Carmelita & Sonya in 2004

It’s funny how community involvement can change your life. Way back in 2003, when my oldest son started kindergarten, our school secretary encouraged me to audition for the San Carlos Chickens’ Ball. Little did I know how much it would change my life.

Kathy Dal Broi is a fantastic singer; she sings country, jazz, and other styles. She has an amazingly silky voice. She is a beautiful and energetic performer. I’d vaguely heard of the San Carlos Chickens’ Ball and seen signs around town since we moved to San Carlos in 1994. Kathy talked me into auditioning even though I hadn’t sung in public since the sixth grade when I had to choose between choir and band.

I auditioned for a solo singing Come Rain or Come Shine. The piano player at auditions couldn’t play the song in my key so I sang it a capella. Talk about being nervous. The louder I sang, the less nervous I got. As I finished singing, people hanging out in the gym where we auditioned all clapped. That was certainly encouraging. Thankfully, I was cast for a singing part for the 2004 Chickens’ Ball and the rest is, as they say, history.

Being involved with the San Carlos Chickens’ Ball, I’ve had the opportunity to meet people I would not have ordinarily met. I’ve met people who have been in the ball since 1960. I’ve met people who were old enough to be my grandparents or parents and I’ve met people who have been performing in the Ball since they turned 16 (and were finally old enough to perform in the Ball). I’ve met many small business owners who own businesses around town, from construction to real estate to flower shops to carpet cleaners to jewelry stores to bakeries. I’ve vacationed with them at their summer homes and I have open invitations to visit others at theirs. Being involved in this type of community event has given me the chance to meet all kinds of people and build lasting relationships!

Arundel/TL/Sports Skit in 2012

Stage Building in 2012

Kay, Sandy, Ginger, Connie, Sonya in 2010

Julie at auditions

I do recommend dragging, I mean, involving a close friend to two in such a community event – this type of togetherness can lead to a closer relationship and more than a few fun and crazy memories. Where else can you and your friends get cast as hookers and get to cruise the audience and say things like: “it’s good to see you with your clothes on” or  “I hardly recognized you in the day light.” It’s great to introduce a community event to someone else and see him or her become a repeat participant and a “lifer.” Some people try it once and say, “It’s not for me” or “I don’t have the time this year,” but others try it and wouldn’t miss being involved for anything.

2010 Charter Skit Cast

Being involved in a community event or group is a chance to do some good, like raise money for our schools or a particular cause while making friendships and building something memorable. Where else can you co-write and co-produce a skit about flowers and play one named Hazel, the Hooker’s Evening Primrose (I am not making up this flower name)?

Howard Demeke, a teacher at Central (which was the only school in town at the time) founded the San Carlos Chickens’ Ball in 1939, with the first performance taking place in 1940. He did it to raise milk money for the students at Central. His intention in starting this community event was to bring the community together. This quote is taken from an interview with Howard Demeke in 1957 and it is still relevant today:

“The thought of recreating a modern version of the Chickens’ Ball occurred to me during the years of 1938-1939. At that time, San Carlos was a fast-growing community, containing a large percentage of commuters. Because San Carlos had existed as a small community for a lengthy period of time, it contained a number of older community organizations together with an increasing number of newer ones, which reflected the interests of the newcomers in the growing community. To me, it was quite evident that there was a need to do something to permit people to get to know one another and to understand what was happening in the community as it grew. Since this was largely the work of the various clubs and organizations, it seemed reasonable to me that any opportunity to permit the membership of such organizations to get together in a common enterprise, would be a step in the right direction. In other words, if San Carlosians, either individually or through their various organizations, were called upon to share in a common enterprise regularly, there would be a fabric of communication and fellowship woven into the community which would perhaps prevent somewhat, the breaking up into isolated patterns of living which appear so frequently today in our complex modern American communities.” (Emphasis added.)

1940 Chickens Ball, Backstage

I would, therefore, conclude by respectfully requesting you and the members of your committees to let the following guide your thinking as you endeavor to coordinate and clarify the future of the Chickens’ Ball: Let each potential decision you reach be weighed carefully to determine: “will this action, if taken, serve to bring the individual citizens and the community groups in San Carlos closer together to produce more widespread understanding, cooperation, and fellowship?”

Now that you’ve read a quote that is over 50 years old about a community event that has been taking place for over 75 years in the small town of San Carlos (pop. ~26,000) — How are you involved in your community? How are you producing more “understanding, cooperation, and fellowship?”