By meadowlakeNOW

Super fan elated for Meadow Lake Terri Clark concert

Jul 14, 2017 | 6:00 PM

Melissa Klassen is about to head to her tenth Terri Clark concert, and this one is mere miles away from her home in Rapid View.

The 27-year-old has been listening to Clark for as long as she can remember. The country music artist has been a lifelong idol, inspiration, and favourite of Klassen’s ever since she first saw her video on CMT.

“When I was little, my sister introduced me to country music and CMT,” she said. “I kept seeing all of these cowboys with their cowboy hats and jeans and boots on and to me they looked so cool. I figured I was a “cowboy” because I also enjoyed wearing [those things]. Suddenly in the summer of 1995, this tall woman wearing the same clothes I did was on TV, singing ‘Better Things to Do’ and playing a guitar like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson did. I was instantly a fan.”

Since then she’s attended concerts small and large, in Saskatoon, at the Calgary Stampede, St. Albert, Alta., Lloydminster, and North Battleford.

Klassen lives with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. At 13-years-old, she weighed 36 pounds and was struggling with a poor appetite. Doctors had suggested giving her a gastronomy tube, and initially declined the intimidating operation. Her mother drove her to Saskatoon, where she met with the doctor who was not sure she would reach her 14th birthday if she didn’t undergo the procedure. She had a big decision to make, and as it turns out, her musical idol was a motivating factor to push forward.

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“As I entered my teen years and my love for her music grew, my health started to go down drastically,” she said. “My mom and I talked about all of the things I had yet to do and experience in life. As we cried, I remembered hearing an ad on the radio the day before of Terri Clark coming to Saskatoon the next month, and that tickets were going on sale the day after my operation. I straightened up in bed and said I would say yes if I got to go [to the performance]. The next morning I went into the operating room, playing her song ‘No Fear’ on repeat in my head until I went to sleep. I am almost positive that the idea of seeing her in concert gave me the strength and determination to make it through that operation.”

When family and friends told Klassen about tomorrow’s concert in Meadow Lake, she initially didn’t believe them.

“When my sister texted me a photo of a poster for the show back in April, I didn’t believe her for a full week!” she said. “My inner 13-year-old self is absolutely losing her mind, while the present 27-year-old me is trying desperately to hold it together long enough to make it through this experience.”

As a seasoned Terri Clark concert-goer, Klassen said attendees at the Meadow Lake Arena are in for a wonderful treat.

“I’m looking forward to her interaction with our home crowd,” she said. “She feeds on the energy. She’s very animated and interactive on stage. She absolutely loves what she does and it shows. I hope Meadow Lake brings it!”

Getting ready for the hometown concert this weekend has been a family affair for Klassen.

“This will be my eight-year-old nephew’s first concert and his first time meeting Terri, he’s very excited,” she said. “I am also looking forward to my fifth time meeting [her] and finally giving her a seven-page letter I wrote explaining how important she’s always been in my life.”

The family has been busy working on their own warm welcome for the country music star.

“Terri’s bus will be rolling by our house on the way to the venue,” said Klassen. “[We’ve] banded together to make and erect a giant sign that says “We love Terri Clark” for her to see when she goes by. Hoping it brings her a smile! We are incredibly lucky to have her come through, so I want to give a very huge shout out and thank you to the Pevach family, and the Meadow Lake Co-op for making all of this happen! It’s definitely a dream come true!”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath