shania.funurl.com

Still the one

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The Daily Press
August 10, 2009
By BrandonWalker

The annual Shania Twain Fan Convention ended yesterday with a brunch at the McIntyre Coffee Shop.

A group of around 30, many of them sporting Shania Twain T-shirts, sat at several tables and spoke about what the singer and the convention means to them.

A number of them were on cellphones, communicating with other fans, affectionately referred to as "family," who couldn't make it this year.

John Pellumbo, a doctor from Ottawa, trailered his black 1988 Lamborghini Countach to attend his first-ever fan convention.

His quirky sense of humour made him an instant hit with this bunch of Twain-loving jet-setters, plus they liked his car.

He's known about Twain and her music since the mid-90s but it's only been in the last year he's become an "admirer," as he describes himself, not a fan.

"Most fans know everything about her, I don't know that much. I became more exposed to her in the last year because we have a lot in common."

He went through a separation around the same time as Twain and her husband, Mutt Lange, split, plus Pellumbo said they share similar life philosophies.

"I'm sure they're a lot like her too," he said, gesturing to the other fans sitting at nearby tables.

"That's why we get along so well; they're very down to earth."

Richard Sessions has been to all seven fan conventions.

He travelled this year from his home in Indiana with his wife Clover.

"Many couldn't make it because of the economy and are following on the (Shania Twain Centre) website instead," Sessions said.

Nearly a dozen fans called during breakfast to say hello and wish the Twain jet-setters a safe trip home.

Each year the fans donate funds to a local charity. In previous years they've raised $6,000 for the food bank. This year the group donated $333 to the Rainbow therapeutic stables, one of the many places they visited while in town.

Many have met Twain and speak highly of her.

The death of Twain's grandmother last week and the possibility that the singer could be in town this week for the funeral, didn't seem to provide an incentive for the fans to extend their visit.

"We as fans have decided we aren't going to talk about it or go looking for her," Sessions said after the other Twainiacs, as they're often called, headed back to the Shania Twain Centre.

"We want to respect her privacy. We would be thrilled if she showed up (to the convention) but we're just as happy to celebrate her and what she means to us."

Selina Twain, the singer's paternal grandmother, died Wednesday at Extendicare Nursing Home. She was 86. Her funeral is today at St. Anthony's Cathedral in Timmins.

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