The Annual Meeting Conspiracy

by David Whitfield

My father, Henry, held the position of Secretary-Treasurer of All-Saints for about 35 years running. That period included all the years when I was growing up.

There was always a flurry of activity just before the annual meeting when Dad was doing the final accounts for the year. During that time, the dining room table would be covered with the ledgers, bank statements, cheques, etc. as Dad added and re-added the figures to balance to the penny.

The only technology available to assist was a manual adding machine loaned every year by Jimmy MacKay (of MacKay's Ice Cream). As kids we thought that adding machine was great fun but Dad wasn't always having a great time.

As every bookkeeper has experienced, usually a few dollars or a few cents caused some grief. Dad would look for it and then Mom would look and so on. At that juncture, Dad would always declare that it was time someone else took over the secretary-treasurer job and he hoped he would be replaced.

Ultimately, the stray number would be found, the statements finished; the minute book would be ready and off we would go to the annual meeting.

In those days, we had no hall so the meetings were held in the basement of the Community Hall.

All the regular parishioners would be there, including two fine ladies with the surname Beynon.

The meeting would open like any other meeting. One of the first items on the agenda was election of a secretary for the meeting and that is when the conspiracy unfolded. Immediately, one of the Mrs. Beynons would speak-up and nominate my dad. Of course there would be no further nominations.

As the meeting moved to the election of officers, it was the other Mrs. Beynon's turn. "I nominate Henry Whitfield," was all she had to say, and the die was cast for another year.

I don’t know how many years that went on but it was always remembered at election time. Of course Dad could have said no to the nomination. He wasn't very good at saying no, but I think he actually would have been disappointed if the annual ritual didn't play out the same way.

...and the Pancake Supper

For many years one of the important fund-raisers for All Saints was the annual pancake supper held on Shrove Tuesday. It was an "all you can eat" pancakes and bacon feast organized and run mainly by the Vestry.

The Pancake Supper was attended by most of the community, in the same way that everyone turned out for the United Church Turkey Dinner in the Fall.

Rows of tables covered with white paper were set up in the basement of the Community Hall and the upstairs was used as a waiting area for our guests. Some years Jon Hutchinson provided entertainment for the starving masses by showing slides of his travels or hunting expeditions.

I can still remember the smells of the bacon cooking and the taste of the plate-sized pancakes. The food was second to none, because All Saints had a secret weapon: Ted Lee (Lucy Newsome's father) had been a cook for mountain outfitters and was a master at his trade. Ted presided over the preparations and the grill that kept the food coming as fast as the other men could deliver it.

In the years I was around, the servers included the likes of Neil Harvie, Bob Thomas, Leigh Blackwell, and Clayton Edgelow. There were lots of jokes about the "waitresses" but they did a great job and everyone left full and happy.

Although a vestry initiative, the pancake supper always turned out to be a family project. Everything had to be cleaned, furniture put away, floors swept etc. so there was more than enough work for everyone and men, women and kids were usually involved before the night was over.

At that point, I suspect we all would have given up pancakes for Lent.