Please welcome the Echo Community Podcast Network’s newest addition, the talented Marianne Vander Dussen. You can watch a selection of her visual art tutorials on our website and then check out her vast array of creations on her YouTube channel, where she has 46,000-plus subscribers and more than 50 videos so far!

In other news … Ever see a familiar name in a police brief story and feel sorry for the person with the same name? Let’s be clear that the well-known Canadian director James Cameron, 64, born in Kapuskasing, is not the individual in this BayToday piece.

And BEHIND THE SCENES is about Battalion fans denied tickets to watch North Bay play the host Sudbury Wolves this week.

 

Top Shelf

 

• Gerry Mendicino talks about his journey to stardom
• Pulling the curtain back on the Dionne Quints ‘tragedy’

 

Today’s Feel
by Allan Hirsh

 

 

Echo Essentials

From North Bay
to Film Stardom

Gerry Mendicino joins the To North Bay With Love podcast to talk about his life working in the film industry, including an iconic role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Gerry discusses his passion for acting and his desire to eventually come back to his hometown in the future, while also talking about his involvement in the third rendition of his Five: The Dionnes musical at the The Davedi Club on May 25. It’s part of the Dionne Quints Home Museum’s 90th birthday celebration week.

• Gerry makes a special intro for Lisa 2:20
• What would you tell your younger self about the industry 11:20
• Being flexible to stay in the industry 16:00

 

Pulling back
the curtain on the
Dionne Quints tragedy

Dionne family descendant Brian Callahan outlines the “tragedy” that ensued after the Dionne Quintuplets were born May 28, 1934.

Brian told the Echo Essentials Podcast hosts Scott Clark and Dave Dale it was the midwives who helped birth the first few girls before the famous Dr. Dufoe arrived. He added it was the midwives who kept all five alive through the night after the doctor left with an ominous prediction that the tiny girls wouldn’t survive.

Brian also explains how the first five Dionne children, plus three more after the Quints arrived, were treated as second-class family members, as well as why he recently removed himself from the Dionne Quints Heritage Board.

The 90th birthday celebration for the Quints begins in North Bay on May 24 and includes the third presentation of Gerry Mendicino’s Five: The Dionnes Musical at the Davedi Club on May 25.

………

Today’s Zen Suggestion: Tell your mother how much you appreciate her as a person in your life, not just because she provided it. And maybe you shouldn’t wait until the second Sunday of May.

 

Sponsor

 

 

Thanks to our sponsor Casey’s Grill Bar at the Algonquin Avenue intersection of the Highway 11/17 bypass. Visit the website, check out the menu and try not to drool on your keyboard.

 

Echo Network

 

To North Bay With Love:

Vasu Kaarudaiar and Romy Ghumman join Lisa Boivin, host of the To North Bay With Love podcast, to dive into North Bay’s increasing desire for cricket and the potential of a new pitch to be built in our city.

Listen to the episode HERE. They explain the sport to Lisa and point out that, while they play teams from all over Ontario, North Bay is one of the only cities that lacks a proper field.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the city is putting $140,000 aside to find a suitable piece of property and design the cricket pitch, with more than $2.4 million earmarked for the associated construction costs in 2026.

Before the cricket discussion, producer Ben talks about a recent driving pet peeve, and Lisa shares her latest road rage story.

There are more than 60 episodes of the 2NBWL podcast to check out HERE.

Backroads Bill:

Backroads Bill Steer and co-host Ben Sargent are joined by Mitch Azaria, executive producer at TVO, to talk about his latest documentary ‘Tripping the French River’.

Mitch shares some behind the scenes stories about how they created this unique view of one of Canada’s greatest waterways.

It premieres on Earth Day, Sunday, April 21, at 8 p.m. ET on TVO, TVO Today and YouTube (watch the trailer here); it will be streamed continuously thereafter.

Follow the Backroads Bill podcast in video form on the North Bay Echo YouTube channel, on this website under the Echo Shows or Spotify.

Echo Essentials:

We now have a full dozen Echo Essential Podcasts in our directory! Send topic and guest suggestions to [email protected]

You can watch on our website, subscribe to the YouTube channel or find us on your favour podcast platform.

Cogeco:

Catch the North Bay Battalion playoff action against the Sudbury Wolves tonight at 7 p.m. It’s the fourth game of their OHL Eastern Conference series with the Troops leading the best of seven series 3-0.

