350 generous patrons, performers and community supporters of Moonshine Café in Oakville have so far raised over $40,000 of a $75,000 target in a GoFundMe.com campaign to help the room to continue operating through the next year despite the COVID pandemic.
The café, about which we’ve written many times before, including an article about its 12th anniversary in 2018, presents original music artists both famous and obscure from diverse genres several nights a week and is a destination room for music fans and performers alike from across the country and beyond.
John Marlatt & Jane MacKay at Moonshine’s 7th anniversary party -Jay Smith
According to Paul Rooney and Ron Mueller, who started the GoFundMe campaign page two weeks ago today, club owners John Marlatt and Jane MacKay, “have but a few months before they will be forced to close permanently.
“These are unprecedented times and this funding initiative will ensure that The Moonshine Café will have the financial resources to weather the next 12 months.
“We do not want to lose this hub that has been established for 15 years and has given us 15 years of wonderful memories,” the campaign description says.
Tonight the club presents the return of its live open mic night with host Neil McNaughton, who has been running a virtual open mic online on behalf of the club since the COVID lockdowns began. (The grand finale of that event takes place this Thurs., October 8.)
Like other live shows that the club has been presenting since provincial restrictions eased somewhat, the performers will play two-song sets on the club’s pro-calibre stage inside and the action will be streamed to a 10-foot screen for patrons on the patio. Reservations are a must both for patio patrons and performers and of course all COVID protocols are in place, including sanitizing of equipment between sets. Performers should bring their own mic if possible.
The open mic runs 8-10:30, cover is just $3 and the club is located at 137 Kerr St. in downtown Oakville. For reservations call 905-844-2655 or email [email protected].
-By Gary 17, www.ToroontoMoon.ca
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Copyright 2020 Gary Webb-Proctor & TorontoMoon.ca
