Make-a-Wish Donation

37 Comments

Trey goes to Disney Aulani Resort

Upon his arrival, Trey couldn’t stop talking about the trip. He talked about the pool, the slides, the Mexican food, shrimp wagon down the street, and the snow cones. One of Trey’s favorite excursions they went on was to Pearl Harbor. He said that it was so cool to see the ships and all the fighter gear. He truly thought it was an amazing opportunity to see it all, even it if was a very emotional day. When they arrived to the resort, Trey was told about a turtle that visits and resides near the resort. While Trey and his dad were out kayaking and canoeing in the water one day, they got to see that very turtle and Trey thought it was so cool. He said that all the experiences that he got to have while on the trip were so incredible. He truly feels blessed and loved the trip. He said it was by far the coolest and best trip he has ever been on with his family. The family couldnt stop expressing their thanks, they said the hospitality of the trip was amazing and they will forever be grateful for this memory.

Thank You Letter

I just wanted to say thank you to you and your charity. I’m sure you are aware the make-a-wish donation you made has gone to our family.

Last september our son Trey (12 years old) was diagnosed with cancer. It was the worst moment of our lives. He was air lifted from Red Deer by Stars to Calgary because of a large tumor crushing his air ways (amoung other things) making breathing near impossible. It was a brutal fall and winter. Our social worker at the hospital got the ball rolling for Treys wish. This time last year I would never have dreamt a wish would be possible for him. We were told in the summer that Treys wish had been granted but we didnt know anything else. Friends of ours were at the Gord Bamford golf tournament and the announcement was made about Trey being granted his wish by you.

I am sending you this email because most times when people give they don’t know who it affects. Well I wanted you to know. We are so very grateful, I truly have no words to properly express how we feel. I wish with all my heart that Trey had never had to go through what he did and that he still has to go through it. But the fact that we are able to celebrate his life in this way is truly amazing!
Thank you Gord to you and your organization! Its an amazing thing that you are doing!
We leave for Hawaii on sunday and can’t wait to leave our stress of the last year behind! Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts!!

SIncerely,
Connie Scott Trey and Portia Cooper

Pictures

[nggallery id=3]

Guitars for Kids

15 Comments

When the Guitar Club at Lochearn Elementary School in Rocky Mountain House, AB, needed new equipment, the Gord Bamford Foundation stepped in with funding that helped supply new guitars and accessories. The following is a thank-you letter from Eric Armitage, the teacher at Lochearn School that supervises the Guitar Club:

Hello Mr. Bamford,

My name is Eric Armitage and I presently teach the third grade at Lochearn Elementary School. I am also responsible for running a Guitar Club here. When I started I had a few guitars of extremely varying quality. Some were not even playable.

With your generous donation I have been able to purchase seven new guitars with capos, tuners and all the accessories that I will need to play them with kids. The club is officially up and running now and the kids are enjoying it immensely as they discover the musician in themselves.

Without reliable instruments, I would not have been able to put on the kind of dynamic program for the club that I had envisioned. There is not one kid who has joined in the last couple of weeks that has not grown somehow in either musicianship or camaraderie with their fellow musicians.

Thank you very much for the support and for solidifying the message of the importance of music with our kids and all it can do for their minds and souls. I look forward to organizing a meeting with you to shake your hand and have the school show its appreciation. Thanks again.

Eric Armitage, teacher, Lochearn Elementary School,
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta

Gord Bamford Country Christmas Tour

50 Comments

Communities in Alberta that Were Supported

  • Warburg Elementary School
  • St. Martha School, Lethbridge,
  • Glenbow Elementary, Cochrane,
  • Evergreen Elementary, Drayton Valley,
  • Sacred Heart School, Wetaskiwin
  • Ecole St. Mary School, Whitecourt
  • Hussar School, Hussar,
  • St. Mary School, Beaverlodge
  • Coronation

Country Christmas Tour Testimonials

Warburg School

Thank you Corinne for your efforts in bringing Gord Bamford to Warburg. It was a pleasure meeting Gord at the Warburg concert. I found him to be a very personable and down to earth person. This was reinforced through his concert, the time he spent talking with kids and adults and through his Mother who was also at the concert. Her instilling strong family and community values in him is a real testament to her and the down to earth loving families that we are fortunate to partner with in our schools on a day to day basis. Gord clearly demonstrates he is the type of person who will always value the important things in life like love for family, friends, and the land and reflects this in his music and actions. All Warburg is grateful for your generous fundraising contributions. We will continue to follow his career and continue to appreciate the great music associated with Gord Bamford.

