The Story of Yvette

Dear Mr. Harper:

On Saturday, October 15th you spoke in St. John's, NL. On stage at the venue for the event was musical equipment belonging to a band which had performed the night before and which was to appear again the same night as your speech. Before leaving the room on Friday night the band's set-up was masked by curtains. During the course of your speech these curtains were apparently pulled open for whatever reason, and a personal belonging was taken from a guitar amplifier by one of your assistants! The item in question was a silver brassiere which had been heaved at the bandstand about a year ago by an enthusiastic female fan. Since the band members were not accustomed to being bombarded with women's underthings we kept the bra as a mascot. It made us all feel lucky to be able to make a living doing what we do and still have experiences that are usually reserved for Tom Jones and Wayne Newton. Playing in a country band can be tough at times, what with all the songs about heartache and loss, but that bra always put a smile on our faces. We called it Yvette because we all believe in a united Canada and thought to help keep the Francophone culture alive in our beloved province. We were thinking of having her bronzed.

We were all shocked and disappointed on Saturday night when we showed up for work only to discover our symbol of good luck and good fortune was missing. Inquiries to staff at the club led to the discovery that one of your aides had apparently dashed to the stage and disposed of it.

We assure the Leader of the Opposition that we in no way sought to embarrass him or cause him any disrespect. We had no idea that the event had anything to do with the Conservative Party, Mr. Harper, or anything else for that matter. It was in fact a perfectly routine night for us with no laundry issues whatsoever. But we would like to have Yvette back. Could you please advise us as to what might have become of her. She wasn't a big bra or anything, but she was silver and we are all attached to her.

Thank you for your attention in this matter. I eagerly anticipate your reply.

Sandy Morris
The 8 Track Favourites

Yvette has since been tracked down in Ottawa and returned to the band. Her return was short, however. The group donated it to the "Bras Across the Bay" campaign. The project is in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 99.1 HITS FM is making a donation for each bra it receives to the Dr.H.Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation.

*****

Harper aide returns band's 'lucky' bra
Last updated Oct 25 2005 03:30 PM NDT
CBC News

A bra that brought luck to a St. John's country-rock band – and which took a detour to a staff member in Opposition leader Stephen Harper's office – has made its way back home. The Eight Track Favorites have adorned their stage for months with a bra that an enthusiastic fan tossed on the stage.

The band adopted the bra as a good-luck charm, and even gave it a name: Yvette.

"It was silver and it was kind of cute … kind of coquettish," said guitarist Sandy Morris, a veteran of the St. John's music scene. "It looked French to me."

Earlier this month, however, Yvette went missing during a Saturday luncheon at the Progressive Conservative convention in St. John's. The Eight Track Favorites had played a gig the previous evening at the Club One nightclub. Morris came to the club the next day to check on the amplifier, and saw the bra draped over it. Harper's address to the Tory convention was scheduled for the same stage. When the luncheon was over, however, Yvette was on the missing list.

"While she was gone, we had both lift and separation anxiety," joked Morris, who fired off an e-mail to Harper's office after the speech, hoping to locate the missing bra.

"The guy who removed the bra from the amp gave it to one of Stephen's aides as a souvenir of the event," Morris said.

"There had been a bra on stage next to him and they managed to whip it away in time so that he wasn't on the national news standing next to a silver brassiere."

On Monday, the bra was returned to St. John's by courier. However, Yvette won't be staying with the band for very long. The Eight Track Favorites are donating Yvette to Bras Across the Bay, an upcoming breast-cancer awareness campaign in St. John's in which bras will be stitched together across Quidi Vidi Lake.