In the world of raffles, there are those who win them, and there are the rest of us. The only raffle I remember winning as a kid was for a single box of Girl Scout cookies. The fact that I still remember it 38 years later says everything about my lifelong losing streak. It wasn’t even one of the good flavours.
If I hadn’t been such a raffle loser, I may never have challenged myself to realize even greater heights. Like a devastated teen who has just broken up with their first love only to meet their future spouse, I can thank the severe streak of losses for introducing me to the most glorious invention in carnival history: the Cake Walk.
It was Halloween. I can’t remember the year. I can’t remember my costume. I do remember, however, the moment I first laid eyes on her. After taking a spin around the room at the annual Halloween Carnival and Chili Feed, my young feet pattered their way to a game near the front. On the floor there were numbers, and on the table there were cakes. A game where I can win cake? By simply walking in a circle? As a young person with no money, agency, or real power of any kind, the prospect of winning not just a free slice of cake, but the whole thing? Inconceivable!
I handed over my ticket, and just as the spiritualists walk a mandala cultivating inner peace, I walked those numbered squares cultivating a hunger for a cake. Actual cake. I was confident that I would win; confident because, although I wasn’t lucky, I was smart. With only three other walkers, I quickly deduced that my odds of winning a cake weren’t just good. They were nearly guaranteed. I walked away victorious, a cake in one hand, a pie in the other, basking in the frosted glory of punching a chocolate covered fist straight into the loophole of whatever raffle-losing system had previously seemed to control my destiny.
So friends of cake and carnival games alike, whatever you’re doing, cancel your plans, because there’s a carnival tonight, and you really should be there. The Leadership students at Chatelech are hosting their first ever carnival Friday, May 16, from 3 to 7 p.m. Proceeds support extracurriculars at Chatelech and benefit many of our Creeker youth. And hey, if you don’t like youth development –– you just might win yourself a cake. There will also be bouncy castles. Although they’re probably meant for the children, don’t mind me I’ve converted one into my own personal emotional support castle. May’s been tough, alright?!
If you get kicked out of the emotional support castle like I inevitably will, here are some other events you might want to check out. I can’t promise they will have cake, however.
• Lori Goldston – cellist and composer
Tuesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Gumboot Café
• Wok in the Woods – seasonal, soulful Cambodian-inspired dishes
Wednesdays in May at Roberts Creek Hall
• Fill the Food Cupboard – not an event, but a call to action: shelves have been bare
Anytime, day or night at Roberts Creek Library
