Happy Birthday to Me!

 It wasn’t a mistake, and it wasn’t on purpose

By Stephen Weir
Last week, I wrote a story about the birthday party of the year PanMan Pat, the city’s master of the steelpan, is turning 80! A black-tie celebration is planned, featuring a special guest appearance by the celebrated Winston "Gypsy" Peters, the T&T-based World Extempo Champion.
It was set to be a sure sell-out—unless you read my story. I originally stated that the event would take place on April 25 at the Rembrandt Banquet Halls in Scarborough. Right place, wrong date. By the time The Caribbean Camera hit the stands, PanMan Pat had changed the date of the party to May 3!
“Because of election fever in T&T and Canada, I was forced to move the event to May 3 at the same Rembrandt Banquet Hall,” Pat McNeilly (a.k.a. PanMan Pat) told me. “Gypsy is a former T&T Minister of Culture and head of the National Carnival Commission. He’s a politician and can’t travel that weekend. I’m awaiting confirmation from him or his manager for a make-over.”
Of course, The Caribbean Camera doesn’t need to introduce PanMan Pat McNeilly to our readers. He is a cherished figure in the Caribbean music scene, having left an indelible mark with his mastery of the steelpan both here in Canada and in his birthplace of Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, he has become a cultural ambassador, sharing the rhythmic sounds of the steel drum with audiences far and wide.
It has been a storied life for the calypso singer, pan artist, and guitarist. Speaking in the documentary The Art of Resistance, McNeilly reflects on his nearly eight-decade-long journey in steelpan music.
“No matter how talented you were with steel drums in colonial Trinidad, you had to go outside, you had to go abroad to escape,” said McNeilly, who began playing pan at age five. “For me, it was like cultural exile. It happened to a lot of our steelpan players at the time.”
“At about 16, I got kicked out of home,” recalled McNeilly, who migrated to Canada in 1966. The following year, he performed as a pannist at Toronto’s first carnival—then known as Caribana.
He later joined the Toronto Police Service, serving for four years before resigning in 1972 to enroll at Queen’s University. A certified educator and musician, McNeilly pioneered the introduction of steelpan as a credited music course in Ontario high schools.

Over the years, his contributions to music and education have been widely recognized. McNeilly received a Juno Award in 1991 and was twice named Calypso Monarch of Canada (1983 and 1985). In 1986, he formally introduced steelband as a high school music credit within the Toronto District School Board. He holds a Diploma in Education from Queen’s University and is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. Among his many accolades, he was inducted into the Pan Pioneer Award (2005) and received the Trinidad & Tobago Republic Day Award (1995) for his contributions to calypso and steelband music in Canada. A founding member of the Organization of Calypso Performing Artists (OCPA) in 1982, he later served as its president (2019–2021). He is also a founding member of the Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA).
PanMan Pat has inspired a generation of steelpan players and continues to make his mark as a freelance musician and calypsonian.

Now, for the latest update:
On Saturday, May 3, the ExTempo World Champion is indeed coming to Toronto to celebrate PanMan Pat’s milestone 80th birthday at a Black-Tie Dinner and Show. Joining the celebration will be Roger Gibbs and his Shak Shak group, along with DJ Bad Lad, for what promises to be a night to remember.
I’ll give the last word to PanMan Pat himself:
“Happy Birthday to Me! If you are looking to celebrate my 80th birthday on April 25 at Rembrandt Banquet Halls (10 Milner Avenue, Scarborough), early bird tickets can be purchased by e-transfer at panguru45@gmail.com until April 12. After April 12, tickets will be $120.00. Send e-transfers to panguru45@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you!” wrote Pat.