Donna Williams and Susan Stein
On a rainy Saturday morning in May, I checked my phone for messages. I figured the inaugural Carnival of Dreams for Highland Park’s Montessori School was cancelled. That’s probably what the Fairyland School and Lookout Mountain School would have done if the day of their biggest fundraiser dawned wet and gray with the promise of even more downpours.
But I only had a few spam texts. So, my husband and I picked up our granddaughter Mary Jane and off we went. Both Lookout Mountain schools had supported the fundraiser, sharing booths and advice, and Julia and Keith Sanford had agreed to chair the event that Susan Stein championed.
Donna Williams and I were assigned to the Go Fish booth while my husband and Mary Jane checked out the vast carnival attractions. Donna and I watched the opening parade from the shelter of our cute tent and before we knew it, the low gray skies opened up and buckets poured upon everyone. It didn’t matter. The line to buy tickets did not diminish and if you didn’t know better, you might think the rain was a feature of the special day, like a dunk tank or super soaker booth. Most folks had donned rain gear upon arrival, and folks who hadn’t (me) found a favorite booth to ride out the storm in.
It wasn’t actually a storm, which would have made a difference as far as safety goes. But the point is that just because the weather was not ideal, not by a long shot, the rainy weather did not dampen the spirits of a single soul.
I’ve manned a lot of festival booths in my day, but I have never been privy to such courtesy. Not one single child forgot to thank Donna and me for the privilege of paying to dangle a little fishing pole over our wading pool packed with floated fishes of all sizes and colors and snag one via a magnet.
You would have thought our booth offered some Disneyland extravaganza contraption or experience. Parents stood near the child as he or she fished, taking pictures and beaming - whether or not the child had figured out the trick to catching the fish. Everyone, and I mean every single person, no matter their age, thanked us. Toddlers, teens, parents, grandparents, big sisters, big brothers, aunts, friends … none of them could have been more appreciative.
By the time my shift in the booth was over, it was raining really hard, and Mary Jane and I pulled up our collars and ducked our heads and ran to the car. But in the parking lot where the food trucks were selling pizza and burgers and quesadillas and ice cream and more, folks were mixing and mingling and feasting and frolicking without an ounce of care about the torrential rains making a shallow wading pool under their feet.
This was a CARNIVAL! A real one! An important one with too much at stake.
“We believe this carnival will become a hallmark of community engagement in Highland Park and beyond, growing each year and leaving a legacy,” said Gus Diamondidis, director of advancement at Montessori Elementary at Highland Park.
And I just want to thank the folks responsible for the Carnival of Dreams, the parents, the students, the teachers, the volunteers and others who made this memorable, fantastic day come to fruition for letting me be a tiny part of it.
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel and is available in paperback and on Kindle. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Ferris Robinson