Sam Aston
Michael Le Vell
Steven Arnold
Shobna Gulati
Bruce Jones
Sue Cleaver
Samia Smith
Jenny James
It's summer 2010 and the Downeast Streeters were handed a chance opportunity to host a ping with a very special guest. Younger Corrie cast member, Sam Aston, who plays Chesney Battersby-Brown, was planning a family holiday to Nova Scotia and expressed interest in attending a ping. With only a few weeks to organize it, we geared up and pulled it all together. The Parkside Pub was happy to host the ping and gave us lots of help, too and we were lucky that Neville MacKay was available to be the Master of Ceremonies! It was a low key event, and attendance was by invite-only since space was limited and there were security issues concerning crowd control to consider as well. The event was quite enjoyable and you can read a bit about the event here.
Since 2002 we have had the privilege of hosting an star from the world's most popular television show, Coronation Street, for all fans of the show to enjoy. In 2007, we did not host this event which was held in St. John's, Newfoundland, instead. In 2008, it returned to Halifax for another sell-out show featuring Steven Arnold (Ashley Peacock).
For those, who may have missed these events, or were unable to attend, here is a brief overview, of some of the activities of our events. Each event including future events may have changes in the program depending on what the actor wishes to do.
The show has usually started with the Corrie Star answering questions posed by audience members. The star will usually recall personal anecdotes of their life on and sometimes off the show. We hear stories of other actors past and present, and story-line chat, which might have some spoilers.
There is also a raffle at the end of the chat session. In the past, the prizes have included authentic clothing worn by actors on the street, autographed books and DVDs, miniature porcelain replicas of the houses from the street, and many other Coronation Street memorabilia. In 2006 we were fortunate to have an outfit worn by Shobna during her character's "hen party" and Bruce Jones donated an original autographed script. Both were auctioned and the monies were donated to charity. Most years we have also raffled the opportunity for a fan and a guest to have breakfast with star if it's amenable to our guest. This is always a fan favorite.
The evening has finished off with another fan favorite, where a limited number of fans have the opportunity to purchase a ticket to have a personally autographed picture and a photo taken with the star. Again, this is dependent on the star's wishes.
Since it's inception in 2002, "An Evening With ...", has become the must see event for all Coronation Street fans in Atlantic Canada. This would not have happened if it were not for the fans who have attended all of our events, and the dedicated members of the DownEast Streeters Non Profit Society who organize this annual event and all the volunteers that help out on the night of the event. A big thank you to everyone for making these events a success.