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Actually on that last tape and this is kind of the 67 and every week from now to the end of summer we'll be bringing you the songs of the country celebrating its 1 100th anniversary. The first sound you heard on today's program was the final countdown at the gates of Expo 67 the great universal and international exhibition being staged in Montreal Expos open to the public on Friday April 28 at 9:30 a.m. Montreal time the weather was perfect clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine. And by the end of that first day well over a quarter of a million people went through the turnstile. Most of these the man with Ticket Number 8 w 0 0 0 0 0 1 was Al Carter of Chicago Illinois in the United States. He spoke with Fred Walker. Mr. Crowder How long were you standing in line. Well I was there since time like like yesterday morning. Whatever hours that is. I'm a little frozen from a very cold
evening here and I can't think straight. How long in advance did you have to put in word that you wanted number one. I saw an item about the planning of this pair about three years ago so the minute I saw that item I wrote to I think the mayor of Montreal I didn't I don't know when mayor was at that time I did not get a reply so I kept pestering different offices and finally I did get a reply and eventually I received this particular ticket poll poll run. So then do you not just starting your long list of number ones. This is a habit with you isn't it. Oh yes I. Was Like enough to get Seattle the Seattle fair as a first customer in the Seattle fair and. New York where I got the ticket 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 is on the line. So I think I was pretty lucky and I when I want to do is thank the gentleman here at the fair Mr
Jean-Paul U.S.A. who was kind enough to give me a ticket 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 0 0 1 and. I of course I pestered him quite a bit and he was kind he came up to the gate here. This is the first time I met him personally and I pestered him. Once over the telephone. People. Oh great now another first. They're asking me I was the first passenger through the same Lawrence Seaway and through the good graces of another fine gentleman Mr. Michael I guess the Canada steamship line. So I love Canada and I think everybody in Canada at the other end there. The Pacific Coast. Come over here and see it I think it's a great fair isle Carter of Chicago the first man into Expo 67 and by the end of the opening weekend more than one and a half million people that followed him bearing the brunt of this mass influx where the hostesses and the most popular national pavilions John
Ramsey gathered some of their impressions. We were overwhelmed. All that I saw were people and I've never seen so many in one place at one time there was a fun time. It was expressed coming in. It was a question of pushing one's way and holding on to keep you and hoping you didn't get smashed by the door and it sure seemed like millions. How long are you want to leave here. Six hours seemed like he was there anything unusual happened to you over the weekend. Well I was down in Britain and decided they were going to see people having an accident. But that's nice enough to keep
me week before anything gets played at that time thank you for helping conduct people up and down the field. The British Pavilion wasn't the only one to have escalator troubles. The Americans and Russians run into similar problems as they struggle to cope with the huge crowds. In fact for everyone at the receiving end things were hectic. One small example the bulldog pub operated by the British on home and the amusement area some 500 gallons of imported beer were downed on Saturday afternoon alone. It's thirsty work visiting a World's Fair. I was there by Tuesday Expo was into its second wind and ready to receive its first visit from a head of state. Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie arrived to preside over the celebration of his country's national day. Here again is John Ramsey. His Imperial Majesty arrived in the city of Montreal Monday evening after meeting with Canada's prime minister less to be Pearson in Ottawa earlier in the day. The Emperor was
received in the plastic that seal the site of the National Day flag raising ceremony by his excellent CPR. The commissioner general for Expo a 100 man guard of honor from the Royal 22nd regiment was inspected by the diminutive head of state and he paid his compliments to the plight major of the band of the Black Watch Royal Highland regiment of Canada who played the Ethiopian national anthem after a brief ceremony at the plastic Nescio his Imperial Majesty went on a tour of the pavilion of Ethiopia. Fred Walker of the CBC visited the red top of the UN and sends this description. I'm standing on the staircase which is the entrance to one of the most colorful pavilions on Ethiopia. It's crimson tent topped with the Golden Lion of Judah stands proudly for everyone to see from all distances around the site at the head of the access staircase that I'm on now. Flanked by lions representing the 13 provinces of the Empire. You look down on the replica of the Church of St. George at
its interior containing the crowns of XM one thousand silver crosses and other objects of art. It's a replica of a 10th century church. Exhibits tell of the natural riches of Ethiopia and the work of artists and artists and a replica of the imperial throne of Ethiopia is on view as well. And as I said on the staircase leading into the pavilion from where I can see the civilians of Thailand Burma Algeria Africa place and beautiful canal is situated directly opposite the entrance way here. The Ethiopian folkloric group was on hand to entertain visitors to Expo while his Imperial Majesty visited some of the major provisions on the expo site. This is John Ramsey reporting from Expo 67. Running concurrently with the exhibition itself is Expo 67 as World Festival of the
performing arts. This too is attracting large numbers of people and offers several events simultaneously in different theaters. Ken Murphy has that story. Nothing indicates better the international flavor of Expo 67 and the activities of the first few days of Expos World Festival of the performing arts on three consecutive nights I attended the first concert ever to be given three new theatres and all of them were given by companies from visiting countries. On the first night the Tatar to France presented the readings from the works of one descent Exupery at the new mezzanine Theater in downtown Montreal. The next night it was the Americans turn to open a new theater. In this case the expo theater on the fairgrounds with a performance of the musical Hello Dolly by the Broadway cast including of course the fantastic Carol Channing. Then the night after that the Ethiopian folklore ensemble and integrated the Newport Royal Theatre on the occasion of Ethiopia's national day and in the presence of Emperor Haile Selassie. So much for the inauguration of the three new theaters the
inauguration of the World Festival itself took place on April 29 from the main hall of Montreal's Performing Arts Center. The plastic before an audience of VIP is from the prime minister down. The international flavor on this occasion was supplied by the leading actors of Great Britain and friends Sir Laurence Olivier and John about oh and by the participation of the Rutgers University chorus in a performance of the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony the highlight of the concert turned out to be a new work for a chorus an orchestra commission for the occasion from two Montrealers composers under a pretty vocal and poet Michel along and it is called Man and his world which is the theme of the Expo 67 and here is a brief sample. So yes this. Was. The AS. Was.
