Here is the story 0/ their odyssey.

it was May 3, I966 As the St. Malachy‘s Girls‘ Choir was leaving the Summerside. Prince Edward Island Musical Festival hall, our ad- jucator. Mr. Lloyd Queen, hurried down the aisle and asked to speak with me for a moment. Would we be willing to go to London, Ontario to sing at the C.M.E.A. Convention and the Dominion Night Concert in March [967? And that is how it all began!

When the official invitation came in July, we had a meeting with the parents; they were one hundred per- cent in favour of the project. True, we had many problems to face. not least among them the problem of funds. Kinkora is a small farming village of sixty families, and we cer- tainly would need lots of outside financial help. We then got busy at the typewriter and wrote of our plan and our need to many business firms. The response was encouraging. Meanwhile, the villagers were putting on suppers, sales. and lotteries. and through the combined efforts of all we were. in the end, able to pay com- pletely every child's way to London

and back.

First the children started counting the months until March I967, and

As days kept flying by. excitement mounted at the same rate. Truly. it would be a long-to-be-remembered experience for them, especially since

soon they were counting the weeks..

Our Centennial Journey

by Sign MARY June

Sister Mary Jude, C.S.M. i: the teacher and conductor of the St. Malachy': Girls’ Choir lrom Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, a choir who captivated everyone with their glorious round and their solid musicians/tip at the London Convention.

the majority of the thirty-five-mem- ber choir had never been off "the island".

They practised with great enthu- siasm, even though all the practices were held after school hours and many had a couple of miles to walk before they reached home. Realizing that you usually get out of things exactly what you put into it, they gave their all.

Although it was March, we still had banks of snow. On March 23 the worst storm of the winter arrived; it literally buried us under mountains of snow. My sister, Sister Bethany Marie, was our accompanist; she was a student at St. Dunstan’s University, thirty-five miles away! Before the roads began to fill in too much, she was able to come to Kinkora, but we felt our chances of leaving Kinkora' were very slim. Our departure date was March 26, Easter Sunday mom— ing, and the storm was gradually get- ting worse. The snowplows worked day and night to try to clear a path for us to the boat in Borden nine miles away. We thought it was im- possible. but the villagers were deter- mined we would go. Many of the girls walked through two miles of bliuard to meet the bus Sunday morning. and when we finally arrived at Borden we had used two buses and three snowplows and had de- layed both the boat and the train!

Our trip was planned in detail for

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us by C.N.R., and their kindness to us made up for our hectic beginning. We really had a very enjoyable trip to London, once we got out of the storm.

We were met and welcomed in London by Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. To say that our time spent in London was enjoyable is an understatement. Everyone was so kind to us. Through Mrs. McKellar, We had obtained lovely living accommodations at Mount St. Joseph; she also took full charge of our transportation while in London. For both of these we are very grateful. Soon after our arrival in London, we realized that one box containing five concert dresses was missing. We tried in vain to locate the box, but apparently it had vanished. The five girls concerned, naturally deeply disappointed, 'soon realized that our singing was really the important thing. and that in this case it would have to be the voice that makes themnand not the clothes! By the way, the dresses arrived back in P.E.l. last week from Michigan, USA.

At our afternoon rehearsal at the beautiful Alumni Hall, we had an opportunity to meet our fellow per- formers _and to watch the different conductors rehearse with their groups. We really remarked the warm friendliness of all the people con- nected with this convention. From the time we arrived until we left, we were made to feel we were members of one big musical family.

The Dominion Night Concert, arranged so skillfully, was all we had hoped for and more. The girls felt it a real honour to sing under the direc-

.visited Niagara Falls and the Hydro-

tion of so many renowned musicians and in some cases to sing the con- ductor‘s own composition. The audi- ence was so responsive and encourag- ing that to sing for them was a real pleasure. The climax of the evening was Sir Ernest MacMillan; having had the privilege of singing under his masterful direction is one memory, we feel, will never fade. . As all good things must come to an end, so our visit to London was over all too soon. In order that the girls would be able to see a little more of Ontario, we decided to travel part of the return trip by bus. We

electric plant there, and we were in Toronto in time to see the Swan Lake Ballet by Tchaikovsky at the O'Keefe Centre. This was one more musical treat which thrilled the children, even to the eight-year-olds. In Montreal we had an afternoon of sight-seeing. Although we had planned to be home Friday afternoon, our landing was to be almost as dramatic as our take-off. At Mont Joli, Quebec, we were de- layed for twelve hours because of a train wreck. During this delay the children couldn't leave their car but. settling down to writing diaries about their trip, they found the time slipped by. We finally arrived home at 2 o'clock Saturday morning and were greeted warmly by all the parents at

the school. And now we have settled back to

our regular daily routines, happy with our memories, enriched by our new experiences. and grateful to each and every one who co-operated to make this such a successful musical tribute to Canada in our Centennial Year.