Neil & i were walking downtown, killing time till Sloanie was done her violin gig. A fluttering sign in the wind caught my attention & i said to Neil, "Hey, Fred Penner is coming to Calgary. Seriously - i think that guy came to my elementary school when i was in grade 1 or 2..."
"Really?"
i'm not actually sure that it was Fred Penner, but my brain seems to think it was so, i nod grinning.
"Ya. Haven't i ever told you about my Fred Penner incident?"
"Um, no. You have a Fred Penner incident?"
"Yes. He came to our school & he co-wrote a school anthem with the students... something about 'Queen Street School where the kids are cool, it's fun #1 it's Queen Street School'.... Then he gave a concert. One of the songs was Funkydiscombooblegum & it was all about the amazing properties of this gum... i don't remember how it went. Anyway, he said if anyone could stand up & say "funkydiscombooblegum" backwards, they could have a piece. Well, i thought i was so freaking clever, my hand flew into the air & he called on me. i stood up in front of the whole school.... turned around *backwards* and said (with a cocky little grin), 'funkydiscombooblegum'."
"Did he get it?"
"No. And i didn't get any funkydiscombooblegum. It was a little embarrassing, he said, 'um, no - you have to say it backwards...' & i was all, 'um, i'm *standing backwards* - get it? Saying it *backwards*??' but he had already started doing something else, so i sat down. When i told my mom she said he probably did get it, but didn't have any gum to give me so pretended he didn't."
"Mollen would totally do that."
"Yeah... i think she would. We're smart."
We might need to book some tickets to his concert...
3 comments:
Cute!!
Oh I love Fred Penner:-) I didn't realize you went to Queen Street! I went to Millgrove...we had a song too but written by our music teacher:
Millgrove Millgrove
That's the school for me
Millgrove Millgrove
No finer school you'll see
We are proud to belong to a school so fair
The teachers and the kids are no better anywhere
We work hard, play hard, we're busy every day
and that is why we say..
M-I-double L-G-R-O-V-E
M-I-double L-G-R-O-V-E
(repeat)
Oh yeah. How sad is it that I remember every word to that song. We also wrote (without the teacher's knowledge) a version of this song for our rivals, Brookwood. It wasn't very clever.
Brookwood, Brookwood, that's not the school for me...
You get the idea.
Anyway, I love your story.
We had a visit to Paul Hann (remember him?) in grade 3 and a visit from Lee and Sandy Palin in grade 6, whom I have never heard from again...but Fred Penner! That's almost as good as Raffi! Real Celebrity in Spruce Grove - WOW!
I did my student teaching at Queen Street...that seems like ages ago. It's not even a school anymore my Mum told me, some kind of doctor's office/clinic?
Thanks for the trip down memory lane:-) Happy
I saw Fred Penner in Duncan, BC at about the same age I guess...8 or 9 maybe? He was on a Sharon, Lois and Bram episode that I had on tape so he was THE HUGEST CELEBRITY I had ever seen. Actually, he's probably still the biggest celebrity I've ever seen...
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