Blind Mimico steelpan player Pan Man Pat is staging a telethon to help The Mighty Lingo, top, a blind four time National Extempo calypso winner in Trinidad.
It is a case of the blind helping the blind.
Mimico steelpan legend Patrick McNeilly, also known as Pan Man Pat, is staging a ‘Blind Birthday Telethon’ on April 28 to raise funds for a blind Trinidadian calypsonian with a stage name The Mighty Lingo to help purchase musical equipment.
Pan Man Pat is legally blind and so is The Mighty Lingo, whose real name is Jospeh La Placeliere, who was born blind due to a viral infection his mother suffered.
The April 28 telethon will raise funds for a keyboard and acoustic guitars, so The Mighty Lingo, a blind singer and musician, can teach others to play.
Lingo is well-known in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago having gained fame for winning the National Extempo calypso title on four separate occasions. Extempo is a lyrically improvised form of calypso popular in the twin islands and Grenada.
“I realized that the world would simply attempt to limit me and I should not live by those limitations,” Lingo once said in an interview.
His followers claim his ‘success as an Extempo calypsonian is rooted in his refusal to let the world define or restrict his ability.’
Mimico steelpan player Pan Man Pat was a former Toronto police officer and teacher who taught hundreds of students to play the instrument.
Pan Man Pat, who is a long-time Mimico resident, hopes to raise enough funds from the ‘Blind Birthday Telethon’ to purchase for Lingo a keyboard and a couple of acoustic guitars, so he can teach others how to play.
It so happens that the musical event will be taking place on his 79th birthday.
“I have known Lingo for a long time and we want to help him out,” the long-time steelpan player said. “Musical equipment is expensive in Trinidad and this way we can help him and he can help others.”
Pan Man Pat is one of the foremost steelpan players in Toronto, who was a 20-year teacher, who taught the instrument to students as part of a Toronto District School Board program. He also served as a Toronto Police officer for five years.
The late Toronto Police Inspector Arnim Mondesar with daughter Charmaine in 1974 when funds were raised in a local telethon and kidney donated to help him live longer. Photo by Don Dutton/Toronto Star via Getty Images.
This is not his first fundraising telethon. In 1974 he and other dignitaries raised funds to help Toronto Police Inspector Arnim Mondesir who was behind with medical bills and required a kidney transplant. It so happened that a listener heard the show and donated the kidney of their son, who had recently died from a car accident in Hamilton.
Mondesir managed to live another six years, he said.
He also held a similar event that raised more than $1,200 to help victims who were left suffering after a volcano hit the Caribbean island of St. Vincent.
The telethon takes place at the Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, at 185 Sheppard Avenue W., on April 28 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Former Parkdale head librarian and Citizenship court judge Dr. Rita Cox will be one of the dignitaries attending the Blind Birthday Telethon. She was instrumental in establishing the Black and Caribbean authors section at the library.
Some of the dignitaries attending includes: former Parkdale head librarian and Citizenship court judge Dr. Rita Cox, Dr. Michael Lashley, a former Trinidad Consul General in Toronto, educator Dr, Itah Sadu, calypsonians Macomere Fifi, Fifi Princess Trinidad, Brown Sugar, Pannist Micky Maraj, Djembe drummer Keith Pascal, DJ Sookie and DJ Stretch.
Also in attendance will be the Robert Hughes Duo, Dr. Chris Wilson (Shak Shak) and La Petite Musicale’s Lindy Burgess.
Around 4 p.m. the telethon is hoping to go live on Facebook for an hour.
You can donate by calling 416-358-8621 or by e-transfer to panguru45@gmail.com