No Sneaking out of Dawson City

by Dan Davidson

If you have any sort of public profile at all, you can’t just sneak out of Dawson when it comes time to move on. If you’re Dominic Lloyd, after nearly five years as the producer of the Dawson City Music Festival and several more years with Parks Canada and the Klondike Visitors Association, you can’t get out of town at all without a last farewell.

What’s more likely is that people will sneak into your house, pilfer assorted items, make up a bunch of posters of you in one your many distinctive

Dominic Lloyd was crowned king for the evening and them roasted for the rest of it at his farewell party.

haircuts, and use these as the of a display in a prominent Front Street store window.

Anyone that didn’t know Dom was moving on was quickly clued in by Maximilian’s Window of Dom (the deserter).

The climax of this fortnight of hazing came on February 29, Dom’s last night in town, when the man of many hats found himself enthroned and crowned, sitting in the lowest comfortable chair that could be pressed into service as the place of honour, during a farewell dinner at the Oddfellows' Hall.

Raised in Whitehorse, the 32 year old Lloyd came to Dawson 8 years ago and landed a position as a tour guide with Parks Canada. The next year he managed special events for the KVA, before finding his niche at the Music Festival (where he began sneaking into the big tent when he was about 12, according to old timers). He had already joined the board and was an easy choice for producer when Jennifer Edwards moved on after the 20th anniversary bash.

Less well known is his brief stint as a substitute teacher at Robert Service School, where his sartorial elegance earned him the sobriquet “Mr. Pink Floyd”.

Dom is no moving to bigger things in the city of Winnipeg, where he is taking on the job of artistic director for the West End Cultural Centre, housed in a former church. It’s an inner city music hall. Dom has been holding concerts in Dawson’s churches for years, so it shouldn’t be a big stretch.

At the roast, Dom sat either deadpan or convulsed with laughter, as emcees Bill Holmes and Wayne Potoroka let their hair down after weeks of dismal meetings at Dawson’s City Hall, where they are both councillors, and guided the only too willing audience through a history of Dom’s life in Dawson, a Jungian psychoanalytical portrait of the ambitious music meister, a séance with his dead cat, the beginning of a pool on how long it would take him to fail in Winnipeg and come back, and a marvellous multimedia slide show assembled by Jay Armitage.

In an unintentionally humorous moment, the DVD containing the slide show got lost and stuck inside the machine and Dom almost had to help his tormentors do their presentation.

That’s another aspect of his contribution to the town. If there’s been a public event, speech, forum or concert in the last few years, chances are it was Dom on the soundboard, checking the microphones and making it all work. He’s also shown real promise as an auctioneer in recent months. And, of course, in the off season, he’s often been found pulling shifts at Maximilian’s Goldrush Emporium On Front Street, where the staff took their revenge in the store window.

The normally imperturbable Dom finally broke down during his closing words to his friends and well-wishers. Earlier in the evening he had made a bit of fun of everyone with a quickly composed rap, but in the end it was all a bit much.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done is decide to leave Dawson, and I’m not leaving because I don’t like it here, so don’t get me wrong for sure. I’m just trying to do something new, and I hope that I’ll be back here some time.

“This is the greatest town on earth,” he said, as his voice began to break, “and you people have made my eight years in Dawson just the best years ever. Thanks for coming.”

The standing ovation should have been a signal for an encore, but he did have to travel the next day.

Humane Society holds AGM 2004

By Aedes Scheer

The 9th AGM of the Humane Society Dawson was held March 2nd at the Downtown Hotel conference room. Twelve people attended.

Mindy Potoroka presented her report as President and outlined the challenges and highlights of the past year. She thanked our staff for their hard work and dedication. 2003 was a difficult year for the HSD due to financial constraints. The HSD received less than half the usual level of funding from government sources and also lost some regular fundraising sources. Although we have a ways to go yet, our fundraising efforts have been very successful and due to the support of many local businesses and individuals to whom the HSD is very grateful. Successful fundraising events held in 2003 include:

a. Thawdigras dog show and Dog Ball Highball

b. Strut your Mutt dog walk-a-thon

c. Movie night at KIAC

d. Community Birthday Calendar

e. The fall donation drive

f. Bedding straw sales

g. Christmas bazaars

h. HSD Christmas Gift Auction (many thanks to Cathy Wood for her organizational magic!)

i. Donation of a percent of fuel sales from the Dominion Shell Station

j. Numerous charity bars

k. Pet boarding

l. and Bingo!

Isaac Fage, our Shelter Coordinator, reported that the Animal Shelter is quite full and has been busy this year. Over the last year 10 dogs, 12 cats, 4 rabbits, and a one-winged raven were successfully adopted to good homes. Much of this was accomplished through valuable contacts at the Calgary Humane Society, the Inuvik SPCA, and the Vancouver Rabbit Rescue and Advocacy Group. Additionally Air North has generously donated the airfare for these animals and the Board members of the HSD extend their thanks to Air North. Four dogs were euthanised for medical reasons or because they showed aggressive behaviour making them unsuitable for adoption. While euthanasia is a sad reality for most animal shelters, to put down only 4 animals over the last year is a far cry from 1994 when more than 100 animals were euthanised and the greatest proportion of these were impounded animals.

The Shelter Coordinator and the Animal Control Officer, Chad Tracey, actively promoted public education and awareness programmes such as Bite-Safe, humane education, and responsible animal care. Presentations were made to daycares and K-4 students at Robert Service School. Shelter visits were accommodated for the City Recreation group “Youth Minds”, the Brownies, and youths filling Community Service hours.

The new executive for the 2004 year is:

• President: Aedes Scheer

• Vice President: Mindy Potoroka

• Treasurer: Cara MacAdam (with the assistance of Rachel Wiegers)

• Co-Secretaries: Riley Brennan and Marta Selassie

• Directors: Miriam Kaytor, Karen McWilliam, Tyson Foxcroft, Cathy Wood, Isaac Fage (after March 12th)

The HSD Board would like to thank Father John Tyrrell for his years on the Board as Treasurer. Since he joined the Board in 1997, the bookkeeping for the HSD has become much more convoluted and he handled this with aplomb. He is also a handy kinda guy and has many times rewired dog runs, glue gunned loose bits, and patched whatever needed patching. We wish him all the best in his endeavors.

The new HSD Board looks forward to the new year and continuing our service to the community.

The Humane Society Animal Shelter can be reached at 993-6900.