The thing that I love about Best Westerns is that they have free Internet, a pool, hot tub and fast breakfast. I got dressed and packed early, had something to eat, got caught up on email and was picked up by Judy from Connaught School at 8:20am. I left my big suitcase at the hotel for later pick up. Judy asked me if the excitement had woken me up. What excitement? I asked. There had been a fire right behind the hotel. Fire trucks, sirens, smoke. I slept through it all.
Connaught School was built in 1912. A big old school, and I was speaking in the gym – not my favourite place. It was a lot of kids too – about 140. But even with the bad acoustics it was fine because the kids were so well-behaved. Lots of good questions. The public librarian popped in to hear my session as well. She was born in Brantford.
Judy took me to Davison School. Another great school with really well behaved students. What is it about Medicine Hat that makes the kids so well behaved? I did two back to back sessions there, one with younger kids and one with the older ones. A student gave me a giant marble. With the younger ones, I did a storytelling of Enough and with the older ones, I read the vomit scene from The Hunger. They asked for more, so I read them the beating up scene from Hope’s War. There had been a number of boys in the older group who had said that they didn’t like reading, so I was glad for the opportunity to read those bits. Boys love them. They gathered around after the readings, wanting to ask more questions. That’s always such a great thing.
Anne Rogers handed me a bagged lunch as I got into her car. It was a feast. An egg salad sandwich (my standby) a salad, cut veggies and dip, a chocolate bar, and yogurt. I had the sandwich in the car. When I got to Webster Niblock, I found out that I had another 20 minutes so I had the yogurt too. Packed up the rest and I am taking it to Edmonton with me.
The two sessions I did at Niblock were both in the music room and, like at Davison, the acoustics were good and the groups weren’t too big – no more than 100 – so I didn’t have to use my microphone. The younger kids came in first and I did a storytelling of Enough and then showed them my medal. They were thrilled. A really nice group of kids. I always talk about my own early reading difficulties and that topic resonated with them.
The older group (5 and 6) were also very well-behaved, yet enthusiastic listeners. I had enough time to read them the vomit scene from The Hunger. Normally I let the kids choose what scene they’ll be hearing, but the two sessions were back to back and the first group took longer to exit because they were all looking at the medal, so the second group had a slightly shorter session. After it was over, kids gathered round to talk to me. Some came in later, and chatted while I packed my things up. Avis invited me to the staff room and they had fresh cut fruit and yummy cookies. Niblock’s teachers obviously love their school and their kids and each other. There was an easy jocularity amongst them. One of the teachers, Jeet, told me about her early life and the lives of her parents. Really interesting stuff. I told her that she needed to write these stories. Several of the teachers took me for dinner after school, and another of the teachers, Pat, also had amazing stories. I encouraged her to write as well. It would be fabulous is Pat and Jeet started a writing club to encourage each other at school. I will be emailing them to see if they are writing.
Dinner was great. It was this Italian place that was packed to the rafters with Medicine Hatters. Thursday is steak and pasta night. Really nice steak. And the steak and pasta is only $7.95. Hard to believe! After dinner, Avis dropped me off at the airport. Took one flight to Calgary and right now I am in the plane to Edmonton. By the time I get in to the hotel it will be about 10pm.
It was actually about 10:25 when I got in to the hotel. The taxi driver didn’t know where the Coast Edmonton East was. Good thing I had my trusty blackberry with its GPS. When I got to the hotel, I checked in and then walked over to a 7-11 around the corner for some nail polish remover. I had been adding a layer of polish each day but it was all now chipped beyond repair. I phoned Helen Lavendar, the storyteller who was driving me around on Friday, on my way back from the 7-11. I didn’t want to wait til I got into my room because it was so late as it was.
