My partner and I celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary a few days ago with a delicious dinner at Hopkins Dining Parkour — a place we hadn’t been for some time.
While perusing the menu and selecting our meals we reminisced about the wedding day in the Parkbeg United Church.
Yours Truly was as nervous as a cat jumping on a hot tin roof on a 40 degree Celsius day. My memory of parts of that day is a little foggy and there was no alcohol involved.
My partner’s mother was a founding member of the local Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
I do remember the wedding ring slipping off the cushion held by the ring bearer and falling toward the heating duct on the floor.
The minster adeptly stuck his foot out and prevented the ring from falling into the dark depths of the furnace.
And I remember being told Joyce’s cousin was swatting flies with his cap during the ceremony.
We both laughed at the photographer’s experience. Just before the wedding, the photographer, who was the newspaper photog, realized he had forgotten film for the camera and made a rush trip to Moose Jaw.
Despite the omens on our wedding day we’ve had magnificent years and experiences.
“Do you realize we’re paying more for this dinner than our whole wedding reception dinner cost?” I asked. I guess my reputation for having moths in the wallet caught up with me.
“Yes,” replied my bride of 54 years. “The turkey dinner was $1 a plate. The regular price was $1.50 but Mom got it for $1 because she was a member of the UCW and helped with the dinner.
“The dinner cost Dad $90.”
We shared that tidbit with our server Kim, who seemed blown away by the $1 price.
“You could buy a lot more with a dollar then,” she said.
True, but by that standard today’s dollar is worth between four and five cents compared to 1969.
We overheard a number of guests ask about the “ghosts” in Hopkins, an old house turned restaurant, and the stories staff told.
Apparently every one who ever worked at the place has experienced the ghost(s).
We asked Kim if she has experienced the ghosts.
She has had a number of “ghostly’’ experiences. One was while she was alone and saw someone who didn't answer her question and just disappeared into thin air.
One involved a sudden sharp temperature decrease.
The most unnerving incident happened one night after she closed the shop.
Her supervisor phoned early the next day asking why she hadn’t completed setting the tables.
Kim had set the tables but the fork was missing from every setting. None of the missing forks ever turned up.
We reminisced some more, ate our fill with another touching moment being a song sung to us by Kim and Debbie, another server.
I still can’t get over that $1 a plate home cooked turkey dinner; the same dinner catered today would be between $20 and $25 a plate.
Those were the days!
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
