Jodi from Sundre Library picked me up after I had a quick breakfast at the Best Western. The Sundre library is lovely. It used to be the elementary school but was renovated into the library. Jodi and Michael couldn’t have been more welcoming. Almost as soon as I got there, a group of grade 3 students arrived. They sat in silence while I did my final set up and I introduced myself and began my session right away. They asked great questions and sat listening attentively beyond the hour allotment.
Michael drove me to Mary Hay’s house in the country and then Mary drove me to Calgary. The roads were quite icy and we had a challenge finding Ecole St. Wilfrid. When we got there, we were ushered into the library, where tables of selected children sat. There was a place marker on a table indicating where I was to sit. I was served delicious homemade lasagna and an ice cream sandwich for dessert. The children who were in the room had been voted in by their classmates as the students who exemplified the virtue of compasssion. After I finished my lunch, I stood and answered their questions.
I got a chance to meet Ginger Mullin in person while at Ecole St. Wilfrid. She came in for lunch with her children. It is so good to put a face to a name. Ginger has done a brilliant job of organizing this week. Everything is going like clockwork. It’s a busy week (just like I requested) but everything is so beautifully organized that it isn’t tiring.
After that, I had two back to back sessions. The first was with grades 1 to 3 and the second was 4 to 6. There were a lot of kids in each group but they were attentive and they asked good questions. After the sessions, the librarian brought me a massive pile of Prisoners in the Promised Land to sign. There must have been more than 40. The staff had purchased some Daughter of War for themselves and I also autographed place name papers. I was then driven to the airport and flew to Medicine Hat. I ended up in yet another 2nd floor room with no elevator so I asked for help with my luggage. Went to the restaurant across from the parking lot and had bison and Saskatoon berry pie and then came back and had a swim. Am looking forward to my very busy Thursday.
