An open night
By late afternoon on Wednesday, February 14th, daylight was still the order of the day as members of the Sherbrooke Snow Shoe Club began to gather for their weekly meeting. The fact that darkness had not yet taken over was a sign that the days are getting longer and that spring will eventually arrive.
Despite the mild temperatures that day of around plus four degrees Celsius, there was still sufficient snow cover for a few members to snowshoe on the nearby expanse of open countryside. Still others opted to walk the streets of the local residential sector to the south of the clubhouse.
On this particular occasion, the attendance was notably below the usual level for a weekly meeting. Given the fact that it was Valentine’s Day, it was evident that a number of members opted to spend the special day of romance with the ladies in their lives. With this in mind, their absence was understandably justified, though regrettable from the perspective of attendance.
At the appointed hour, President Gordon Barnett had difficulty in bringing order to the members seated about the rear dining hall. It took an emphatic strike of the presidential gavel to secure the attention of the membership. Following his greetings and the singing of the national anthem, Past President/2nd-vice Harry Brown asked the blessing. He also identified all the emergency exits.
This was the signal for the White Knights to take up their responsibility in serving the evening meal. Starting off with bowls of barley soup, the Knights proceeded with entrees of slices of all-dressed pizza and servings of spaghetti. An unusual combination, but tasty nevertheless. The dessert offering was a selection of pies arranged buffet style from which the members could choose.
It was pointed out by one club member, renown for his love of food, that a certain member from Cookshire apparently went unfulfilled from the soup and main course. Instead of the suggested serving of two slices of pie, the member in question took three slices and adding insult to injury, included a healthy dollop of ice cream to boot! Of course this act of extravagance displeased the food-loving member to no end, himself feeling deprived of the full potential of the dessert serving laid out for the membership. No doubt, he envied the Cookshire gentleman’s tenacity, wishing he had opted for three slices himself!
After the usual expressions of gratitude, a drawing was held for the evening’s two door prizes. The first went to Gary Vance, the second to Bob Davidson.
At this point, jokester Dave Moore recounted a rather lengthy perhaps true life incident at a local hardware store – one that may have affected more than one member on occasion in the past.
Following the traditional sing-along, the president convened a short business meeting. Most of the items discussed were of routine matters relating to the operation of the club.
With the business meeting concluded, club secretary Steve Moore posed a few questions regarding dated retail operations in the city of Sherbrooke as well as general historical points of interest relating to the Townships. On more than one occasion, the secretary was corrected as to the accuracy of responses, most notably by fellow member Bud Allanson. Bud’s knowledge of city retail establishments was impressive to say the least.
Following the short quiz, members were released to socialize or engage in a few games of volleyball before departing for home.
Submitted by Steve Moore, SSSC Secretary