Ron Sakamoto is a renowned concert promoter and to some, a household name.
On Monday evening, surrounded by Lethbridge city council, supporters, friends and family, a new wall dedication was unveiled, listing a timeline of his many accomplishments throughout the years as a community builder.
The mounted display, dubbed Sak’s Honourary Wall, is located in the lower west level of the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alta., below the concourse. It’s the area where artists set up camp before hitting the mainstage.
Sakamoto said the unveiling came as a complete surprise.
“I don’t know what else to say except it’s so humbling,” he said gratefully.
Alongside a plethora of photos, it displays information on significant points in his career, from opening the Honeycomb A Go Go teen club in 1964, to 2019 when he became a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence.
Sakamoto has been named Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Promoter of the Year for 17 consecutive years. In 2010, the award was named after him.
Many of the concerts at Lethbridge’s ENMAX Centre since 1975 were promoted by Sakamoto and his company Gold and Gold Productions Ltd.
On Tuesday he thanks those who helped him along the way.
“I had a dream,” he said. “And people said I could never do it from Lethbridge. But then I said – why? Why not? I don’t have to live anywhere else but Lethbridge because the people here are the best. I’m a southern Albertan from day I was born until the day I die.”
Kim Gallucci, general manager at the ENMAX Centre, said the city has been wanted to honour Sakamoto for quite some time.
About six months of work went into creating the installation.
“He is extremely well-known throughout North America and the world in the concert and music industry, and here he is just down the street,” Gallucci said. “So we see him as a mentor and we appreciate having him here all the time.
“Normally you’d have (the display) upstairs, normally you’d have it somewhere, maybe our lounge level,” Gallucci added.
“(But) this is where all events kind of start and end.”
“A lot of dreams come true because of Ron Sakamoto and his family, and I’m very thankful for that,” Albertan and country music entertainer Trevor Panczak told Global News Tuesday.
“I got to meet him through doing a New Years show at McNally Hall, I think,” Panczak reminisced. “That was one of the first time I met him, and he said ‘just keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll help make you a star one day’.”
Sakamoto is also known for working with Shania Twain’s first show before her career took off.
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