A Major Prize

Tonight was the night that I graciously accepted my scholarship from the Madison Folk Music Society. There was a small crisis when I forgot my tiara and members of PETA threw red paint on my mink as I got out of my limousine, but I recovered enough to make an acceptance speech, wherein I thanked my kindergarten teacher, Rae Rocca, who happened to be in the audience. Apparently, news of my honor got around.

OK, I made most of the previous paragraph up. It was a casual affair and I wore my newest jeans and trusty Danskos, but is true that my kindergarten teacher really was there. And 43 years later, she still remembers me! I adored her. She was nearly at the beginning of my love affair with education. (I had a great preschool teacher too.) She was young and pretty, she lived on my block with her parents, and she played the piano while we sang On, Wisconsin and Winky the Elephant. It was an unexpected treat to see her there this evening.

See how influential she was? I still remember the song:

Winky the elephant, Winky the elephant,
You live in a great big zoo.
Winky the elephant, Winky the elephant,
It's fun to look at you.

(We really had an elephant named "Winky" at our municipal zoo, which happened to be 2 blocks from my house. When I was around 7, a young child visiting the zoo climbed into Winky's cage with a bag of popcorn, and was stepped on and killed. I remember hearing the ambulance sirens. They sent Winky away after that. I hope that wasn't just a euphemism for euthanizing her. It was not her fault.)

Back to the scholarship. The scholarship -- for music lessons -- was established to honor the memory of folksinger Helen Schneyer, whose sister Mona is a longtime Madison resident. They awarded one to a youngster, and one to me, the 48 year old wannabee folk musician. I am truly honored.