Canines Give it Up for a Noble Cause

by Dan Davidson

Move over Sourtoe Cocktail, You’ve got competition.

The Dawson Humane Society has come up with a concoction that makes the famed pickled toes seem almost benign by comparison.

Meet the Dogball Hi-Ball. Which is exactly what it sounds like. You can have your choice of alcoholic beverage, but the secret ingredient is a canine testicle, recently parted from its owner. To qualify for an entry in the log book the secret ingredient has to touch your lips, but that’s about it. Some people do take it further than that, but they don’t have to.

Humane Society president Aedes Scheer mixes drinks for the brave volunteers. She says she doesn’t really need the gloves, but they add to the drama. Originally she used to serve the Hi-Ball dressed in surgical scrubs and a mask. Photo by Dan Davidson

The Dogball was trotted out at Bombay Peggy’s Victorian Inn and Pub on June 27 as part of a fund raising event for the cash strapped Humane Society, which runs the animal shelter for Dawson as well as being contracted by the town to enforce its animal control bylaw.

The Hi-ball started back around 1995, when the Humane Society was looking for something unusual for a fund raising event.

Aedes Scheer, a veterinary technician who was the closest thing the town had to a resident vet in those days, happened to have a pair of testicles she had had to remove from a sick animal. She suggested the drink as a kind of joke.

“We laughed about it but didn’t do anything with it for a while. Whenever we ran a concession for the Quest or the Percy we’d have this thing sitting out, kind of as a threat.”

She believes that Dominic Lloyd, the former director of the Dawson City Music Festival, was the first person to actually try the concoction. A glutton for punishment, he’s in the book half a dozen times. Aedes herself was number two, but she was cautious, even though she knew the ball was well preserved and harmless.

“I certainly wasn’t going to put that thing in my mouth,” she said.

But some people do?

“Yeah, there’s some pretty warped people out there. There were even some people who were dangling it by the epididymis (the tube through which the sperm flows) last night.”

The Hi-ball isn’t a regular event. It just gets hauled out when the Humane Society is doing some other fund-raiser.

The original set of testicles has seen about 60 members of the club.

The set in use last week were removed recently from Human Society dogs that were neutered. Vet John Overall says he didn’t solicit any volunteers, but he was the canine surgeon in this case.

The first couple at the bar on June 27 were tourists Clarise and David Vennix, who were directed to Peggy’s by Father Tim Coonen. She had gin and he downed a beer. Then they headed off to the Downtown Hotel for a Sourtoe Cocktail to make their evening complete.

It appears that Cap’n Dick Van Nostrand has nothing to worry about as far as competition is concerned.

Songs of Shär Cho

By Faye Mollberg

Songs of Shär Cho, a fusion of aboriginal and contemporary dance combined with storytelling opened July 6 at the Danoja Zho cultural center. Michelle Olson, a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen and artistic director of the Raven Spirit Dance Company is co-producing this event with the cultural center.

Raven Spirit Dance Company was started by the Dusty Road Dance Project four years ago and is based out of Vancouver. “The dance

Michelle Olson, Kimberly Tuson and new-comer Cherith Mark brought "Songs of Shär Cho" contemporary dance piece out of winter hibernation and back to the stage of Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre. Photo by Glenda Bolt.

company’s goal is to invest in community by producing support and pride”, says Michelle.

Currently, Michelle divides her time between Vancouver and the Yukon. While in Vancouver Michelle is actively raising money to come here for the summer.

This is the third season that the Songs of Shär Cho, meaning big bear in the Han language has performed in Dawson. Songs of Shär Cho shows Tuesday thru Saturday starting at 3p.m. until August 15.

The performance celebrates the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in culture and is an honoring to the land and people of Dawson. The forty minute presentation uses a combination of video art and video design to project images onto a backdrop that are significant to this area; such as the scenery, people and the community.

Inspiration for the project emerged from Michelle’s passion for the north and appreciation of the land. Although Michelle did not grow up in Dawson, she feels connected to the land and people by her heritage. Performer and choreographer Kimberly Tuson shares the same inspiration that Michelle does. Kimberly, a dance artist from the West Coast of British Columbia feels her heart is in the Yukon where she has lived and visited since 1984. Michelle and Kimberly are both grateful to have a mutual passion for contemporary dance and the north.

Dance performer Cherith Mark is a member of the Nakoda Stony Nation in Morley Alberta and has been practicing contemporary dance for six years. Her background is in Plains Traditional dance but Cherith has discovered that her traditional dance experience enriches the contemporary. “The plains traditional dancing brings grounded ness to the contemporary dancing”, says Cherith.

On October 22, Songs of Shär Cho will be performing in Whitehorse at the Yukon Arts Center.