From the death of a beloved star, to Elora residents getting a glimpse of the Terminator in real life, the entertainment scene was alive and well in Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph in 2024.
Here are our top entertainment stories of the year.
Hollywood heavyweight Arnold Schwarzenegger caused a big stir in a small Ontario town in April.
The action star was spotted filming in Elora, a community of approximately 8,000 people about 20 minutes outside of Guelph.
The township confirmed the actor was shooting the second season of his Netflix action-comedy series FUBAR.
“It’s funny to see someone so amazing – so iconic – standing in your own town. It was just like, you can’t believe it really,” said Becky Lalui, owner of the nearby Lobby Bar.
Filming took place outside the municipal office at 1 McDonald Square.
“You’re going to see some gunshots. You’re going to see some car chasing. You’re going to see some people flying,” Joao Carrolo, the development coordinator for Elora and Fergus Tourism and Destination, told CTV News.
Arnold Schwarzenegger seen shooting scenes for the Netflix TV series FUBAR in Elora, Ont. on April 30, 2024. (Submitted/Jon Ralston)
The Elvis of Kitchener-Waterloo passed away in September after losing his battle with cancer.
He walked city streets dressed up as the King of Rock and Roll for three decades, but friends knew the 71-year-old best as Ron.
They said he was thriving in his final days.
“He got to hospice and he had pancakes and maple syrup and applesauce,” said Rachel Hunter of KW Habilitation, the social services organization who helped Ron throughout his life.
Tributes, shared online, described him as a kind-hearted man who always said hello to people in the community.
His friends said Ron came to Kitchener almost 40 years ago, and he dressed up like Elvis because he was a lifelong fan who wanted to be a legend like his hero.
“He was iconic,” Hunter said. “He was a legend in this town. It’s sad that he’s gone. [He’ll] be missed by thousands and thousands.”
Ron was born in Vancouver, B.C. but considered Waterloo Region his real home.
He was misunderstood by some, according to those who knew him well.
“He was a very gentle man who had an intellectual disability,” explained Ann Bilodeau, CEO of KW Habilitation. “All of these other myths, it just wasn’t true. He had a home on Frederick Street for 30 years with wraparound support.”
At the end of his life, Ron had about a dozen Elvis outfits in various colours and styles.
Ron, the Elvis of Kitchener-Waterloo, in an undated photo. (Source: KW Habilitation)
An artist from Guelph received a big honour in May when his work was chosen to appear as part of a new stamp series from Canada Post.
Gregory Gallant, who uses the pen name Seth, is a graphic novelist behind the Palookaville comic series that was included in the award-winning graphic novel Clyde Fans.
Seth told CTV News he never thought his work would end up on a stamp.
“Every once in a while, something comes along, some honour, that is such a lovely surprise,” he said. “And for me, getting that email, saying that this was happening, was both flabbergasting and really fantastic.”
The stamp features Simon Matchcard, the main character from Clyde Fans.
Seth said Canada Post’s team had a clear design in mind when they initially reached out to him.
“I think if they had just come to me and said do this, it would have been a bit of performance anxiety to get the right image.”
Those in the industry say Canadian graphic novelists deserve to be in the spotlight.
“I think it’s really great to have these stamps providing recognition to this specific generation of cartoonists,” Peter Birkemore, the owner of Beguiling Books and Art, told CTV News. “You have a generation, which I would describe very much as Seth’s, were inspired and see it’s, yes, comics for adults [but] this is a thing I can do and run with it. Seth is one of the foremost Canadian examples of this.”
Seth also finds inspiration in the city he calls home – Guelph.
“The influence of Ontario is everything in my work.”
Canada Post said the stamps celebrate artists who have made significant contributions to the graphic storytelling genre.
“The five novelists honoured on the new stamps pushed the boundaries and elevated the form, leaving a mark on readers around the globe,” the corporation said in a media release.
Seth working in his Guelph, Ont. home. (Ashley Bacon/CTV Kitchener)
The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth got a big boost in October thanks to avid Taylor Swift fans.
As thousands scrambled to try to get their hands on tickets to the superstar’s Eras Tour in Toronto, the Humane Society offered up the chance to win a pair of passes – and walk away with a significant cash prize.
Eva Lin from Ottawa ultimately won the 50/50 draw after buying 999 tickets on the last night before the contest closed.
She claimed two tickets for Swift’s concert along with the $362,091 jackpot.
“I don’t have words to even explain how I feel about this right now. This is crazy, like, I think I’m in a dream. Someone’s going to pinch me and it’s all fake, but I know it’s real now,” Lin told CTV News while picking up her prize.
She calls herself a Taylor Swift super fan that has been to 11 concerts – and counting.
“We’ve been to every concert together since the Red Tour and we’ve been hemming and hawing whether or not we should buy tickets [to the Eras Tour],” she explained. “On the last day of the raffle, I’m like, you know what, go big or go home.”
Typically, Lin said she goes with her brother. This time, though, she took her husband.
Meanwhile, the Humane Society will be putting their half of the proceeds towards their animal welfare work.
“It’s being used for our programs here,” explained Jordan Baker, the Humane Society’s director of development. “In return, that equals around 4,500 spays or neuters. So it’s a really wild amount of money that we can utilize.”
It will also fund the organization’s pet adoptions programs, clinic and other initiatives like building a new mobile veterinary clinic.
“You can thank Taylor for this, she’s such a special person,” said Baker. “It honestly felt like a perfect blending of values, a perfect blending of care about animals. Taylor loves her cats. We love our cats here. It was a perfect mix. And Taylor Swift is one of the biggest cultural phenomena right now.”
The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth director of finance Thomas Hemming and director of development Jordan Baker pose for a photo with a cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift on Oct. 30, 2024. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)
A global superstar’s passing in September brought back fond memories of her work on the Stratford stage.
Dame Maggie Smith was well known in her later years for her work in the Harry Potter films and on Downtown Abbey, but in the 1970s and 1980s, with an Oscar already under her belt, she appeared in several Stratford Festival productions.
“She wanted a chance to play a wider variety of parts. To really challenge herself on Shakespeare, and the classics, and Chekhov and other writers,” Antoni Cimolino, artistic director of the Stratford Festival recalled. “We all know of Maggie Smith as being a kind of tough and very funny actor. But here at the festival, and playing parts like Cleopatra or Rosalind in As You Like It, we saw a softer side of her. Her work was extraordinary. She was someone who drew audiences from around the world to the Stratford Festival.”
Throughout her time in Stratford, Smith’s credits included Hippolyta and Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rosalind in the 1977 version of As You Like It, Judith Bliss in Hay Fever, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Lady MacBeth in the 1978 production of MacBeth.
She was a regular presence in the city for four seasons.
The Stratford Festival honoured her contributions by presenting the British actor with a Legacy Award in 2012.
“We still have many people who remember her work on our stages who are attending the festival,” Cimolino said. “We like to share stories about her work here internally, because she could usually sum things up in a brilliant way.”
When Smith was on the stage, audiences couldn’t take their eyes off her.
“A great one is gone,” Cimolino lamented.
The Stratford Festival will be dedicating their upcoming productions of As You Like It in Smith’s memory.
Actress Dame Maggie Smith poses for photographers during the photo call for The Lady In The Van, as part of the London Film Festival, at a central London hotel, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
