As summer is approaching and we can say good bye to the 2007-08 school year, it brings to mind stories of “What I did on my summer vacation.” No, not really, but I did do several great things during those summer breaks from teaching. First of all, summer was a time to catch up on house cleaning that had lain dormant during the 9 months of teaching and directing. But we will not go there! The first thing I did as a rookie was to start a summer theatre program. I had been introduced to children’s theatre in college and loved the experience it gave me as an actor. Not only is it wonderful to have the young audience members ask for your autograph, but seeing the wonder in their eyes and their reactions to the play is something that every actor needs to experience. It is doubly rewarding when you are performing for little ones in a hospital. We live relatively close to a major children’s hospital in Spokane, Washington, so I decided to do a children’s show that we could pack up in a car and take to the hospital. Cinderella was chosen, as it needed very few men. (You can see a picture of the backdrop my husband drew on page 217 of The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide.) With the help of several parents, we car-pooled the 175 miles—this was in 1964 when gas was cheap—and had a very rewarding day. This led to another scheduled performance the following Christmas. I had been cast in the Harder’s play, Annabelle Broome, in college and wanted to do it as my Christmas offering to the cities of Missoula and Spokane. Well, serendipitously this turned out to also be the Christmas my husband and I decided to get married (we had been going together for 9 years). All the plans for the trip had been made long before the wedding plans, so two days after the wedding, 20 students, 2 chaperons and the newlyweds boarded the train for Spokane. Again the show was a hit and all had a great time. Those now-60-year-old kids still talk about their honeymoon. This performance led to our invitation to perform at the National Thespian Conference in Portland, Oregon. More on that next time. | 
