By O. Lillie Randa – Kelowna, B.C.
While going to a country school as a student, I knew that concerts were a Christmas tradition. When it was my turn as a first-time teacher to orchestrate one, I learned there was also a lot of preparation involved.
The school only had a few pupils and I knew each one would have to take part in more than one performance. I’ve never been able to sing or carry a tune, so relied on the older students to help sing the Christmas carols. Another lady and I did a small skit to help ensure the program was long enough.
With regular weekly practices, we were able to be ready for the big night. So many people came that it was crowded, but it all seemed to go quite well. When the children’s performances were complete, Santa arrived to give small gifts and candy for the children.
Late snacks and dancing
After the concert, a late snack was served. Ladies unwrapped sandwiches and cakes and they were served with lots of hot coffee. The desks were moved to the walls and a big space was cleared on the floor for dancing.
Local musicians supplied music and despite being crowded, people were able to take turns dancing. The fun continued until well after midnight, when we thought everybody had gone home.
The next day, my landlady, her sister, and I went back to the school to clean up and put things back where they belonged.
When we opened the door, a strong and foul odour met us. We found one of the locals sound asleep on the floor. He’d probably had too much homebrew the night before. We had to wake him up and tell him to go home. We had to air the place out before we got to work.
The three of us had a few giggles over how, in the rush to leave, no one had noticed the “one left behind”!
