WE went to perform at the Snow Festival in Vernon this weekend. We loaded up our suitcases and costume boxes and left Kalamak at nine o’clock Saturday morning on a chartered bus. It was nice and warm. Our old yellow school bus is cold. It smells of diesel.
I sat beside Missy and we played cat’s cradle for awhile, until I got too bus sick. Then I stared out the window and fell asleep. I woke up once to hear the rumble of the bus motor and the sound of the kids talking and laughing. I do not know how anyone can talk and laugh on a bus. I felt like jumping into ice-cold water to clear my head.
I looked at Missy. She was playing Old Maid with her friend Patsy across the aisle, and chewing spearmint gum. The smell of the gum made my stomach turn. I turned my face to the window and went back to sleep.
When I woke up again, at noon, we were pulling into Vernon. Sister Theo handed out peanut butter sandwiches and pop. Then she told us we could walk down main street and watch the parade. We had to come back to the bus at four o’clock and wait to be picked up for our performance.
I climbed out of the bus feeling green and dizzy. I liked the cold air. I stumbled after the other girls as they walked in a group towards main street. Then the group split and I didn’t know which one to follow. I decided to go with Missy and her friends. We kept walking and walking in the snow until we realized we weren’t getting to main street. We were cold by then and we didn’t know where to go. We didn’t know how to get back to the bus.
Finally one of the girls said she knew where the Sisters’ convent was, just up the street. We followed her and rang on the doorbell. A nun opened the door and we explained who we were. She let us in and told us to stay in the living room. Then she left. We stayed there for a long time. We were hungry and thirsty, but at least we were warm.
At about four-thirty we heard the rumble of the bus outside and we ran out to join the other dancers. Dorothy said the parade had been just wonderful with clowns, floats, bands, and best of all the queens like Miss Vernon, Miss Kamloops and Miss Kelowna. They wore fancy coats and tiaras that look like shiny crowns.
The bus driver brought us to an old hall where some ladies made us a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, buns and jello. When we finished eating we went by bus to the high school to get ready to perform. While we were waiting for Sister Theo to get the key to the change room, we walked around the school halls looking at pictures of graduating classes.
Then we changed into our first set of costumes, fixed our hair and put on make-up. Sister Superior came and put eye drops into our eyes to make them shiny on stage. She told us to do our best, and to smile, smile, smile.
And we did.
It is always exciting to put on a concert. I like the smell of the ironed costumes, the colourful look of the folk dances, the sound of the applause when it keeps going for a long time.
Afterwards, we packed up our costumes, washed the make-up off our faces and lined up to get our billets.
Missy and I got to stay with a couple called Mr. and Mrs. Backan. He’s an undertaker. They had a fancy new house with frilly yellow curtains and beige rugs. They had new tables and chairs, a new chesterfield, new everything. The room they gave us was so spotless. I was scared to ruin it so I slept on the floor.
In the morning Mrs. Backan went to church and Mr. Backan made us toast with poached eggs. We had never seen poached eggs before. They looked so small on the toast, like eyes. Missy and I looked at each other and we started to giggle. Mr. Backan didn’t say a word. He looked at us as if he had never seen girls laugh before. After that we tried to make conversation like Sister Theo told us. But Mr. Backan didn’t seem to want to talk. Some people who billet us ask all kinds of questions, mostly who taught us to dance and sing. Some people seem to like us.
After breakfast Mr. Backan drove us to the church for second Mass, then we boarded the bus and came back.