It is also home of the Blue Elephant Craft Brew House, which is producing special GOTR beer. Among the groups that performed here were Lonni & Lottie, Norfolk Mountaineers, Jack Kingston, Johnny Davidson and the Canadian Hoedowners, Bill Long and the Playboys, Wall Traugott and Kidd Baker. Hillcrest closed in the late 1960s. Another hall, Ruth’s Wayside Inn (on the east side of town) was active in the 1960s.ĭowntown Simcoe is the location of the Gentlemen of the Road Street Fair. Eva Brook Donly Museum has a collection of photos from this period. Hillcrest Dance Hall opened in 1950 and the west side of Simcoe. Rick actually lived with his parents in the small crossroads community of Blayney, located in the countryside west of Simcoe on Norfolk County Road 1. Simcoe is where Rick Danko attended high school briefly and worked as a meat cutter at Stan Makepeace’s butcher shop. When the shuttle bus brought fans to the festival in downtown Simcoe, people stepped off the bus only yards from where Rick Danko spent much of his youth. This is also where Mumford & Sons held their successful 2013 Canadian stopover for the Gentlemen of the Road Tour. Rick Danko, who grew up in Norfolk County and would later work with Ronnie Hawkins and The Band ( video clip), started performing at many of these halls when he was in his teens.ĭance halls included the Summer Garden in Port Dover, Highlands Dance Hall in Long Point, the Belgian Club in Delhi, the Orange Hall near Guysborough, Willow Beach Club in Port Ryerse, Hillcrest west of Simcoe, Ken-Mar in Turkey Point, the Silverhill Dance Hall and the Roosevelt Dance Hall in the Langton area. Where it all started…įrom the 1920s to the 1970s, famous musicians and bands (Chubby Checker, Louis Armstrong, Lighthouse, Rush) performed at the dance halls of Norfolk County. This route offers an excellent way to explore beautiful Norfolk County while appealing to fans of Mumford & Sons, Rick Danko and The Band, and fans of rock legends in rural Ontario.