INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 35)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Working the Show... (Part Seven)

12.  Traffic Jam...

Did you ever have one of those days? Judi and I were at the Hamilton Copps Coliseum and we had just finished exhibiting at the Hamilton Sportsmen’s Show. It was a small show but well attended and we had made a small profit. Even our take down and pack up went fairly smoothly. While Judi was completing our packing, I went to get our van. It was an old van but performed perfectly. I was allowed to drive around the circumference of the arena close to our exhibiting area. Again, everything went smoothly. We were able to pack the van up in record time, and were ready to go. We put our seal belts on, put the key in the ignition, turned the key, and nothing happened. NOTHING! And I mean Nothing! No Engine roar, no click, click, click. Nothing! The problem was we were sitting in the middle of the Coliseum's circumference isle and no one could pass us. Other exhibitor vehicles started lining up behind us. It was, to say the least, an embarrassing situation. Finally, a group of exhibitors helped us push the van backwards to the freight elevator. From there, another exhibitor gave us a boost and our engine finally started. Now it was late and I had to leave poor Judi sitting on a dark, cold, and snow blown winter's night, right on the curb outside Copps Coliseum. I couldn't risk shutting the van's engine down. She seemed to be happy when I returned. I thought it was because we were finally able to load the remainder of our exhibit into the trailer attached to the van. It wasn’t until much later, that she told me that while she was waiting one of her favorite childhoods T.V. Stars, Paul Michael Glacier, (from Starsky & Hutch fame) had been walking around (checking out the facility for an upcoming movie). Tired but both happy with the outcomes, we were headed on our way home!