Well, I Lied ... We Had Another Big Production To Get Through
The St. Peter's Bazaar wasn't the next thing on our list ... It was the girls' performance in the Andre Rieu concert in Montreal June 25. The "Waltz King" conductor and violinist asked his people to get him a local children's choir to perform a Michale Jackson tribute with the orchestra and soloist Carmen Monarcha. He does this performance of "Earth Song" quite often during his current tour, bringing in a local choir in each city. The local PBS station contacted Margaret's chorus director, Bill Verity, and 35 kids were selected from Oak Street Elementary, the middle and high school choruses. Both Margaret and Patricia were chosen to perform. The kids had to be dressed in white from head to toe -- not uniform but all in white -- for which Rieu would reimburse up to $100 per kid. So we hit TJ Maxx and found appropriate attire for both girls. Each child would get two tickets for family members (which means we got four tickets!) valued at about $100 a pop. And the company would reimburse the district for its traveling expenses. They would also feed the group.
In the meantime, I was busy getting things ready for the book sale at the bazaar coming up June 27. I put my back out Thursday by lifting boxes of books, so I've been uncomfortable and in pain ever since but it's slowly getting better. Jack suggested we go up to Montreal earlier in the day with Brigid and walk around the old port, maybe go to the Biodome and then have dinner before the concert and stay the night at the Chateau Champlain, which, coincidentally, is right next door to the Bell Centre where the concert was being held. I made reservations and we went up and spent the afternoon in Old Montreal, then hit the pool in the hotel, which Brigid was dying to do. The Biodome, by the way, wasn't open. A labor dispute between the city and its workers forced the facility to close, although we were assured that the animals inside were being well-taken-care of.
We ate dinner at Nickels, a chain diner in Montreal, and then headed over for the concert. It did not disappoint. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed the concert overall -- and when the kids from PHS came out, our group of parents, friends and teachers went crazy. The song is very emotional anyway, and Carmen is incredible, but the idea that our kids were standing on the stage with this internationally known conductor and orchestra performing in front of 6,000 people was surreal and magical. They performed flawlessly and received a standing ovation from the crowd, with us leading the way. People who sat near us asked if they were our kids and said how proud me must be. That was an understatement.
Margaret had to be back in Plattsburgh to perform in the PHS band for graduation, and Patricia and I had our work cut out for us at the book sale preparation, so we were home in time for lunch. A story in the Press the day before alerted everyone that this concert was going on, so many people stopped to talk to Patricia about it over the weekend.
The book sale and bazaar went on without a hitch, except for the hitch in my back, that is. It meant a long end to an even longer weekend, but it was incredibly satisfying and very, very magical.
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