Check out the North Bay YourTV website to watch video stories.

Frontline:

The Powassan Voodoos take on the Greater Sudbury Cubs to begin their NOJHL Championship series tonight at the Countryside Arena.

Wingspan Entrepreneur:

Wingspan Entrepreneurs by Joel Arndt is all about financial issues and provides the inspiration and information to lift your business to the next stratosphere.

There are seven episodes of the Wingspan podcast so far. Check out the audio-only show on our website network page or follow on Spotify. If you have an established podcast and want to capitalize on extra eyeballs and episode promotion through the Echo network, email [email protected] to start the process.

Cheap Seats:

This week’s episode of Cheap Seats is entitled: Phallic Bottle, The Truth About Your Body, & Have You Surfed the Madame Web? (42)

Drew brought a water bottle. It was the biggest mistake of the week. Cheap Seats returns with a discussion about the film Madam Web! Throw in some hypotheticals, a game about acting, killer deer, and how one of us is getting censored at work… well now we have an episode!

Cheap Seats is an eclectic conversation between best friends, Drew and Nick, who love talking about movies and whatever else comes to mind. Find them on the usual suspects of podcast platforms.

 

3-Day Events Echo

Thursday, April 18

• Frankenstein by Joshua Bainbridge – Opening Night at Canadore College on the David Fox Stage | 7:30 p.m. | By Donation
• Button Making for Tweens and Teens (ages 11 to 17) at the North Bay Public Library | 6 to 7 p.m. | Free
• Super Fun Time Trivia at Moose’s Cookhouse | 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Friday, April 19

• Frankenstein at Canadore College on the David Fox Stage | 7:30 p.m. | By Donation
• Kevin California, an indie-folk artist from Toronto at New Ontario Brewing | 8 p.m. | No Cover
• 90s Dance Party at Gateway City Brewery | 7 to 10 p.m. | $10 Cover | Proceeds to the PADDLE Program

Saturday, April 20

• Gateway Martial Arts Grand Opening at 73 Lakeshore Drive | 2 – 4 p.m. | Free
• North Bay Farmers’ Market Earth Day Celebration at 222 McIntyre St. West (Kennedy Building) | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Free
• Frankenstein at Canadore College on the David Fox Stage | 7:30 p.m. | By Donation
• Section 53 debut at New Ontario Brewing | 8 p.m. | $10
• The Blackbirds at Lou Dawg’s | 8 to 11 p.m. | Free
• North Bay Choral Society presents A Brand New Beat at the Elk’s Lodge | 2 p.m. | $20 (Free 12 and under)

 

 

(For more events further out on the calendar, check Tourism North Bay’s comprehensive events listing guide. On Facebook, check out Creative Industries North Bay and take a gander at its April newsletter with month-long highlights HERE.)

 

 

First-time reader? Sign up for this free newsletter HERE. We publish Tuesday and Thursday.

If you have something to add to the discussion or an idea for one of Echo’s podcasters or affiliates, email Content Director Dave Dale at [email protected].

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In previous newsletters …

BAYSAR‘s Project Life Saver training helped southern Ontario search and rescue personnel find a missing person in Toronto recently. As reported by BayToday, an officer in a York Regional Police helicopter found the subject riding a bus by tracking the radio transmissions coming from a body-worn radio device.

Tourism Week is being celebrated with the release of a fun video showcasing North Bay, check it out HERE. You can also explore the updated Tourism North Bay website.

The “toxic workplace” cloud hanging over the North Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority became another shade darker … just as a heavy rain warning was issued by the organization (keep the kids and pets away from the creeks). Staff actually walked out last Thursday on their coffee break as a form of protest.

BayToday broke the story late Tuesday afternoon April 9, referring to the NBMCA’s recently-hired Human Resources director Mark Bremer as a “whistle-blower” after he blamed poor staff-management relationships on the chief administrative officer and the board for not dealing with the festering issues. Employees recently unionized due to some of the issues, which started to bloom in 2022, and they are in negotiations for their first contract.

It was reported by BayToday and The Nugget on Thursday, April 11 that the HR director discovered the lock on his office was changed Wednesday after the story broke. He had gone into work this morning to collect a few things after his mother had called from Europe to tell him that his father had been taken off life support. Bremer has since resigned from his position, as did the deputy CAO to take a job elsewhere.