The Sense of Succes

The morning of December 1st, my alarm went off at 7am and I rolled out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the day ahead of me. By 8 am my car was packed with centrepieces, tablecloths, wrapped silverware, spare napkins, a glass jar and a platter. By 8:15 I was awaiting Elaine at the RAC loop, by 8:30 we were on our way to the Polish Home Hall chatting with an eager excitement about what was to come. Elaine and I were third to arrive that morning, beat only by Richard Anderson and Steve Bradley. We pulled up the table layout and began setting up tables with the newly arrived Jennie and Lacey. Collin, Tom and Laura showed up and in no time at all the tables were set up and in place. After about 3 changes of the angle of the dining table we were satisfied with how everything looked. Collin and Tom got to helping rake the leaves outside and the rest of us started unpacking our cars with all the supplies we had bought, crafted and cooked. After all of the sweeping and technological set up it was time to head to our stations and await the general public. The first paying guest walked in around 12:20pm and within moments the Polish Home Hall filled with people and a vibrant chatter. Within the first hour over forty people had walked through the doors, and those who were on the VIP list offering generous donations to our cause. While the guests were mingling and observing the street directories, the pulled pork barbeque began to aromatically fill the air, and stomachs began to grumble. Dr King and Steve Bradley made their welcoming speeches and the event was officially underway. Jennie took to the stage and now elegant dulcet tones of her voice and guitar blended perfectly with the smells of the food, and the candles flickering on the tables. Elaine and I got to dancing at the entrance table for a little while but were halted by the many enthusiastic questions of what we were trying to achieve with this event, and what it meant personally to us. We both grabbed our lunch, after the public had claimed their plates and were nicely satiated, and for a moment relaxed and soaked in the bubbling excitement of the hall. With a slight lull in the entering guests, I counted the tickets we had collected so far to gain an estimate in the money we had made, a generalization was made that we had already made over $800, so I took to organizing the money box and counted and for sure we had made $937. The rest of the afternoon, continued as it had earlier with the coming and going of the local guests, until an elderly lady walks through the front doors bleeding from her shin. As a state certified EMT, I had no choice but to take care of her. After three fire fighters and many paper towels later the lady was treated and back on her feet, and I took to disinfecting the bathrooms. Another half hour passed and we had sold all of our printed tickets and had run out of programs. The clean up began and after forty five minutes the once cacophonous hall was reduced to a mere mumbling of twenty voices. We got in our cars and went our own ways knowing that we had achieved something special, and while we were tired a smile was on the faces of us all as we bid adieu.