Howard Rasmusson, Principal, Warburg School

Sacred Heart School

Sacred Heart hosted a concert given by Gord Bamford. It was amazing to see how a school gymnasium could be transformed in a matter of a few hours from a place where children run and play into a excitedly charged venue for professional musical entertainment. It was incredible how the band involved a school choir made up of grade five and six children and had them believing for one night that they too could be major celebrities one day.

Gord was very personable with the kids and he gave them a great opportunity to ask questions while he signed autographs and gave them words of encouragement. One student proclaimed that she was his biggest fan and Gord humbly accepted her praises; it was evident that maybe a Christmas wish had come true. Whether the children will pursue careers in music remains to be seen, however that evening Gord made them believe that if they tried hard enough, with faith in themselves and God, they just might be able to.

Melanie Toohey
Sacred Heart School Secretary, Wetaskiwin, AB

Beaverlodge

Thanks again for bringing your group to our school. I found the opportunity
for the students to meet an sing with a recording artist second to none. The
excitement that the students had leading up to the event was well rewarded
with an excellent down home meeting with Gord. Gord is a first class artist
who remembers that community and the youth of today are the building
blocks to our society. By making himself available to the students they were
able to see and meet a role model who remembers what it was like to a be
a kid.

Thanks again

Lorilee Rheaume, Teacher & Concert Co-ordinator
Beaverlodge, Alberta

Glenbow Elementary School

This by far was the best ever! What Gord brought to Glee Club kids, the Cochrane Community and all concert attendees was nothing but outstanding! The combination of a Gord Bamford concert attached to our Gala fundraiser was the most successful one at Glenbow School yet and received tremendous support from the community businesses and surrounding area.

To have a musician of Gord Bamford’s caliber, come and share his love of kids, his passion for music and of course his talent, there are no words! The kids are still talking about this experience! From Gord himself and his down to earth attitude, his OUTSTANDING Crew (Corrine we couldn’t have done this without you) all helped FOG raised incredible funds to enhanceour kids education! With this we thank you and looking forward to next year’s concert as it can only get better from here!

With deepest gratitude,

Julia Grohn
FOG and Gala Chair
Glenbow Elementary School

The Children of St. Martha’s

It has been a couple of months since you came to our windy city of Lethbridge, Alberta where you turned a traditional gymnasium into a magical music hall, and yet we are still talking about it. We are remembering the student’s faces light up upon meeting you, the smiles and laughter you and your staff shared with ours, the parents in awe of their children and your musical gift. It was a night that students, staff and parents will always remember.

Our gratitude to you for the monetary gift you gave to the school. It was a
special blessing. Thank you for your generosity. On behalf of our staff and school community at The Children of St. Martha’s, I would like
to thank you for your blessing of music and wish you continued success.

Sincerely,

Kim Mrak
School Secretary/Concert Coordinator

Evergreen School, Drayton Valley

My name is Howard McKay, music teacher at Evergreen Elementary School in Drayton Valley, Alberta. In June of 2011 I was contacted by Corrine Szepesi with an offer of participating in the Gord Bamford Country Christmas 2011 tour. Little did I know what a positive impact this would have on our school when I accepted.

When all was said and done, the concert was a huge success and the benefits to the school were significant, both monetarily and with the experience for students and staff. I would highly recommend participating in the 2012 Country Christmas tour if your school is given the opportunity.

Sincerely, Howard McKay
Evergreen School, Drayton Valley, Alberta

In Tune with the Day Job

26 Comments

Family, country music and a western lifestyle weave the fabric of Gord Bamford’s life. Like a well-worn quilt, the four-time Canadian Country Music Award winner carries his fundamental principles with him no matter where his tour bus takes him.

Staying true to such virtues is easy for Bamford. He credits his namesake and uncle, Central Alberta cattleman Gord Graves, for instilling these passions while growing up in Lacombe, Alta.

