It indeed was a very special evening last Friday, April 16, 2004 at the Famous PEOPLE Players as friends, family, and
FPP patrons gathered to honour Canada's "Dr. Music", Mr. Doug Riley. Doug was recently elected as a Member of The Order of Canada
the highest civilian award given to those who have exceptionally contributed to their profession and their communities. Doug has
been an inspiration to all of those who have had the privilege of meeting him, either at one of his performances, listening to
one of the hundreds of musical pieces he has worked on, or especially to any one who can call him their friend. I heard one
common phrase during the evening that justifies the Order of Canada, Doug is a "National Treasure".
Doug is not one to sit around and have people praise him on his accomplishments, when I asked what would a be special evening for
him, I should have expected the answer, "get some people together and let's jam..."
A jam session extraordinaire took place that evening... Doug was joined by Domenic Troiano, Peter Cardinali, Bernie LaBarge,
Jorn Anderson, Danny B, Penti Glan, Peter McGraw, Shawne Jackson, Elaine Overholt, Lynn Daragon-Moore, Sharon Lee Williams, and Michael Burgess.
David Clayton-Thomas, Rik Emmett, and Guido Basso unfortunately had previous commitments but all passed on their congratulations
to Doug on receiving his membership to the Order of Canada and wished they could have been there to join him on his special evening.
Lil, Jim and Linda we missed you that evening, I guess I'll have to try and organize another all-star lineup like this again
so that you can see what you missed...
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