Stompin' Tom Connors Bronze Statue, erected in Sudbury, Ont on Nov 6, 2015

It was back in 1965 when a young musician by the name of Tom Connors first arrived in the Sudbury area after starting his career playing a 14-month stint at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ontario. Connors had landed a weekend gig playing the Hanmer Hotel and then was hired at The Towne House Tavern for a three-week engagement.

The Bandits got the crowd going with their many renditions of Sudbury Saturday Night! . It was during this brief period that he made history by writing his legendary song “Sudbury Saturday Night” but unfortunately due to a change of ownership of The Towne House at the end of his contract, Stompin’ Tom Connors didn’t get a chance to actually play his song in Sudbury until the following year in September of 1966 when he returned to The Towne House. This is when the story of the Canadian music icon’s long standing friendship with Sudbury really began that today, along with his memorable song, also includes a commemorative Stompin’ Tom statue that was unveiled in 2015.

“Sudbury Saturday Night” was a fun snapshot of the view of Sudbury that Stompin’ Tom saw in the colourful characters that frequented downtown Sudbury during his stay. The catchy, upbeat song had a unique, rambunctious edge to it and soon people all across Canada were stomping along with the fast tempo and easy to remember lyrics that mentioned Bingo, Inco and getting stinko.

“Sudbury Saturday Night” became a signature song for the man who chronicled Canadiana with his own unique style and it was a song that he often played at the end of his concerts. “Sudbury Saturday Night” was also the final song that he requested to have played at this memorial funeral service in 2013 when his musician friends gathered onstage to pay one final tribute to the Canadian music icon’s sendoff celebration. Clearly, Stompin’ Tom and Sudbury had a special affiliation on many levels.

On Saturday night, September 24th, 2016, the 50th anniversary of Stompin’ Tom Connors first performing the song in Sudbury, a group of Stompin’ Tom fans gathered outside of The Towne House Tavern to sing and dance to “Sudbury Saturday Night” along with the band – the Bandits – which was positioned on the lower Towne House roof. Everyone paid tribute to the man who helped put Sudbury on the map with an event called “Sudbury Celebrates Stompin’ Tom”.

The unprecedented community event (that for the first time anywhere) brought citizens together to sing a song written about their hometown was centered around the creation of a music video for the legendary song “Sudbury Saturday Night.” The community celebration was organized to say thank you to the man who created the famous song that is seen by many as Sudbury’s unofficial anthem, and the fun tribute was organized to help keep his memory alive while also showing the world how Sudbury has evolved over the past 50 years from when Stompin’ Tom immortalized it.