NOKOMIS — A man who graduated from Nokomis School and became a rock star was honoured by the Horizon School Division.
Kenny Shields, the lead singer of Streetheart, was inducted into the division’s wall of fame. The wall honours those who graduated from one of the division’s schools and achieved considerable success in their chosen field.
“From small town Saskatchewan to world-famous rock and roll legend, his example shows our young people that there is no limit to what they can achieve,” said Linda Mattock, the division's vice board chair, at the induction ceremony at the division's Celebration Day on Aug. 28.
“I am proud that Kenny's memory and legacy will serve as an inspiration to future Horizon School Division students, staff and community members.”
Shields was born on Oct. 24, 1947. He played the harmonica and tambourine as a boy, and even took part in his first talent show at the age of six years old.
It was that year, 1953, that he began his academic life in a little one-room schoolhouse three miles from his home.
Growing up, Shields would go to a dance every weekend with his mom Alice and his sister Charlene. He had a special dance he would do on stage because it made people laugh. In the future, when Shields got together with his wife, Elena, he would do the dance on stage during performances as a secret message between the two of them, as a way to express his love.
In Shields’ Grade 8 year, the schoolhouse closed down and he started high school in Nokomis. A friend of Shields, Bonnie Decker, talked about his school days there.
“He was very active in sports through his high school years,” she said.
Shields played football, curling and his favourite sport, hockey. Shields told Decker that were three coaches that helped shape him into the man he was, but it was Mike Horbul who had the greatest impact on him.
“He taught the boys lessons about the game, but also how to apply those lessons in their lives,” she said. “It was a moral code that Kenny lived by until his death.”
Shields’ favourite sport also had an impact on his education.
“He also admitted that his hockey passion and the excitement of winning the Saskatchewan midget C championship had a consequence,” Decker said. “All that fun and no schoolwork saw Kenny flunk out of algebra.”
As a result, Shields spent the next summer in Regina taking summer classes to make up for it.
Shields graduated from Nokomis in 1965. He then enrolled in a barber course at the Institute of Applied Arts and Science in Saskatoon.
While he was there, Shields’ friend John Mahler told him he was auditioning for a band.
“He suggested that Kenny come with him. They arrived at the house. They walked up to the door,” Decker said. “John knocked on the door and as it opened, John ran away and said, ‘here Kenny, here you go.’”
Shields talked to the band leader, who asked him if he was applying to be a musician with the band. Shields told him he could sing. The band leader said that they didn’t need a singer.
The conversation continued and Shields ended up auditioning.
“Needless to say, he passed that audition and joined Witness Incorporated,” Decker said. “The rest is history, as we say.”
Shields traveling across Canada with the band, touring with acts like Roy Orbison.
Following the dissolution of Witness Incorporated in 1975, he moved to Winnipeg, where he performed with local musicians and form the band that would become Streetheart.
Streetheart earned a double platinum album, four platinum albums, six gold albums, a gold single, a Music Express People's Choice Award as most popular Canadian act and a Juno. In 2003, he and Streetheart were inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Shields died on July 21, 2017.
Ken Sogge, Horizon’s co-ordinator of information services, pushed for Shields’ induction into the wall of fame. He said that Shields inspired him as a drummer. Sogge got to see Shields live once, but was unable to meet him.
“I've unfortunately never gonna get to meet Kenny Shields, but nonetheless, I'm thankful for the immeasurable influence that he had on musicians like myself, the music industry as a whole and to millions of fans around the world.”
