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Details of Stompin’ Tom’s public memorial emerge

Details of Stoppin’ Tom Connors public memorial, which the Canadian singer helped to plan two weeks before he passed away, have emerged.

Connors’ spokesperson Brian Edwards told the Canadian Press that on Wednesday evening, March 13, friends, musical peers and government officials will gather at the Peterborough Memorial Centre to celebrate the musician with live music, video clips, family photos and remembrances. The hockey arena has a capacity of about 3,800, said Edwards, and he suspects that it will fill fast.

“It’s going to be a good mixture [of] everybody that Tom would have wanted on there,” he said. “As a matter of fact, a number of people who are there were by Tom’s request.”

According to the Canadian Press, “Edwards confirmed that speakers will include Canadian politician Ken Dryden, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, former EMI president Deane Cameron and Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett, while the evening will also include performances from former Rheostatics frontman Dave Bidini, folk singer/songwriter Sylvia Tyson, Nova Scotia country-folk singer Cindy Church and Connors collaborators Dave Gunning and Juno nominee J.P. Cormier.”

Edwards also confirmed that there will be a private memorial held on Tuesday, March 12, but that it was paramount to Connors that his fans be given a chance to so say good-bye, too.

For some fans, however, a public memorial is not enough: an online petition is being circulated asking Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston to hold s state funeral for Stompin’ Tom “to celebrate his life and his contributions to Canada.”

So far, there are nearly 830 signatures.

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