The Concert

Locals keep saying "In winter..." or "Once winter gets here.." As far as my toes are concerned, winter has already arrived, so I am a bit anxious about what is still in store for us. We need rain, but when it snows near Hobart, the wind comes off it straight to Flinders. So we need to pray for rain, but not snow!

I spent this evening in the town hall, which has a really fancy title, involving recreation centre. The music teacher had organised for her pupils to perform for us, and also for the 'sing Australia' choir to sing, and some adults to perform either a solo, or a duet.

I enjoyed the evening, and all the different performances, some were better, some not so good, but everyone tried really hard. The encouragement they got from parents and friends, the kind laughter that greeted any mistakes, and the enthusiastic applause at the end of each piece was really heartwarming. It was fun so see the different reactions of the children to being thrust into the limelight, in front of a crowd of fellow islanders. Kathleen had the children perform on the floor in front of the stage, so they were not so put off by the audience, but the choir were up on stage, and filled the whole hall with their voices.

There were fifteen different performers, and each performed several pieces, but two of the pieces chosen were of African origin. It was soooo weird to see a group of about 20 Australians doing the equivalent of a 'gumboot' dance, with the correct words, but in high heels and sneakers. For a moment I was almost homesick, but a rendition of Oh Bla Di Oh Bla Da, soon put an end to it.

We then went out into the foyer and descended on the food the mothers had provided. There was a 'gold' coin collection to raise money for the music school, so everyone made sure they got their monies worth. (The dollar coins in Australia are gold coloured, while the cents are all silver coloured, so they want to make sure everyone knows how much to give.)

There was a lot of chat and laughter, and once again it was really wonderful to feel part of the crowd, and included as part of the community.