Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is being honoured twice over in the Saskatchewan city where she spent her early childhood.
Saskatoon city council has announced that a walkway downtown near the South Saskatchewan River will be named Joni Mitchell Promenade.
And the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) will be recognizing her accomplishments by awarding Mitchell an honorary degree on June 4.
Mitchell’s first professional shows of a decades-long career of international acclaim began in Saskatoon.
The promenade is to be officially renamed with a ceremony on June 10, although Mitchell will not be able to attend.
A plaque on Broadway Avenue, a trendy area of restaurants and shops, will also be unveiled to acknowledge the Louis Riel Coffee House where Mitchell used to play.
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“So many of Ms. Mitchell’s powerful songs that have influenced the world are rooted in the places and lives of our community,” Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said in a release Monday.
“She wrote honestly and prophetically. She was ahead of her time in writing about reconciling relations with each other and the land we live on.”
WATCH: Sarah Slean performing music of Joni Mitchell with SSO
City officials have been working with community members to develop a way to honour Mitchell and are pleased to have had her input and approval, Clark said.
He said the group could not think of a more fitting way to honour her than to dedicate her name to an area along the river that inspired some of her music.
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