Charity concerts at Twisted Lemon blew in on the wind
They say it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and judging by its severity, the wind that blew Laurie Lilliman and her husband Dan Megna off the beach in Mexico that day in February was ill indeed.
It sent them running for shelter, and in so doing it blew them together with Sharon Katz and her band, and judging by the enormous good that has come of that, the wind was anything but ill.
Sharon and her band, The Peace Train, famous for using music to fight apartheid in their native South Africa and, later, to help ease the country through reconciliation, will now, thanks to that fatefully windy day, be appearing at Twisted Lemon.
Twisted Lemon is the beloved Cayuga restaurant owned by the aforementioned Laurie Lilliman and Dan Megna, who founded it in 2009.
The concerts, this Saturday (July 30) and Sunday (July 31), will be not-for-profit events to support equally the restaurant's charity - McMaster Child and Youth Mental Health unit - and Sharon Katz's - the Mama Mary's Orphanage in Pretoria, South Africa, and Friends of The Peace Train.
Serendipitous" is the word Dan Megna, who is also chef at The Twisted Leon, uses to describe his and Laurie's meeting with Sharon and her band.
We were there in Todos Santos Mexico, celebrating our 10th anniversary on this little out-of-the-way beach that had been recommended to us, about 45 minutes through a kind of jungle. It was beautiful but then this terrible wind storm started blowing across," Dan recalls.
We ran, looking for shelter," says Laurie, and we found this place but we saw a woman in the distance running, also looking for shelter."
She was with others, so Laurie and Dan waved them over.
They started talking, waiting out the storm, and, says Laurie, the connection was instant and deep. This was the most amazing woman. I could tell we were in the presence of someone really special. I knew we have to something with her but I didn't know what or where or when.
They went to see Sharon and her band play that week near in Mexico and adored their music. It has been described as Afro-jazz-folk-rock fusion.
Later Sharon asked Laurie, Where's Cayuga?" and told her that she and Peace Train were doing a North American tour, part of humanitarian work they were doing to help combat human trafficking, and they would swing through.
So now here they are, with their dog Tutu, staying with us (at Lauria and Dan's house attached to the restaurant) with their 22-foot camper parked in our driveway," says Dan.
Sharon Katz, not only a musician but a music therapist, was born in Port Elizabeth, now Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, in South Africa, and began working against apartheid as a teenager.
In the 1990s, she formed South Africa's first 500-voice multiracial and multicultural choir, and they travelled and performed across South Africa aboard The Peace Train to promote a peaceful transition to democracy after apartheid was dismantled.
She has performed with Grammy award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Sharon Katz & The Peace Train became the first musical ambassadors of South Africa upon Nelson Mandela being elected in 1994.
She has used the proceeds from her concerts and CD sales to build a school and support an orphanage in South Africa. In recognition of her work around the world, she has received the Phil Ochs Music for Political and Social Change" award.
The weekend concerts will be performed in connection with dinner seatings at Twisted Lemon, 3 Norton St. W, Cayuga, and tickets are $50 a person. This includes patio snacks and drinks from Twisted Lemon's Charity Cocktails menu.
Seatings/concerts are 5 to 7 p.m. and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. July 30 and, on July 31, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Also performing will be Jay Pollmann and Mike Rajczak.
To book, call 905-772-6636 or email chef@twistedlemon.ca
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator.jmahoney@thespec.com