The Second Annual Winter Gala

Fans, it did not disappoint. This year's Winter Gala was held at the St. Louis Park High School, which represented a significant improvement over last year's venue, the Rec Center.* Notably, there was no green room. Instead, parents were told to escort their children to a section of seats near the stage, and then make a dash for it. So, we walked Joe to the appointed seats, found the erstwhile Miss Maneesha, and then tore off, as instructed. After settling into our seats, we spent a few minutes looking for our little blond head. We found it, and found it sans tears, and looking all about. There was a lot to look at. Despite the new venue, as last year, chaos reigned.**

But then, the show began. Toddlers did not participate this year so the two "Twos" rooms led off. Our Hero is in "Twos B," so we first watched the tots in Twos A slam their way through something called "The Snowflake Dance" with some guitars which had clearly doubled as an art project. And then, it was time.

Our Hero took to the stage. He looked about with trembling lip. The music began and he. Was. ON IT! The Twos B's musical selection was "The Wheels on the Bus."*** Our Hero was right there with his wheels. He was right there with his doors. And then, the doors stalled. Our Hero's gaze tripped over something. Wait. He saw us. And it was all over. Tears flowed freely. Fingers were pointed. Our Hero was picked up and whisked off to Julie who was by now waiting in the wings.

We bundled back up and headed home to Bird who stayed home to go to sleep. Miss Melissa, her teacher and Joe's former teacher, came over to stay with her. Our Hero was just the tiniest bit loopy, as you might expect, but he, too, is now down for the count.

And thus, we close the books on another Gala. (We did note that the Pre-A, Pre-B, and Pre-C children were in choo-choo train, twinkling star, and monkey costumes, respectively. You have to wait a year, but you could probably start getting excited now.)

*See http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-gala.html and http://joeekkers.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-gala-movie.html.

**Ibid.

***We can all agree this is a vastly superior selection to "The Snowflake Dance." Do you know how "The Snowflake Dance" goes? Yeah. We don't either. Now, can you get your wheels goin'? That's right. Let us also pause to consider that this song has built in props. Our Miss Maneesha. She's no dummy, Fans. This woman works her curriculum; there is no time for making off-theme props.