A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the School Assembly Program
Just a word about things from the performers viewpoint. Those of us who travel to schools spend a lot of time on the road. Most presenters of school assembly programs have been around enough to have experienced some strange and/or funny things (sometimes they don’t seem funny until later!).
Just as a diversion I thought I would share one of those moments that happened to me.
Years ago I was working in Michigan (our company is based in Michigan so we perform in Michigan schools a lot!) on the west side of the state, presenting my program THE LIVING ABE LINCOLN. I was scheduled in Grand Rapids, Michigan for two mornings in a row. But the afternoons of each day were scheduled in two different towns. I was to visit a school in the city of Holland, Michigan the first day and Muskegon, Michigan on the second day. Or so I thought.
Well, I had misread my schedule. Following my morning school I drove to the school I was supposed to visit on the afternoon of the second day. I walked confidently into the school only to learn to my horror of my error. I was supposed to be in Muskegon, about 40 miles away! I now had very little time to drive to the correct school! I made a quick call to my office instructing them to call the school and alert them to the situation, and then jumped into my car and took off in the direction of the city of Muskegon.
Now, I am not normally the slowest driver on the road, but that day I was panicked. I was really moving! Well, before I knew it I saw the flashing lights in my mirror. Oh, great! Now I was going to be even more late! The officer strode up to my window but before he could open his mouth I began babbling, incoherently I am sure. Sitting in my car, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, a garbled mass of inexplicable noise came pouring out of my panic-stricken mouth as I valiantly tried to explain the mixup and the waiting kids while madly grabbing at crumbled schedules to thrust at the officer in a desperate attempt to gain his understanding, all the while completely dazed at the prospect of walking into an auditorium filled with children drained of energy from sitting and waiting! When my frantic rant finally petered out, leaving me a pathetic, defeated wretch, there was a moments silence. Finally, the officer spoke.
“Do you do your own makeup?”
Well, he was a great guy. He did not give Abraham Lincoln a ticket and indeed escorted me directly to the school ensuring that I arrived as speedily as possible, for which I am eternally grateful. The school was not upset. They had been alerted to the problem, adjusted their schedule and we ended up starting only a little behind the original time. And I gave them the best show I knew how to give, and everyone went away happy!
I have often wondered, though, how often that officer may have told that story of the day he pulled over Abraham Lincoln!
Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN