FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – Crossroad Music is one of only two music stores located on a First Nation in Canada.
The store had its grand opening on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. with local performances up until 10:15 p.m. when they celebrated with fireworks.
Steve Lalonde, owner of Crossroad Music, said they have been open about a year, and it’s exciting to have an extra special day to celebrate.
“It's sad in a way because there aren't many music stores on First Nations across this country, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to start something.
“A lot of our staff here are musicians and it just made sense,” he said.
Crossroad Music has a summer series called Rocking the Rez. They have performers on stage every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. up until Aug. 31.
The series is always free for anyone to enjoy, he said.
“We started at 11 o'clock and fortunately we had our chief, Michele Solomon come and do the opening ceremonies and we also had a bit of a traditional music.”
Lalonde said they hadn’t kept track of the amount of people in attendance, although he estimated hundreds and said they may have even broken 1,000.
“But who's counting? We're just having fun," Lalonde said.
Michele Solomon, Chief of Fort William First Nation, said there was a big flow of people all day.
“They started at 11 a.m. this morning and they had Sisters of Turtle Island drum group. I did some opening remarks and they've had multiple local bands all day.
“And of course, the finale was Tommy Horricks and the Sensational Hot Rods – they're a household name in Thunder Bay. Really great vibes.”
Solomon said the firework show was a great display.
“I think that it brings a lot of people into the community to come and watch the fireworks, both from Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation. It's really exciting, everybody really loves it."
