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Museum page

It all started twenty-two years ago after reading an article in the "Free Press Prairie Farmer" about a group of ladies who formed a kitchen band and enjoyed travelling here and there on the Prairies playing for conventions, at carnivals, concerts, and dances.

At that time we were having problems finding good music at a reasonable price for our dances at Kingfisher Hall, so at one of our meetings I suggested we try to form some sort of similar band to supply our own music, and invited several members to my home to see what we could do about it. Each one chose a kitchen utensil, such as a rolling pin, scrub board, wash tub, wooden spoons, fridge rack, ancient dinner gong, funnels with kazoos attached, many of which came from my husband's museum, with these in hand we commenced to beat an accompaniment to the selections our talented pianist, Joyce Potrie, chose to play by ear on our ancient piano.

Every Monday morning we met here to practice the old familiar tunes, as well as the new, and soon we were going here and there to provide something different in the way of entertainment at Senior Citizen Homes, conventions, parades, and dances. We all wear similar old-fashioned dresses in different colours, complete with white aprons, and hats made of kitchen gadgets.

The "Kingfisher Kitchen Band" is named after the community where we all live, twenty miles east of Enderby, near Mabel Lake. There are often embarrassing moments upon arrival at a hall where we've been asked to play for entertainment or dancing. One evening as we carried out ancient-looking kitchen paraphernalia towards the stage a man remarked to his friend, "I shall not be staying here long" As it happened he was one of our most enthusiastic listeners that evening and stayed right to the end.

Another day at an opening of a drop-in centre, we heard a lady say to her husband, "Oh, I didn't know there was to be a sale here today" We really were stared at when we entered the Calgary Inn with our antique instruments refusing the help of the hotel's attendants who came to meet us, and again at the Calgary television station where someone said, "What has W.O. Mitchell got us into this time?" Our band is so different that it is no wonder they stare.

There are seven of us in the band: our pianist, Joyce Potrie, for whom there is no substitute; Mary Dale, a vivacious washboard artist; Dorothy Clark, our unique drummer lady; Nada Potrie, accomplished fridge rack strummer; Barbara Ramsey, bass fiddle thumper; with Jacky Clark, our most recent addition, and myself blowing the "trumpets" (funnels with: kazoos attached) and shaking the rolling pin and saucepan. Former members and substitutes in our band over the years have been: Mary Boots, Betty Dack, Barbara McLauchlin, Akka Zijlstra, Rusty Jones, Cora Prevost, Nadine Old, Irma Gillard, Grace Lundquist, Elsie Warren, Bonnie Potrie, Vi Heyland, Doreen Cawley, Dora Chantler, Maxine Dale, Marian Dale, Vera Mazer, Nina Boulter, and Muriel Fast who was with us until recently from the very beginning, and last but not least, Jack Dugdale.

Over the years we have entertained at many affairs, including appearances on TV at Kelowna and at Calgary. And now, believe it or not, we've been chosen to play at Expo! Never did we think these many years ago that we'd ever be playing anywhere else but at Kingfisher.

Isobel Simard
Kingfisher 1986