by Charles Frankish
As a preteen, I was always keen to participate in any contest for which I qualified. One particular picnic, it was announced that we were having a balloon breaking contest. Without thinking, I enthusiastically joined in on the contest. A balloon was attached to the ankle of each child. The winner was the last one standing with an intact balloon. As the contest started and I heard the balloons bursting, I suddenly realized I had made a tremendous mistake. I was terrified of being close to bursting balloons at that age. As a result, I spent the whole game preventing others from bursting my balloon. Furthermore, there was no way that I was going to burst other kids’ balloons because of my “phobia”. As it turned out, I was very successful at protecting my balloon. David Chamberlain and I were the last two standing. The contest came down to me running away from David so that my balloon was not burst. I have no memory how the game ended but I believe it may have ended in a draw. There was no way I was going to let David break my balloon (although he doggedly chased me around the circle) nor was I going to break his balloon.
My biggest faux pas was during the shoe kick a few years ago. A call was made for those who would like to participate in the shoe kick. I promptly joined the line of those who were competing. When it was my turn, I gave a mighty kick and managed to kick my shoe the furthest. To my great disappointment, one of the remaining participants managed to nudge out my shoe by a few feet. When the top three competitors were announced, I placed second between two females. The call was then made for the Men’s shoe kick. How embarrassing!! After being away from the Chamberlain picnic for several years, I had forgotten that the shoe kick was a gender-based contest. Needless to say, I slunk away and did not participate in the Men’s shoe kick. I dare say, I may be the only male in the history of the Chamberlain picnic who has placed in the top three in the Women’s shoe kick.
