A fun day for all

The year 2007 has officially come and gone and another year has begun. It was time for the year to end, but none of us were in a hurry for the last day of the year to end.

It was nice to sleep in again and rest. And it was even nicer to be able to wake up and enjoy another wonderful homemade breakfast. The nicest parts of the day, however, were yet to come.

Not long after we finished breakfast and got cleaned up, Dolly and I ran a few errands around Wiky and then headed to the community center at South Bay. Already there were Sarah, Aaron, Gail and the kids, and a few others who were sledding down a hill behind the community center. They said they had already been there for over an hour and were waiting for us to join them. Once we arrived, Dolly and I indulged in sledding for about 45 minutes. And those 45-or-so minutes were filled with fun; I hadn't gone sledding in more than 20 years.

It was quite a workout to reach to the top of the hill from which we launched ourselves onto the solid, packed snow below. Both Dolly and I commented that climbing the hill wasn't difficult so much because of our legs; it was a struggle sometimes because of our lungs. Still, the walk up the hill numerous times was a great workout, and the fun we had going down the hill made the labor worthwhile. When it was all said and done, most of us had sore bums and other minor injuries. But we were all too full of laughter and fun to care much. We were together and were having fun, and that was all that mattered. It sounds as though we may go sledding again tomorrow.

Rather than head back to Dolly's after leaving South Bay, we turned toward Manitowaning so we could visit the liquor store and pick up a few bottles of champagne. The drinks weren't for us; Dolly picked up one bottle for Sharlene and Nathan and another for Matt and Lulu. Other than that, we picked up a few items at the Freshmart before we returned to Wiky and fixed supper. Dolly fixed a pizza covered in pepperoni, mushrooms, and bacon; the pizza didn't last long with all the kids around.

We had planned to go to the New Year's Eve powwow around 8, but we didn't arrive until about 9. In the meantime, Dolly and I rested from all of the action of the day before we settled into more cooking. Dolly suggested I make some of my renowned tator tot casserole for the after-midnight feast at the powwow, and it was ready after about two hours of prep time. And I was pleased to see that a good portion of it had been enjoyed by elders, singers, and dancers at the powwow before I was able to partake of some.

When we arrived at the Waase-Abin high school gym where the powwow was held, we found it was packed with people. We expected it to be filled with all kinds of people, but there seemed to be more people there than were there last year. Regardless, the singers were already well warmed up and the dancers were ready for action. Grand entry was around 7 this evening.

Dolly and I danced part of one intertribal. But apart from that we spent our time milling among friends and family, stopping at the concession stand for snacks, and stepping outside for smoke breaks. It was warm inside the high school, and it felt good to every now and then step outside and enjoy the coolness of the evening air. And speaking of the evening air, I was pleased to find the night was cool but not cold. The snow had also subsided by the time we took our last smoke break around 10 to midnight.

We stepped back inside and the countdown to midnight had begun. With about five minutes left, the M.C., Chris Pheasant, beckoned all of us to form two circles in the center of the high school gym so we could do a round dance leading up to midnight. Dolly and I, along with numerous others, formed two concentric circles and danced clockwise in time to the music. There was a pause in the dancing and singing as the last 10 seconds of 2007 commenced. The M.C. led us in counting backwards from 10 in Ojibwe. And once we had reached the midnight hour, the room erupted with the sound of noisemakers as friends and family, hugged, kissed, and shook hands. And once the noise died down somewhat, the singers resumed and some people continued dancing. But most of us had broken up and made our way around the gymnasium to visit with those close to us. The room was filled with happiness and laughter, and it was then I really felt glad I made it back to Wiky for New Year's again this year. It seems 2008 is going to begin in much the same way and in the same place 2007 did.

It took a while to get through the chow line after the elders, singers, and dancers, but the wait was well worth it. So much delicious food was set before us and each of us filled his or her plate. And once we filled our plates, we found places to sit and our enjoyment of the food and visiting continued. We finished with our feast around 1 this morning, and we arrived back at Dolly's not long after that.

Dolly's house was largely empty save for a few kids who had hung out there throughout the night. In the meantime, as we were getting ready to bed down for the night, Audrey stopped by and asked us to go out to another party. But we declined since we already felt tired and partied-out. It would have been fun to party more, but neither of us had the energy or strength. There will always be more parties.

Additional parties or no, it's been wonderful to be back in Wiky for New Year's, and it feels good to put 2007 in the books. There have been ups and downs as there are in any year, but 2007 truly has been one of the best and happiest years of my life. And I hope 2008 will follow suit.