Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!
Be it known….. the esteemed judges have declared that Steven Travers has emerged victorious at the Muskoka Escapades Town Crier Contest
at Santa’s Village, Town of Bracebridge, on this 9th day of July.
Henceforth, the Town Crier heralding from the City of Barrie will be known as the champion of his peers.
With a strong wit and timely humour, Travers won the title.
That might be how Barrie's Steve Travers would have announced the results of the contest held in Bracebridge last weekend.
After all, that's how the jovial and energetic Town Crier has been opening events, welcoming special guests to the Barrie and proclaiming the news from city hall and around the world for the past 14 years.
He says using humour sets him apart from other criers who might have unique quirks or rely solely on their strong voices to rise to the top at competitions.
Steve Travers is Barrie's official town crier.“Some of these guys are like Luciano Pavarotti," Travers said. "Some of them are huge guys and they have huge booming voices.
"I can't win with just my voice. That's for sure."
And so he has made a name for himself with his uniquely humorous and highly creative proclamations.
“When I joined the guild at first they were all relatively straight. Most of the proclamations were very historic and serious. Then I came along and the judges were going ‘What the? . . . Well, OK.“
His confident style, combined with his sly wit and skill to deliver animated messages, obviously works.
This year, Travers competed with criers from across the province in Perth and won the Peoples' Choice award - apt recognition of his ability to charm those in attendance.
"They didn’t give me first, second or third . . . but they wanted to give me something because everyone was coming up poking the judges saying ‘He should win.'”
But a voice crack and a couple of missed words during one of his proclamations made it impossible to win the contest. Somehow, winning over the audience was just as rewarding as impressing the judges, he said.
Historically Town Criers - or Bellmen as they were sometimes called - were the original newsmen. The first Town Criers were the Spartan Runners in the early Greek Empire and as the Roman Conquest spread through Europe the position increased in importance until it became a position of the court.
As England colonized the world, the position of the Town Crier spread with it. Before people could read, Town Criers brought the news to the people, and served as spokesmen for the King.
Town Criers were protected by law. "Don't shoot the messenger" was a very real command; anything that was done to a Town Crier was deemed to be done to the King and was therefore a treasonable offence.
Usually people of standing in the community were chosen as Criers, for they had to be able to write and read the official proclamations. Often they were a husband and wife team with the wife ringing the large hand bell and the husband doing the shouting.
The Town Crier would read a proclamation, usually at the door of the local inn, then nail it to the doorpost of the inn. The tradition has resulted in the expression "posting a notice" and the naming of newspapers as "The Post".
Each Town Crier is officially appointed by the Mayor and the style of uniforms is authentic and date back to the 17th Century.
They were used to issue warnings and acted as conveyors of local news.
Travers became Barrie's first and only Town Crier in 2002, after he responded to an advertisement for a town crier to participate in upcoming Sesquicentennial events.
After writing a letter about why he should be chosen, Travers got called in to read his first proclamation at city hall.
“There were supposed some other people who had applied as well, but nobody showed up but me. They came to me and said ‘You know what . . . You’re it.”
The position came with a very small honorarium.
“I’d have paid them for being the town crier. It’s so much fun. I so enjoy it and I've met so many marvelous people."
Travers and his wife Linda arrived in Barrie 25 years ago, armed with a love of history and memories of a childhood with a regimented father and life in an all boys school in England - the perfect background for a town crier, he says.
"You also have to be a little bit crazy," he says, flashing a broad smile. "But nice crazy.
While he admits to spending hours practicing in front of a mirror in the early days, now the proclamations roll off his tongue with little practice.
"I just stand there, read it to myself 10 minutes before and just do it," he says.
"Nobody cares who wins.
“We adhere to all the rules . . . and nobody cares who wins or loses.”
He’s been at international contests, including one a few years ago in Kingston, on the front steps of the historic city hall.
More than 1,000 people watched that contest that attracted criers from U.S., Belgium, Holland, England, and New Zealand.
First place went to an American crier who delivered a sarcastic proclamation about why Kingston is not the capital of Canada.
Second place went to competitor from New Zealand who who took advantage of the tolling city hall clock bells at noon – right in the middle of his proclamation about the death of Sir. John A. MacDonald.
“He just said John A MacDonald passed away when the bells started to toll," Travers said. "And he took off his hat, kneeled down and put his hat to his heart.”
When the bells finished, the crier stood up and finished his proclamation.
“It was fabulous. He got a standing ovation.”
Travers humbly admits that he finished seventh in the international competition.
Perhaps his most memorable performance was a few years ago in Hamilton, Bermuda where he competed in front of a large crowd including the Governor of Bermuda, His Excellency George Fergusson.
Again, Barrie's town crier stood out for something other than his proclamations.
Noticing an older woman trying to shade herself from the blazing sun with a small piece of paper, Travers discreetly walked into the audience and offered his wife's parasol to the woman.
The kind gesture was recognized by the governor on stage and he led a round of rousing round of applause for Travers, as he returned to the competition with his face turning as red as his uniform.
"I couldn't believe it," he said, blushing slightly at the memory.
Travers' calendar had about 12 events per year at first, but his appearances include about 80 events this year. Along with civic events, he is available for community proclamations, charity and commercial events.
