Saturday

Bobbie, was dressed and drinking coffee when Johnny knocked on her door Saturday morning. “Hi Bobbie so you are not coming over to the market this morning?”

“No, I’m still a little camera shy.”

“Rick is a little spaced out but we’re going to sing a bunch of Simon and Garfunkel songs. Everyone likes that stuff and it’ll be good for him.”

“Oldies but goodies. I’m glad to hear he can sing with you today.”

“He’s not all better yet but he’s not going to OD on my watch and singing and playing is his happy place. Let’s face it performing gives us all a bit of a high.”

“Very true.”

“Don’t forget to mention our take-out chili in your announcements. Mark is well prepared today.”

“I’m going to buy my chili as soon as we get there. I bet he’ll sell out again.”

“Break a leg, Johnny. We have the Walt and Clay’s regatta on Monday, it’s a holiday. I’m making it a “big thing”. Do you want to come, I could use your help?”

Natal Day Regatta

Bobbie was ready. Johnny was meeting her with his truck and she had everything she needed in the elevator except for the big tarp canopy that was in the back of her car. She managed to find it in her storage container and hoped it wasn’t mouldy or anything. The last time they had used it was a family camp out over 20 years ago.

We have to get some things out of my car and the rest of the stuff is in the elevator. Johnny helped load the canopy and half a dozen lawn chairs, 2 grocery bags full of snacks and utensils, 2 coolers, one with drinks and one with sandwiches, potato salad, fresh guacamole and carrots and hummus into the back of his truck. He pointed out a folding table that he loaded before.

Bobbie looked in the truck. “We’ve got everything but the kitchen sink. I think Mom and Dean are coming. I told Barb to come and of course Eddy, Charlie and their families will be there. Let’s hit the road and get it all set up.”

The boy’s paddling club was holding the regatta so people from the other clubs travelled there. Bobbie and Johnny got a good parking spot that backed the grassy area beside the lake; where spectators could watch the race. Spots near the finish line were full but they found spot in the middle where they could set up. Bobbie spread out a blanket to mark her spot and they brought the old canopy to set it up. It had telescopic rods and a tarp and was about 10 ft square. It was good for rain or a sun shade. They positioned it beside the lake. The foot path was right in front and Johnny set up his table on one side. Bobbie brought out the coolers and slid them under the table and set out the snacks and napkins and paper dishes on the table.

Finally, theyput the chairs under the shade. Bobbie had coffee in her travel mug so she sat in a chair and relaxed a moment while Johnny puttered around and dug into the cooler.

“There’s no booze in here Bobbie.”

“It’s a kid’s regatta Johnny we’ll be high on paddling.”

“Fine, I can only drink so many Fresca’s though.”

“Fresca, that’s my favourite.” Said Charlie. He was walking towards them carrying lawn chairs and a soft sided cooler while June, Niko and Suzy followed behind.

Hi Bobbie, this canopy looks great. Suzy, go visit your gramma and Niko can you get Mummy a ginger ale.” Said June, sinking into her lawn chair.

“Jen’s in the parking lot and Eddie’s getting the boys signed in.”

“I’ll go help her, she probably has chairs and stuff. Can I take Niko with me to see Laura?” Johnny asked June.

“Sure Johnny.”

Jen helped Bobbie get all the snacks out on the table and everyone got their drinks and chairs set up. Florence and Dean came over the hill arm and arm and Bobbie showed them to their chairs.

Everything looks so festive said Florence eyeing the Balloons and streamers that Bobbie had tied to each corner of the canopy.

Eddie walked over to his grandma “You’re just in time for the race.” Everyone got up and made their way over to the starting line to cheer the boys on. Suzy was on Bobbie’s hip. Clay and Wally had the biggest smile and they both wore blue headbands and black swooshes under their eyes.

On your mark get set…and the starting pistol went. The kids started paddling. There were six heats of “minnow racers” and the top 2 in each heat advanced to the finals.

There was an ad hock concession stand and a popsicle trolley in front of the clubhouse and restrooms in the back.

They went back to their chairs and stood in front of them to cheer them on and watch the race. The boys were ahead in their heat they came second so would continue on to the final. After they finished, they came back and even though Bobbie had everything under the sun to snack on, the kids wanted money for popsicles.

