Portapique, N.S., community centre opens with surprise performance by Johnny Reid
A community centre opened in Portapique, N.S., over the weekend with a special surprise performance by Scottish-Canadian singer Johnny Reid.
A series of grand opening events were held on Friday and Saturday for the Portaupique Community Centre - Portaupique is the traditional name of the area.
Reid performed his song “People Like You” during Friday’s event. He released the song in 2020 after the Nova Scotia mass shooting, with proceeds going towards the Canadian Red Cross’ Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund.
The mass shooting in April 2020 started in the small community of Portapique and claimed 22 lives over two days in northern and central Nova Scotia.
A post on the Portaupique Community Centre’s Facebook page says Reid’s performance was a “total surprise for 98%” of the event’s attendees.
“Thank you Johnny Reid for coming to join us. Thank you to the 2% who made this happen and were able to keep it a secret for so long,” the post reads.
“It’s so nice to be here, thank you very much for the invitation and thanks for showing up here and supporting a lot of good people,” Reid can be heard saying in a video of the performance.
Reid was also joined by a local woman named Allison Francis on stage.
Another post on the community centre’s Facebook page shows Reid signed a sheet of song lyrics for “People Like You” after his performance.
Nova Scotia's lieutenant-governor, Arthur J. LeBlanc, Premier Tim Houston, housing minister and Central Nova MP Sean Fraser, and Municipality of Colchester Mayor Christine Blair also attended the event.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
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