Evil in the Drain

Evil in the Drain

Ron LaCombe

CHAPTER ONE

Every July the City and local Chamber of Commerce sponsored "Family Day", a day for families to get together and celebrate; a birthday, family reunions, anniversary, graduation, citizenship, friendship and ethnic diversity. Volunteers ran games of chance such as, Crown and Anchor, The Birthday Game, Ring Toss. There was Bingo and Card Games, all the proceeds went to the Children's Hospital. A traveling carnival set up about a dozen rides for the little ones at no charge. A local business paid for it all and liked to remain anonymous. The only charge for the day was at the beer tent and that didn't open till eight when the dance started.

Weavers River bordered the west end of the park the south and east end has a forest with trails and nature walks. The north end has a parking lot and the tree lined entrance road. There is one service road that heads to the center of the park where there is a snack bar, washrooms and a storage workshop. The road is gated only city vehicles have access. There are paved and marked running and bike trails intertwined throughout the park. Between the snack bar and the river all the rides and games were set up. Between the snack bar and the parking lot there are about a hundred picnic tables. There are also two sections with about twenty-five tables under cedar shim roofs, one close to the parking lot and one at the other end near the snack bar.

Near the entrances to the park are temporary signs donated by a local

real estate company advertising "Casino Night" and the "Silent Auction", on the Friday night at the Recreational Center, all proceeds also went to the Children's Hospital. There will be some local entertainment.

Between the snack bar and the forest on the east end of the park near the

flower garden they set up an area for the little ones, there were clowns, face

painters, a candy apple and popcorn cart, a booth serving candy

floss and a shaved ice lemonade stand stood next to the pony rides.

It was one of those hot July days no wind, no breeze. The air was stale and muggy, hot air that takes your breath away and makes it hard to find any relief in the shade. Stores were running out of ice. The only ones that seemed immune to the heat were the kids playing tag and hide and seek. Their faces were all different painted colors representing their favorite flavor snow cone or animal. All the relatives were enjoying each other's company while the children were laughing, playing games and having fun.

The annual James family picnic and reunion was well on its way at Veteran's Park just on the south side of town. They had set up three picnic tables in a row nearest the washroom. Grandpa James finished cooking his famous ribs, burgers and hot dogs on his portable bar-b-que while the rest of the adults set the tables. Plastic cutlery, paper plates, large bowls of salads, potato, green and macaroni. There are platters of deviled eggs, chunks of fruit, cheeses and veggies. Grandma James made confetti salad of marshmallows and fruit. One of the James' daughters made lime jello and peas just to aggravate Grandpa, he always said it was awful and was a waste of time.

Grandpa James sat on a folding chair and looked around. He noticed all the adults just sitting and not moving too much. They all had plastic glasses of anything that went well with ice. They wiped the drips off the side of the glasses and rubbed the cool moisture on their faces, anything to cool off.

The smells made the old man smile. The smells of bar-b-que with different sauces, rubs and spices. Almost like clockwork a steam whistle would sound, announcing another batch of kettle corn was ready, that smell made the old man's mouth water and as hot as it was, he would slowly walk over to the kettle for another bag.