When the Hit After Hit tour made its way to Affinity Place in Estevan on May 11, more than 1,100 people attended the show.
Spectators cheered as Canadian country music singers George Canyon, Doc Walker, Charlie Major and Manny Blu performed many of their best-known songs. And they enjoyed the kitchen party format that saw Canyon, Walker and Major take turns playing a few songs each on the stage.
But for one fan, watching Major was a dream come true that knocked an item from his bucket list.
Rodney Russell is a North Battleford resident with multiple sclerosis (MS) who came down to Estevan for the show. His daughter, Christie Sinclair, lives in Estevan and she hoped her father could make to the performance.
“He has been in and out of the hospital a couple of times, but this last go-around was probably the worst that we had to experience,” said Sinclair. “We thought we were going to lose our dad.”
But Russell recovered after a couple of weeks in the hospital, and shortly after he was discharged, the family found out Major and the other musicians were coming to the Energy City. They told Russell they wanted him to see the show so he could watch his favourite musician.
A friend of Sinclair’s suggested that she message Major’s people to explain Russell’s health situation and his love of Major’s music, and to find out if Russell could meet Major. She sent a message, but didn’t hear anything back.
Unbeknownst to Sinclair, that friend sent a message to Affinity Place and told them the family’s story.
A couple of hours before the concert, Sinclair received a phone call from Rebecca Westling, the destination marketing communications consultant for the City of Estevan, with the exciting news that the Russell family would be meeting with Major just before the concert.
“I bawled,” said Sinclair. “I didn’t think it would actually happen. It was quite emotional.”
Her husband was supposed to attend the concert with the family, but couldn’t make it, so Sinclair’s sister Carla Huard was there instead, making it an even more sentimental moment.
“I was trying to hide it from him, but he thought maybe something happened to the kids … and of course I couldn’t hide it,” said Sinclair.
At that point, she told her father he would get to meet Major.
“He was just over the moon about it,” said Sinclair.
The meeting occurred at about 7:30 p.m., and lasted for approximately 10 minutes.
“It was really intense to see him walk through, and for dad to meet him for the very first time,” said Sinclair. “It seems really surreal at this point that we actually got to have dad have that opportunity to meet him, just amongst his challenges with MS and everything.”
He signed an autographed picture for Russell, which even noted that it was on Russell’s bucket list for the two to meet. Major also signed Russell’s cowboy hat, which Sinclair purchased for her father when she got married.
“That hat now has a lot of priceless sentimental value,” said Sinclair.
When they met, Russell was wearing a blue, plaid coat, which is the traditional attire worn by Major earlier in his career. But Major was wearing a jean jacket that night; as it turned out, Russell was wearing a jean jacket as well.
Then the country music star and his big fan thanked each other for coming all that way for the concert.
“We don’t know how long dad will be around,” Sinclair said. “He has his good moments; he has his bad moments. I was just happy that he was able to pull through for this concert, and be able to meet him.
“Charlie was very, very kind. He was very sweet. He was genuine. He was down to earth. He treated dad like he was a long-time friend that he hadn’t seen in a while. He was just full of life, and to be able to see him perform was amazing.”
Sinclair and Huard grew up listening to Major while in their father’s truck, and they would sing along with all of Major’s songs on the radio when driving to and from the farm.
Sinclair applauded the city staff for making this special moment happen. They were very accommodating, and she noted that events manager Diane Wenham helped them out before meeting with Major.
They thought there would be seating on the floor so that Russell could enjoy the concert in that area, but the seating was at the back. The city allowed the family to watch the concert from the penalty box instead.
“It was kind of fun, because me and my sister liked to scrap as kids, so having us wind up in the penalty box, watching dad’s favourite country music singer perform was quite comical,” said Sinclair.