The finals weren’t until late afternoon so Florence and Dean left and said they would be back at 4 to cheer the boys to victory. The Boys were running around and the adults mostly chatted and snacked and Bobbie got her knitting out. She wasn’t knitting Brose socks anymore and a few days before she tore them off the needles and rewound the yam. She was donating it to the thrift store. Maybe someone else would appreciate it.

One of the organizers came over and was chatting to Eddy and Charlie. Then he moved over to Bobbie. “So, your appearance is causing a bit of a stir Ms. Orlov. We’re not used to celebrities.”

“I’m just an internet meme I’m sure it’s not the same.”

“I was just talking to your sons and they suggested you might be willing to help us with a fundraising event here.”

“Of course, I’ll do everything I can to help the young paddlers.”

“All the clubs are constantly upgrading their infrastructure and buying new boats and we use the fees and have some private donations that help too. We were thinking, maybe we could put you in a selfie booth and accept, a five-dollar donation to the paddling association, per selfie.”

“Oh… Well, I don’t know… I guess it’s a good cause… Right?”

He led Bobbie over to a table in front of the Paddling association sign. “Get your selfies here, get your own selfie with our own home town hero Bobbie, here…”

Bobbie must have smiled over two hundred times over the next few hours. It was sort of fun but she was tired of it when they shut it down. She raised almost 1500 dollars and Bobbie promise the Motel would match that amount, with a corporate donation.

She made her way back to their table and sank into a chair. Eddie, Charlie and Jen were taking a walk and Johnny and June were chatting. June was laughing, which was nice to see. June had been a little troubled by all the pregnancy stuff and still had morning sickness in her second month.

Niko was sitting in a lawn chair with a popsicle dripping down her hand. “Why did everyone want to take your picture Gramma?”

“I don’t know, everyone is still acting crazy around me sweetie, I’m sure they will forget about it soon.”

“Good, I don’t like it.”

It was nearing 4 o’clock and the piped in music was stopped for a moment and an announcement was made that all the qualifying “Minnows” were to head to the starting area.

Florence and Dean came back and They all went over to the see the start, Eddy, Charlie and Jen were already there. The pistol went of and they started cheering. Bobbie could see Wally and Clay.  Their party moved back to their table and they stood cheering the boys on.

“What’s going on?” Asked Charlie. Something was happening in the boy’s boat. Wally was yelling and Clay wasn’t paddling.

Johnny had his binoculars. “I don’t know. Something’s wrong but I don’t think they’re sinking.”

The boys stopped yelling and soon they were paddling like they were possessed. They easily moved to the front of the pack and were singing loudly and paddling to the rhythm. They were singing, the ants come marching one by one. They crossed the finish line and ran their boat up on the shore and jumped out as fast as they could. The finish area was really crowded so just Charlie and Eddie went over to see them while everyone else waited to hear what was going on.

He came back a few minutes later. “They had an old kayak, brought a visiting club and there was an ant’s nest in the bow. They noticed when the ants came out and started biting them.”

“No wonder they were freaking out. It didn’t take them too long to figure out the faster they paddled the sooner they would be out of the boat.”

Johnny shook his head. “I would have jumped overboard, were they badly bit?”

“The ants aren’t the biting kind; I think they were just freaked out because they were crawling all over them.”

The boys came back over. They had a few friends with them that were teasing them about ants.

“It made us win, didn’t it?”

“You should all paddle like you have ants in your pants.” Quipped Johnny.

The boys groaned and June giggled.

The kids moved away and Bobbie heard one kid chanting. “Clay has ants in his pants.”

Clay laughed and tackled him. “We’ll see if I have ants in my pants on the winner’s podium.”

Barb and Jen were already cleaning up and Jen said. “OK Kids, your job is to bring us the empty pop cans and water bottles so they can be recycled.”

Bobbie gave Wally a couple big bags. “See if anyone wants to donate their recyclables for the club. Put ours in too.”

The kids were gone and being productive and Bobbie got garbage collected and things packed up in no time.

Florence and Dean were deciding which restaurant they wanted to go to. “Mom, we could all go if we picked a family place.”

“No Bobbie, I’ve had enough family time for now. I love you all and congratulations on your first-place medals boys.” They started up the hill.

“Bye Mom.”

Everyone was tired and they all decided to just go home and Bobbie and Johnny were left to take down the canopy and finish loading his truck.