Stompin' Tom's stompin' boards donated to centre

The Stompin' Tom Centre in Skinners Pond, P.E.I., was excited this week to receive a donation of two of the plywood boards Stompin' Tom Connors used for stompin' during his shows.

It was a familiar sight at the opening of a Stompin' Tom concert to see the star come out on to the stage with his guitar around his neck and a piece of plywood in his hand, which he would lay down behind the microphone to preserve the stage floor from his pounding heel.

At the end of the show, Connors developed the practice of auctioning off the boards for charity. Brian Gillis bid and won boards at three concerts. Last fall, he wrote to the Stompin' Tom Centre to see if they would be interested in displaying one or two of them.

"What he said was he would like more people to see them, and what better place for people to see them than at the Stompin' Tom Centre," said centre manager Irene Phillips.

"He said, 'they would just be in my closet at home.'"

Boards will be on display this summer

Phillips leapt at the opportunity.

"I said that's awesome. We'd love to have a couple to display," she said.

"I thought it was great. It was such a piece of history to have there at the centre."

Gillis delivered the boards on Monday.

On one side is the divot from Stompin' Tom's heel. On the other is a note from the singer including the date of the show and the charity benefiting from the auction.

The boards will be on display when the centre reopens June 1.

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