Downsizing from the family house to a patio home means a different kind of International Choral Kathaumixw participation for Derry and Trudy Simpson.
The couple has billeted members of choirs for 30 years. Things are different this year as they no longer have an extra bedroom in their new home. So they are sharing billeting duties by taking singers, who are staying with a person who does not drive, to their destinations.
“This is unusual for us,” Trudy explained. “Even though we’ve done a lot of travelling, we always made sure we were home for Kathaumixw.”
Trudy also plans to volunteer in other capacities such as venue hosting. “There’s always something you can do to help.”
For their first billeting experience, the Simpsons hosted two women from Sweden. Over the years, they have welcomed adult choir members from South Africa, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Croatia and twice from Australia.
“Fortunately they all spoke English quite well,” said Derry.
While the Simpsons have not visited billets in South Africa, Trudy’s dream is to go on a safari. “Maybe someday.”
The couple has visited many of their billets in their home countries.
“When we said they treated us so well, they responded by saying we did the same for them,” Trudy said.
On one trip, their billet from Belgium drove to Amsterdam to pick them up at the airport and then spent 10 days escorting them around the country. They were asked if there was somewhere specific they wanted to go.
Trudy replied she had always wanted to see Flanders Field where so many Canadian soldiers are buried.
“It took us all day to get there and it was quite the day,” said Derry. “Anyone who has been there would share the same emotional feelings, staring out at hundreds and hundreds of white crosses and knowing the soldiers were so very young when they died.”
On two occasions, the Simpsons have visited their previous billets in Finland and they have returned once to Powell River.
“In Finland, our hosts rented a log cabin complete with a sauna and provided all the food,” explained Derry. “They came out of the sauna and jumped into the lake but I passed on that. I don’t think the water was that warm.”
Trudy added that she was in the sauna with the wife and Derry went in later with the husband because clothing is not worn.
The Simpsons said they learned a lot on that trip when they travelled to the border with Russia where they could see all the bunkers where the soldiers defended the border.
A couple of years ago, Derry received a call from a former billet who was going to be in Toronto to participate in a sculls competition. A university professor, he had qualified to judge an international regatta.
“He told us he would just drop over to see us and we replied that we were thousands of miles away. He said don’t worry, we’ll work things out.”
He came for three days and returned to the Simpsons’ cabin on Powell Lake where he had visited before. Then the couple drove him back to Vancouver where he caught a plane home.
They have kept in touch with billets through letters and Christmas cards, and more recently with email and Skype.
Sometimes Derry forgets about the time difference and laughed as he remembered calling a billet recently and waking him up in the middle of the night.
One of their Danish billets was a young man when he first stayed with the Simpsons. Now he is married with two children. When the Simpsons visited, his parents were away and he opened their home for them. “It was sitting empty and only half an hour from Copenhagen,” said Derry. “It was on the waterfront with a church nearby. We heard beautiful music and went inside to listen to the organist practicing.”
They also watched the building of a replica ship that the Vikings sailed to Ireland.
Derry and Trudy drove over a bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden where they visited the city of Lund. “When we went to sign a guest book there, we saw the names of other visitors from our Lund,” said Derry.
On that same trip, the Simpsons visited two men from Germany who played in an orchestra for Kathaumixw. At the time, Derry was driving an old collector’s Falcon convertible and went to pick up one of the men at the airport. “I said I hope he plays the flute.” Turns out the two drove back home with the top down and a cello in the back seat.
The billet was single at the time. He now has a wife and three children, all of whom the Simpsons have met. During a visit to Germany, the couple was taken on a tour all around Heidelberg.
Walking down the street on July 1, Derry and Trudy saw a couple of girls with maple leaves on their cheeks. They talked to them, shared hugs and Happy Canada Day wishes. It turns out they had all been to Powell River at one time.
“Music is an avenue of such connection,” Trudy said. “We wouldn’t have done half as much travelling or been so successful at it if we didn’t know these people.”
Derry agreed. “You see things differently than if you had just gone on your own as tourists. You are part of the family.”
Derry said he doesn’t play an instrument or sing, but “I just enjoy music.” When they have travelled, they have been taken to concerts by their hosts.
The Simpsons have enjoyed all their billeting experiences over the years. “We’ve never had anyone who when they left, we were glad to see them go,” he said.
Trudy agreed, adding they shared the same interests and if they lived in Powell River all would probably be best friends. They all want the same things: “peace and the best for their kids,” said Derry.
If readers are interested in billeting choir members, they can call Powell River Academy of Music at 604.485.9633. This year’s Kathaumixw takes place July 1 to 5.
