Big Valley Jamboree remembers fan's death

Country music fans at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta., took a deep pauseon the weekendto remember a woman who died last year when the festival stage collapsed.

Donna Moore, a 35-year-old mother of two from Lloydminster, Alta., was crushed by a large speaker after a violent and unexpected wind storm toppled the main stage.

On Saturday night, as Amazing Grace was played, fans stood silent to mark the anniversary ofMoore's death.

Actor Kevin Costner, who was just about to take the stage when the storm blew in, returned with his band this year.

"You have been on our minds for an entire year," the performer said.

Many music fansfrom last year's event also returned.

"It's like anything else in life you can't live in fear," said Cliff Simmons, who had a front-row seat to the disaster.

Two provincial reports have said the stage was not strong enough to withstand the high-speed winds blowing through last year. Organizers have now buttressed the stage with ballast andsteel braces.

They saidthey couldn't have done much else last year,noting they only had a 60-second warning of the freak storm.

Dozens of people were injured in the collapse.

"It looked like that Dirty Thirties with that wall of wind coming,"said Kirk McKay, who was10 rows back from the stage. "[There were] a lot of people laying all over. [We] just tried to pull them out of the wreckage."

For others, returning to the location was an emotional journey.

Deb Roberts said she started to feel that same fear at the festival on Friday when a menacing storm blew in, shutting down the show early.

"It was just like, 'I don't want to be here,'" she said.