One of the original visionaries behind the Collingwood Elvis Festival has died.
Harold William 'Billy' Cann passed away surrounded by his family at the Sault Area Hospital on July 11.
Cann was 77.
For many years, Cann travelled North America with his Elvis Presley tribute, and in 1995, he and his friend Dorian Baxter brought the largest Elvis convention in the world to Collingwood, marking the start of the Collingwood Elvis Festival.
“Billy was instrumental in developing the Collingwood Elvis Festival,” said Rosemarie O’Brien, festivals co-ordinator for the Town of Collingwood and longtime organizer of the Collingwood Elvis Festival.
“He was somebody who was full of great ideas. He was a little before his time, in that regard. He was the brains behind it,” she added.
O’Brien said she first met Cann through music, as O’Brien was performing as a singer in a band. Cann asked O’Brien if she’d be willing to perform as the opening act for one of his shows.
“He was quite the character. He was a good performer, and he really enjoyed performing Elvis music,” she said.
O’Brien said Cann performed as a tribute artist as well as organizing the festival in the early days, and said he stepped away from the organization in the late 1990s and over the years she said they lost touch.
“It’s the end of an era. I don’t think we ever would have had the Elvis Festival in Collingwood if it hadn’t been for Billy,” she said. “I wish we could have kept in better touch.”
According to his obituary, Cann began his career as a master plumber working for various companies in southern Ontario, as well as working for himself, with his wife, Carol, as his bookkeeper.
He went on to coach/train boxing in Scarborough.
Cann leaves behind children, stepchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will take place at the Garden River Community Centre (7 Shingwauk St., Garden River, Ont.) on Aug. 23 at 1 p.m., and is open to the public. For more information, click here.