Gord is passionate about giving back and helping those who are less fortunate, which is one of the main reasons why he formed the Gord Bamford Charitable Foundation.

It was Graves, along with Bamford’s family, who encouraged him to foster both his talent and love of country music.

Fifteen years later, Bamford has maintained his focus on music and honed his craft as one of Canada’s leading country music songwriters. He wrote 11 of the 13 songs on his new album, Day Job.

The accolades keep stacking up. Bamford’s album, Honkytonks and Heartaches, was recently named Album of the Decade by Larry Delaney, an expert on Canadian country music. Delaney has been publisher and editor of Canada’s Country Music News for 30 years.

“Gord is right amongst the top songwriters that we have,” says Delaney. “Personally, I’ve always been a big fan of Gord’s vocal delivery. It’s very country.” The biggest strength of Canadian country music lies in its songwriting—and Bamford is picking up where Canadian greats Ian Tyson and Gordon Lightfoot have left off.

The Society of Composers Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) also recognized Bamford for his songwriting talent for his song, Stayed ‘Til Two, in November, 2009. It was one of the top three country music songs that achieved the most plays on domestic radio in 2008.

His new CD explores a time when Bamford wondered if a career in music was realistic. While working a day job as a concrete truck driver, he discovered the freedom to explore country music in the security of that truck cab.

“In that truck, I was on my own. I loved it. My mind could go wherever it wanted and it gave birth to many of my song ideas,” says Bamford. “That’s when I realized I wasn’t done with music.” Shortly thereafter Bamford won Q91 radio station’s “Search for the Stars” talent contest in 1994, which included a recording session at a professional studio.

Fast forward to 2010. Today the 34-year-old is one of Canada’s brightest country stars. Bamford’s Nashville-based
company, Quinnford Publishing, currently houses a catalogue of 325 songs. Yet most of the songs are not about his life. “I write about other people’s lives.”

One exception to that rule, however, is the song Little Guy. Bamford penned it four hours after the birth of his first son. It only took 20 minutes to write. “I always say Little Guy was a selfish song because I wrote it about my son.” Now, with three young children all under the age of five, his priorities have changed.

“Kendra and I live a pretty average life. We tie skates, clean toilets, pick up toys, and read bedtime stories,” he
says. “Our house looks like the rest on the block—our fridge is covered in the kids’ artwork and we shop at all
the same stores as everyone else in Lacombe.”

The importance of kids and the western lifestyle are also apparent in Bamford’s recent partnership with the
Canadian 4-H Council. Set up as a fundraising initiative, 4-H members across the country will be selling
his CDs, with a portion of the profits going back to their club.

“I am very excited to have the chance to give back to an organization that had such a big impact on my youth,” says Bamford, who was a member of the Lacombe 4-H Beef Club.

“Gord exhibits all the characteristics that 4-H embodies,” says Mike Nowosad, CEO for the Canadian 4-H Council. “This is apparent in both his life and in his music. We are extremely appreciative to Gord for this opportunity and his support of 4-H Canada.”

It’s the support of such organizations along with the comfort of family and friends that keeps Bamford grounded.

He takes this support with him, especially on the road. “I love looking out the window at the prairie scenery. I get lost in my thoughts. That bus takes me to places to do what I love best—perform and entertain.

“And then, it takes me back home again. I never see myself changing. I am country, pure country.”

Fourth-generation ranch girl Tracey Feist grew up south of Cochrane. The award-winning writer now lives with her family near a small cowboy town south of Denver, Colorado. Denise Broadbent specializes in marketing and business management but relishes every opportunity to write about her childhood dream — life out West.

Gord Bamford Forms Charitable Foundation to Help Canadian Families in Need

18 Comments

Gord Bamford, Canadian country music star and local Albertan, has set up the Gord Bamford Charitable Foundation in order to give back to his community.

“I started this charitable foundation as a way to give back to the youth and people less fortunate,” says Bamford.

The Gord Bamford Charitable Foundation’s mission is to help families in need. It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child, something Bamford believes in. “I believe that this foundation can make a difference in a child’s life, either through education, music or sport,” he says.

The application process to establish the charitable foundation began back in April, 2009. The process is expected to be completed by October, 2009. Bamford feels the timing will be excellent as the holiday season, typically a time for giving, will soon be approaching.