The membership of the Canadian Chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula is scattered all across Canada. Many of us keep in contact with one another via the internet and it's always enjoyable to finally meet one another after months or years of virtual friendship.
And so it was, that Anne Fraser in Toronto extended an invitation to Benjamin Leblanc in Montreal and me in Nova Scotia to join her and the rest of the Gothic Society of Canada for their annual picnic in 1996. Benjamin and I commuted from Montreal and Halifax respectively and gathered at Anne's apartment in Toronto. It was Saturday and we went on a killer shopping spree. Benjamin rented the fabulous outfit you see in the photo. Anne needed a top hat, which she also rented. And I bought a dress and necklace.
On Sunday, 50 Goths gathered in front of the Siren Goth store on Queen St West in Toronto to wait for the charter bus that would whisk us away to a lovely park beside the Avon River in Stratford, Ontario. During the hour long trip, people wandered around the bus talking with friends or watched the truly dreadful vampire film.
Everyone was hungry when we arrived, but after the serious business of eating was over, people talked and enjoyed the lovely park. After a while a game of croquet was organized on the grass, through the undergrowth, between two thorn trees......
There were a few mishaps....one of the balls was lost in the river. All efforts to fish it out were fruitless; the water was so murky there was no hope of seeing the ball. And no one felt like wading for it.
And a few members of rival teams had a disagreement over who had won the game, which they managed to settle fairly quickly.
The afternoon ended all too soon, and we returned to Toronto tired but happy. Anne, Benjamin and I finished off a perfect day with a lovely dinner at a local restaurant.