Even though that first Christmas concert was a bit of a disappointment due to my laughter induced stage fright, the ones that followed were much more enjoyable. That first one had been held in the classroom of our one room school with parents and neighbors crammed in like sardines, enough to intimidate any budding thespian.
In the years that followed, Christmas concerts were held in the Mayfeld Community Hall, about two miles southwest of our school. I did a bit of research about the Mayfeld hall, because lets face it, I wasn’t a big local history buff between the ages of 7 and 9. It turns out the original 1910 Mayfeld school burned down in December 1952. I didn’t even live in the area at the time so how was I to know? Besides I was only a little over one year old at the time. A replacement school was built and opened in 1953 which doubled as a community hall. It was used for dances and concerts and heaven knows what other community events. We also attended a crokinole tournament at the hall at which I won the prize for being the youngest competitor. I think I was seven or eight. My prize was a shiny metal tape measure with a button on the side to retract the tape. Luckily prizes weren’t awarded till after the tournament because apparently I tormented many in the crowd during the lunch that followed with how swiftly the tape retracted when I pushed the button. Not my proudest hour.
We actually attended a few of those Saturday night dances at which my father joined the musicians on the stage and played the banjo. I remember the powdered wax they sprinkled on the hardwood floor to facilitate the Allemande left’s and dosey doe’s. I don’t remember dancing. I was much too shy, but I remember Miss Enns trying to teach us the waltz and a few popular dances, before the end of school on Fridays. My face was usually flaming red the whole time especially when she paired me up with a girl I liked.
So, in December 1958 rehearsals began for the Christmas concert which we soon learned would be held in the Mayfeld hall that year. We really got excited when we found out the whole week before the concert we would be going to the Mayfeld hall to rehearse. That meant getting out of school for an additional week prior to Christmas holidays. I remember at least one or two days when the roads hadn’t been plowed so parents couldn’t come with cars to get us to the hall, so a local farmer brought his hay rack on sleds pulled by a team of horses to get us there and back. We were all gung ho about an impromptu hayride.
Luckily Miss Enns had enlisted the help of a few mothers because we could be a rather unruly lot when let loose in a large hall. By turns we practiced our carol singing, and musical drills and of course a few funny skits and the main event, the Christmas play. Whenever we weren’t part of a particular number we were expected to sit quietly and be the audience. The night of the show we were pretty keyed up and the audience seemed much larger than the previous year. There were few wrong turns in the musical drills and the odd sour note but nobody seemed to notice or care and of course the applause was thunderous.
At the end of the concert the guy in the red suit appeared with much Ho Ho-ing, and to our amazement he had a bag of candy and a present for every kid there. Not just the students but our younger brothers and sisters as well. So, a great time was had by all and next week I’ll tell you about the tree planting cars.
**Bill Gould** spent 43 years as a long-haul truck driver before trading the steering wheel for a keyboard to help fellow Canadians navigate the road of retirement. A freelance writer, published author, and editor of over 50 books, Bill co-founded *Canadian Senior Moment* with his wife, Marilyn, to provide a trusted space for seniors to find clarity, safety, and connection in the digital age. When he isn’t troubleshooting “tech gremlins” or sharing childhood memories of the Prairies, he can be found in his woodshop or working on his latest novel.