Opinion

The 35-cent fortune rediscovered |

by D.L. MeCulloch
special to The Review

The Peninsula farmers held their
first Country Market for the year
June 28.

I was there, enjoying the warm
sunshine, the cool breeze, the

_ straw hats, the exhibits — includ-
ing homemade pies — and discov-
ered blackberry honey.

A friend of mine was doing
yeoman duty at the hamburger
grill in the service club conces-
sion.

There is nothing more tantaliz-
ing than the aroma of frying oni-
ons wafting across the fairgrounds.
A close second is that of the hay
that had been cut the day previous.
Together, they represent the best of
country ambience, and remind me
of the small-town country fairs of
my Manitoba youth.

I discovered, too, that the glint of
coins found in the grass is as

exciting as when I was a boy.

I happened to kick at a handful
of hay, to reveal two coins gleam-
ing in the sun. It flashed me back
to my “‘short-pant” days.

I had just finished “out of the
money” in the Boys 8-and under
race. Oh sure, everybody won a
ticket worth one ice cream cone —
but this was nothing compared to
the big money for First Place — 25
cents, Second — 20 cents and
Third — 15 cents.

I had come in Fourth and the
ticket did not do anything for my
dejection.

I thought of going in the 10-and
under, but the same First, Second
and Third winners from my race
were already lined up, so I
changed my mind.

Deep in defeat, I shuffled off to
watch the lemonade being ladled
out of a ten-gallon crock. Along
the way I picked up two Orange
Crush, a Lime Rickey and Cream
Soda bottle caps.

I knew how to take the cork seal
out of the bottle caps and fasten
them to my shirt or baseball cap.

SUPERMAN ANDY Andrew was among the Sidney Lions Club
~ members hosting Big Island cyclists to fresh crab dinner at
the bandstand park Wednesday evening.

(One summer my brother had 22
bottle caps on his jacket — he
sounded like an armadillo when
he walked.)

In passing, I kicked at a little
mound of hay — and there lay two
coins gleaming in the sun. A
twenty-five cent piece and a dime.
In a flash they were in my hand —
hot from the sun, and real.

It was as if they had just been
made and dropped there. In disbe-
lief I began to calculate my for-
tune: Seven ice cream cones, (or
five and a double-header), Ten B
B Bats suckers and three cones, or,
Five Molly O bars and two Oh
Henrys, or, Seventy Jaw-breakers,
or, Seven boxes of Cracker-jack,
with prizes in them, or I could go
to the Rex Cafe and order up a
banana-split that Joe and Lou
served in those heavy glass boat-
shaped dishes, or an orange-crush
float with lots of ice-cream and a
cherry on top (you fiddled around
until the cherry sunk and then you
tried to fish it out with the long-
handled spoon).

All the while the big fan in the
ceiling tured in its dreamy circle
and you could feel it tickling the
stray hairs of your “rooster-tail.”

Well, all of the possibilities were
now mine, and the races forgotten.

It wasn’t that we were hungry —
by 5 o’clock our Dad would be
rounding us up for the picnic

“supper, along with one or two

cousins or neighbor kids.

There would be real lemonade,
cold chicken, potato salad, ham,
devilled eggs, homemade bread,
three-day buns, fudge cake, straw-
berries, and coconut macaroons.

So finding the coins at the old
fairgrounds in Saanichton last
week brought back to mind the
fabulous 35-cent fortune of my.
childhood, and the happy memory.
of the fair long ago when I went
home with four bottlecaps in my
pocket and a Big Nickle left over.

Thanks for that memory, and
have a wonderful season at the
country market. Ill be back for the
blackberry honey.

Continued from Page A6

Clearly the problem starts early!

It didn’t take long for either of
us to realize that Christina Get-
good was just the person we were
looking for. Not only did she stress
the fact that Three Little Kittens
was all about teaching, she was
also the first one who openly
talked about loving the kids in her
care.

(I should also like to put in a
plug for Hannah MacDonald’s
family daycare in Sidney. She too
shows a lot of love and does a
wonderful job of teaching the kids
in her care. We only decided to
move Astra to another daycare
because we though she would
benefit more amongst an older

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group of kids).

I won’t go into all the details of
qualifications and experience, save
that John Getgood is a charming
and gentle man from an era when
that was much more in fashion, a
professional musician, a Shake-
spearian actor, and an accom-
plished educator in his own right.

I encourage interested parents to
visit Three Little Kittens and see
for themselves what it’s all about.

Of all the preschools we visited,
Three Little Kittens was farthest
from our house. Nonetheless, the
decision to send Astra there was
not a difficult one.

The world is changing at a faster
trate than it ever has. We want our
daughter to have the best possible

preparation and we know we have
found the place for that.

We are also sure that Astra is
going to have more FUN because
both her body and her mind will
be entertained at Three Little Kit-
tens!

Richard Outerbridge

Sidney

Licensed

Lots of
Parking in
the, Back

ThReview Wednesday, July 22,1992 — A8

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