the race season is the prestigious Manitoba Derby which has been run since 1930. This year's event will take place Mon., Aug. 6 and will offer a purse of $75,000. If you are planning to check it out make sure you bring along a stylish chapeau, a must-have for Derby goers. Red River Co-op Speedway (redrivercoopspeedway.ca) is home to another kind of horsepower. Located five minutes south of Winnipeg on Highway 75, it's the largest oval dirt track in Central Canada and offers bumper-to-bumper auto racing from the end of May until the last week of September. The 2018 American Association season is already well underway for the Winnipeg Goldeyes (goldeyes.com). The Goldeyes won their second consecutive league championship last season and are looking to go three-for-three in 2018. Despite the loss of several key players from last year's championship squad the team looks to be strong again with players like Josh Mazzola, Reggie Abercrombie and Charlie Rosario back in the fold. A stone's throw from there is the site of the former Winnipeg Piano. One of its most famous customers was Fred Turner of BTO fame. Einarson shares the story of a 12-year-old Turner visiting the store to trade in an accordion his dad bought him for a guitar and amp. Turner's dad refused to pay the difference and eventually told him to return the guitar. "When Fred went back to the store the guy there said 'Look kid, I think you're going to enjoy playing guitar. Pay me whenever you can. Fred told me he might not have ever played guitar if not for that guy at Winnipeg Piano," says Einarson, who has written several books including biographies on Young, Bachman and Cummings. While the tour crisscrosses much of the city, it does spend a significant amount of time in the North End. Einarson and his guests visit Burton Cummings' childhood home on Bannerman Avenue where he wrote the hit These Eyes and the songwriting team of Cummings and Randy Bachman was formed. They also stop at the spot on Bannatyne Street where cover for the iconic Guess Who album So Long, Bannatyne was shot. Einarson says one of the most memorable moments on the tour occurred several years ago when he was showing people the house where Jacks grew up in on Oxford Street in River Heights. "We got to Terry's house and I hear from the back of the bus some guy saying 'Terry, guess where we are? Yeah, it's the old house.' It was Terry's cousin who still lives in Winnipeg and he was phoning Terry in B.C. to tell him we were at his old house," Einarson recalls, laughing. Although many of the people who take the tour are Winnipeggers, it regularly attracts tourists from Saskatchewan, Ontario, North Dakota and even as far away as Australia and Germany. One of the questions Einarson is asked most frequently on the tour is how a city the size of Winnipeg has produced so many rock stars. A Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences estimates that 12 per cent of all musicians and singers in Canada either came from Manitoba or got their start here. Einarson says there were several factors at play, including Winnipeg's isolation and how the tours for many major recording acts used to bypass the city. Perhaps the biggest factor, he says, was the popularity of the city's community clubs and how they served as a launch pad for the likes of Young and the Guess Who. "You can't find those anywhere else and they were in virtually every neighbourhood," he says. "The funny thing is I sat in Neil Young's living room in California. This is a guy who's played Woodstock and Live Aid. You know what he was most excited about? Talking about playing Glenwood Community Centre and the shirt he was wearing and the song he was playing. Fred Turner has played Madison Square Gardens umpteen times and he talks about his most exciting moment being playing Orioles Community Club." For more information about the Magical Musical Mystery Tour visit www. heartlandtravel.ca/book-a-tour/magical- musical-history-tour. ✹ Neil Young, the Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Terry Jacks, the Watchmen and the Crash Test Dummies all launched their musical careers in Winnipeg before going on to achieve international stardom. The Magical Musical History Tour offers a behind the scenes look at some of the spots that helped launched the careers of many of the city's most famous musicians including Neil Young and Burton Cummings. It's been a hit with fans from far and wide. PHOTO BY PHIL HOSSACK

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