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Music

Every night Roxton Road sings in support of frontline workers

Every night at 7:30 pm sharp, Ken Whiteley, Ellen Manney and Ben Whiteley step out onto their front porch, instruments in hand, and lead assembled neighbours on Roxton Road in a 10-minute singalong to support frontline workers fighting to curb COVID-19 spread.

What started with the three family members and a few neighbourhood friends has grown to a nightly group of upwards of 25 people – some with instruments, some with pots, one with a cheese grater – sharing their gratitude and ultimately boosting their sense of community.

It began with an email. On March 18, Manney received a message in her inbox from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) encouraging people to go out on their porches starting the next day and make noise in support of frontline workers until the fight against COVID-19 is over. The campaign – called #TogetherWeCanDoIt – suggests cheering, clapping, banging some pots or singing a song. That last one caught the attention of Manney’s husband, musician Ken Whiteley.

“It’s what I’ve been doing for 50 years,” he tells NOW“getting people to sing.”

Whiteley is, among other things, a multiple Juno-nominated musician and Manney is an accomplished artist. They organized the neighbours they already knew that first evening and since then numbers have been growing every night. 

“It’s a great outlet,” says Whiteley. “I’ve had all my gigs cancelled, a tour out west cancelled… I’m making music with people and it’s a beautiful thing.”

Roxton Road coranvirus singalong

Nick Lachance

The group of noise-making neighbours has grown to around 25 people since the street started participating in the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario campaign on March 18.

Roxton Road coronavirus singalong

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road is a particularly musical street: neighbours have played bass drum, djembe, melodica and blues harmonica at the singalongs. 

It’s not just health-care workers getting musical praise. The group cheers for transit operators, grocery clerks, postal workers and couriers. Moose, an enormous and vocal Saint Bernard  who lives on the street, also gets a cheer. The sense of community grows as birthdays are announced and neighbours offer to deliver groceries for those at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

Jamie and Jesika Parker learned about the singalong from a neighbour’s email newsletter and have been participating ever since. The couple moved to the area last summer and didn’t know many neighbours prior to the singalongs.

Jesika Parker, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, is especially grateful for the nightly gathering. “I already feel quite appreciated at work but then it’s really nice to get a little extra recognition,” she says. “I don’t want to sound too dramatic but I’ve been tearing up – happy tears.”

As the group gets bigger, there are concerns the singalongs may have to be cancelled if physical distancing isn’t being practised. So far, there haven’t been any issues.

“Everybody is very respectful of the six feet,” Manney says. “The groups you see are all family or house groups.”

Whiteley hopes to inspire others to start similar initiatives in their own neighbourhoods. “It’s not intended to be an event that people come to from all over,” he says. “Everyone is supposed to do their own thing.”

Advice about how to start your own nightly community as part of the #TogetherWeCanDoIt event can be found at the RNAO website.

Roxton Road coronavirus

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road coronavirus

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road coronavirus singalong

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road singalong coronavirus

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road

Nick Lachance

Roxton Road singalong coronavirus

Nick Lachance

Ken Whiteley (top left), Ellen Manney and Ben Whiteley.

Roxton Road singalong

Nick Lachance

@Lachancephoto

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