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'Quite the character': Collingwood Elvis Festival pioneer dies at 77

Harold William ‘Billy’ Cann passed away surrounded by family in Sault Ste. Marie on July 11, ‘It’s the end of an era,’ says festival organizer
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Harold 'Billy' Cann (left) and Archbishop Dorian Baxter in a file photo from 2020. Kim Champion/NewmarketToday files

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 at 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 long-time 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 said.

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 Street, Garden River, Ont.) on Aug. 23 at 1 p.m., and is open to the public. For more information, click here.


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Jessica Owen

About the Author: Jessica Owen

Jessica Owen is an experienced journalist working for Village Media since 2018, primarily covering Collingwood and education.
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