By Will McGuirk

Mogens Galberg, co-founder of the Greenbank Folk Music Society, has passed away.

Mogens and his wife Cathy, along with the bands, Christmas and Reign Ghost, music store owners Wilson & Lee, and Mike Kupnicki of Alto Music, are the recipients of the inaugural 2020 Oshawa Music Awards Lifetime Achievement and Hall of Fame award. Mogens passed away March 15 after a lengthy illness. The Awards Gala were to be held Apr 3 and 4 but have been postponed until later this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The winners in the remaining nine categories will be announced one at at time in a live-streaming event every Friday beginning Apr 4.

Mogens’ was inspired by the Vital Spark Folk Club in Whitby to start up the Greenbank Folk Music Society along with George Riszanyi, Rene Demers and Peter Klinkenberg. Since Greenbank’s inception in 1993, the list of past performers is long and stacked with the best of the best. Ron Sexsmith, Willie P. Bennet, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, Fred J. Eaglesmith, Russel DeCarle, Old Man Luedecke, the Silver Hearts, are among the many who have played there.

Ron and Mogens, photo provided by Cathy Galberg

Ron Sexsmith says he always looked forward to playing Greenbank and seeing Mogens and his family.

“You always felt right at home and in the presence of a true fan of music and a genuinely good person. He ran the Folk Society with love and enthusiasm which was felt by everyone who walked through those doors.”

Russell DeCarle, formerly of Prairie Oyster, was a long-time friend and fan.

“I know that much has and will be written about Mogens' and Cathy's, along with a host of volunteers’, tireless efforts in establishing and running the Greenbank Folk Society as a venue for fans and musicians alike, myself included. So I would like to talk about Mogens the musician. The first time I heard him sing and play I was hooked, and made a point after that to catch him whenever I could, whether it was with the band Sourpuss or later on his own. Though not a writer, Mogens’ interpretation and emotional connection, made every song his own. After I played a Willie P. Bennet song the last time I visited him, he commented how much it meant to him that Willie once told him how much he liked his strum. One late, great troubadour to another,” says DeCarle

Greenbank also provided a place for new acts such as Annie Sumi and Rory Taillon to perform. The Greenbank Folk Music Society is to continue on.

Cathy informed me Mogens was honoured to have his work and the work of the Folk Society committee recognized in such a way by the OMAs.

Although I regret not having taken the time to visit Greenbank more often I balance the regret with knowing time was taken to help set up the Lifetime Achievement/ Hall of Fame awards and to have Mogens among the first inducted.

I think here in the Region, we are very much behind in recognizing the work of our arts elders. As much as the arts matter, if at all, in the Region it is in the news capacity. We rarely look back but we have many folks here to honour. I think of my friend Edward Falkenberg, the sculptor, and also the great Ron Lambert, who, although affiliated with Painters 11, has never had a solo exhibit at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. I think too of the many musicians who have paid their dues but never quite got their due.

Although all of us would rather this Covid-19 time was not upon us, it is. Much of how we are being told to act is to with valuing our elders, to keep them as safe as possible. We have no choice now but to be still for them. We can also take the time to think about what world we want to make when this passes as it will.

I hope we continue to value the elders and place deeper value on their stories and their works. We have too much to lose by not learning from them, and to learn we need a space. I want to take this opportunity to ponder on how to make a space, to make a home for our arts and music community, a community which collectively gave me a home.

For me, the OMA Lifetime Achievement awards are the beginning of that place and if that place becomes in any way reflective of what Mogens built in Greenbank then we would truly have a home and we would truly be home.