What this inaugural concert launched was a World Festival the likes of which has never been seen anywhere before. During the next six months the four theatres which I have mentioned will seldom be unoccupied. They will be used by 18 theatrical companies 20 to symphony orchestras 13 ballet companies eight opera companies and a countless individual performers. All of them of international stature. They will come from every corner of the globe and many of them such as the Bolshoi and Lescott operas will be appearing in the new world for the first time for many some heart rending decisions are involved. How for example does a modern opera buff choose between the Vienna State Opera presenting the tzaddik and Benjamin Button conducting on the same night his own Midsummer Night's Dream.
On the day of the inaugural concert of the World Festival I asked Sir Lawrence Olivier what he thought of the programme which had been planned for the subsequent six months I would say it was one of the most ambitious theatrical programmes ever undertaken and secondly the standard is extremely high and the interest is more general surely than any other that's ever been put together before. I think it's a majestic programme. The curious thing about it all is that Montreal has never been a cultural center of international significance until now. It is significant that visiting upper companies used to perform in the Montreal Forum home of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team for which we really were well known. Ken Murphy in Montreal. Not all the celebrations of Canada's centennial year are taking place in Montreal across the country Canadians are holding birthday parties of many different types and sizes and the federal government is helping out in various ways. One of them has been the organizing of a centennial train a sort of traveling pageant of Canadian history
which is calling it all communities served by railways and for places the train cannot reach. There's a centennial caravan going by road. Robert Abrams describes the caravans departure from Ottawa this week each traveling in eight giant tractor trailers the centennial caravans are more than a museum an art gallery or a history lesson. Rather the tour through them is more like a time machine trip to visit the people of all walks of life who lived and worked laughed and wept in Canada long before the present generation was born. Like the centennial train it takes the visitor through rather than past the scenes of Canadian development from the ice age to modern central heating across the seas with the early immigrants and across the prairie by rail to the new wheat lands of the West. Down into the mines of Northern Ontario and into the tall timber of the West Coast. Also like the centennial train the caravans will enter the smaller communities of Canada with Klaxon horns blaring the first four notes of all Canada the national anthem. The visit of
the caravan to the local ball park or fairgrounds will mean a central Centennial observance for the community. This is Robert speaking from Ottawa and that's Canada 67 for this week. We'll be back seven days from now with more highlights from Expo 67 and other events marking the one hundredth anniversary of Canadian Confederation of the sixty seven is produced by the international service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This is Bob Harding speak. This program was distributed by national educational radio. This is the national educational radio network.
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Series
Canada '67
Episode Number
1
Producing Organization
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
National Association of Educational Broadcasters
Contributing Organization
University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/500-hd7nt925
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/500-hd7nt925).
Description
Episode Description
This program presents several brief news stories related to Expo 67 and other events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Canada's founding.
Series Description
This series focuses on Canada's Expo '67 celebration and other events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Canada.
Date
1967-05-05
Topics
Global Affairs
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:14:43
Credits
Host: Harding, Bob
Interviewee: Carter, Al
Interviewer: Walker, Fred
Producing Organization: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Producing Organization: National Association of Educational Broadcasters
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Maryland
Identifier: 67-25-1 (National Association of Educational Broadcasters)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:14:30
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Citations
Chicago: “Canada '67; 1,” 1967-05-05, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-hd7nt925.
MLA: “Canada '67; 1.” 1967-05-05. University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-hd7nt925>.
APA: Canada '67; 1. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-hd7nt925