Harry Jennings is more than an Elvis tribute artist, though many would recognize him from his regular appearances at the Williams Lake Farmers’ Market.
At the markets, Jennings is often hosting one of the performance time slots, belting out Elvis songs.
Or perhaps people would have noticed him performing as Harry the Hound dog at the Bowling for Kids Sake fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Then again, it could be you might know him from his role as the town crier at the front of the Winter Lights parade or opening the annual Medieval Market.
If you are a theatre patron, you might recognize him from his roles in productions such as this year’s A Few Good Men.
Or if you are a member of an older generation in the community, you might recognize him from his regular performances at three of the seniors homes in town.
“Singing for the seniors is probably one of the most rewarding things that I do,” he said of his time visiting these residences. He likes to sing and the seniors seem to enjoy hearing the classic songs they recall from their younger days.
If you are a young person who attended a dry grad in recent years, you might recall Jennings as the host of the Vegas wedding chapel.
Or you might just know him from the Bean Counter, which he refers to as his “field office” where he goes most days for a couple hours each morning, along with his dog Cocoa.
He said he loves the combination of the coffee and seeing all the people, many whom stop and chat.
With all of these appearances around town, it might seem like Jennings was always a part of the community and always a performer, but it actually wasn’t until he came to Williams Lake he began to discover and develop this side of himself. He even credits moving to Williams Lake with saving his life and his mental health.
Originally from Chatham, Ontario, Jennings grew up on his uncle’s farm, living in a house his mother inherited. His father was a milkman and both parents worked in town, but he grew up working on the farm alongside his 13 cousins.
But he didn’t stay a southern Ontario farm boy, and after graduating from the University of Guelph with a degree in agriculture, Jennings moved to High Prairie, Alberta where he managed farmlands. He wasn’t there many years, but got his first introduction to First Nations communities and Métis settlements.
When the oil crash and recession set in, he took a job in northern Ontario in Fort Francis, where he appreciated the spectacular beauty of an area of “rocks, and trees and lakes.”
His next job took him to Kenora, Ontario, where he had his first experience meeting with local First Nations at a time when that was a relatively new thing for government.
In 1996, he moved to Williams Lake to work on the Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan.
Jennings was part of the consultations with some area stakeholders to develop the plan, which was “pretty forward-looking for the time period.”
He said it was a very interesting and controversial group to be involved with and describes the work as “quite a challenge.”
While he came to the area intending only to be here for a few years, he ended up staying and his three children, Kent and Scott, twin boys, and a daughter Lauren, grew up here.
He met his second wife here as well, Susan O’Sullivan. Together, they now have five children, as Susan already had two sons, Robert and Joe. She and harry met through work and doing theatre together.
“I love it here and would never live anywhere else,” he said of his longtime home, where he has become such a regular performer.
While he sang in a choir as a child, Jennings had never performed in public doing his Elvis tribute singing until Emily Patenaude’s Christmas parties, where he would always sing Blue Christmas. Patenaude was also the person who introduced him to join the Quintet Plus Choir.
“I’m forever grateful for that,” said Jennings of the push that brought his singing out of the shower and into the public domain.
It was Sharon Hoffman who introduced him to the theatre, and he also became an avid actor, which he thoroughly enjoys, even if it is intense and draining, and therefore not something he would have been able to do as a job.
But he feels he had a very successful career in government and it was rewarding to see things move into a new era in terms of consultation with First Nations.
Throughout his career he was also involved in rangeland, mining consultation, tourism and ecosystem restoration.
“I’ve done everything at some point or other,” he said, including one two-week stint as a helibase manager/dispatcher during the 2017 fires.
“The first several days I was hoping they’d fire me I was so stressed out,” he said of the role he called the toughest two weeks of his life in terms of stress. Both he and his wife Susan stayed in town working during the evacuation, as she was working in the Emergency Operations Centre for the Cariboo Regional District.
In 2016, he mostly retired but retained auxiliary employee status, doing some historical and legal research work for the Ministry of Forests.
This is in addition to his singing and acting gigs, as well as volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, for many years, starting out as an in-school mentor before he retired from his job and became a big brother.
Jennings also has been involved as a board member for the arts for years, and is currently the president of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, which he helped get started, and a director with the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake, which he helped navigate through hard financial times and mismanagement.
He said his involvement in arts administration benefits from his being both a creative person as well as someone who has some business sense, though he does say it is a collaborative effort.
In his spare time, Jennings is working with his wife to turn their property into a perennial plant yard and they will be featured in the 2024 Williams Lake Garden and Art Tour.
“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of,” he said of the work they have done on their property.
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READ MORE: OUR HOMETOWN: Samara Mammel is a woman of many hats
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