Maritimer of the Week

Christmas Daddies wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteer hours put in by dozens of people behind the scenes.

One of our volunteers in Cape Breton has been giving his time and talents for forty years.

Ed Bennett is known as the man behind the music in the Sydney portion of the telethon.

“It seems if you’re from Cape Breton, you can play a fiddle or guitar or something,” he says. “It just seems like it’s in the genes.”

Bennett has worked closely with Maritime performers such as John Allan Cameron, JP Cormier, Rita MacNeil and Gordie Sampson.

The soft spoken audio producer helped make the stars shine during the telethon, matching tunes with talent.

“I’ve got kind of a knack for picking a song that matches the person who’s going to be performing it,” he adds.

“For months before the telethon, Eddie researches music and matches it to our local vocalists,” explains Christmas Daddies Sydney producer Mary Murphy. “He spends hundreds of hours, working weekends before the show, and making sure that everything is perfect.”

In the show’s early years, all his dedication meant a lot of time away from a young family.

“Basically they wouldn’t see us on a Saturday from October right through the show in December,” explains Bennett.

“Ed is the reason why we sound so gosh-darn good year after year,” says musician Laurel Martell.

Bennett’s efforts are wholeheartedly appreciated by all the artists he works with.

“Every year since then, without fail, he has managed to pick the perfect song,” adds Martell. “Not just for me, but for all of the performers that you see on the Cape Breton portion of the show.”

Now retired after 42 years of working for ATV and CTV, Bennett says one of the reasons he keeps coming back is because of the people who make the show happen.

“We just became a family who enjoyed doing what we were doing.”

Congratulations Ed Bennett, our Maritimer of the Week!

If you know someone deserving of our Maritimer of the Week award, we want to hear about it.

It doesn’t matter how old they are, the nature of the good deed they’ve done, or what part of the region they live in — we want your ideas!

Please send your nomination to:

[e-mail]

or

Maritimer of the Week

P.O. Box 1653

Halifax, N.S.

B3J 2Z4