14.Kylie Jean Green Queen

by Marci Peschke

  “I wanted to do something to celebrate Earth Day and prove that little kids can make a difference, too,” I say. “But I didn’t have the idea to fix up the playground. That was Cara.”

  “I thought it was a class project,” she says.

  “It was,” I say. “Cara had the idea, we helped her think of a plan, and our whole class and the town came out to do the work.”

  Ms. Fairchild smiles. “I see. Teamwork.”

  Pointing to my T-shirt, I say, “Yes, ma’am. Green Team work!”

  “What other things do you think kids can do to help the planet?” Ms. Fairchild asks me.

  “That’s easy,” I tell her. “Our teacher, Ms. Corazón, taught us all about the Top Ten!”

  Ms. Fairchild writes and writes on her clipboard. “You girls are real green leaders in your community,” she tells us.

  Later that night at dinner, after I share my exciting news about our special school visitors, Daddy tells us they visited his newspaper, too. “They wanted to see the brochures we’ve been passing out and get copies of the stories we did on green living,” he says.

  “I wonder where else they went,” Momma says.

  “Mayor Jenkins told me they visited gardens, parks, schools, recycling centers, and businesses,” Daddy tells us.

  “I sure hope Jacksonville made a good impression!” Momma says.

  I feel good about our chances, but I say, “We are already winners! Just look at all of the good things we’ve been doing for our VIP — very important planet!”

  Jacksonville is on its way to being crowned the Prettiest Town in Texas, but there is still lots of work to be done for the Earth Day parade! For starters, we have to build the parade floats.

  Daddy’s newspaper is using recycled newspapers to create a little house on their float. The newspaper-delivery boy with the best delivery record gets to ride on the float and throw papers to people watching the parade.

  The café is using recycled cans to make their “Eat Green” float. They borrowed a huge watering trough to use as a giant bowl and are using the cans to make pieces of fruit and veggies to put in it. I saw the string beans, and they are as tall as I am!

  But hands down, the best parade float is going to be Granny’s Garden Club float. They have to wait until the last minute to work on it because they are using real flowers!

  Tonight we will all help with Daddy’s float.

  After we finish eating dinner, Daddy asks, “Ready to roll?”

  “Yup!” I say.

  “Let’s do it!” T.J. agrees.

  Momma gives Daddy a thumbs-up as she locks the door. We all head for Momma’s van. We have to drive instead of walking since we will be coming home after dark.

  When we get to the newspaper office, there is a platform waiting for us. It is tiny compared to last year’s floats, but this year everyone agreed to save energy by making their floats smaller. They’ll be pulled by a four-wheeler instead of a pickup truck.

  “First we’ll make a frame for the little house out of chicken wire,” Daddy tells us.

  “I can help with that,” T.J. offers.

  They start building, and Momma says, “While they do that, let’s lay out the recycled newspapers.”

  Suddenly an idea hits my brain like moss on a tree. “Let’s use the plain papers for the walls and the colorful ads for the roof, door, and windows!” I suggest.

  Momma smiles at me proudly. “Sugar, that’s a great idea! I just love it,” she says.

  We get right to work, and before long, Daddy is ready for us to start putting the papers on the frame. It’s hard to do without getting rips in the paper. First, Daddy uses a tool that makes a hole in each corner of a stack of papers. Next we use wire to tie them very carefully onto the frame.

  When the little house is covered, we head for home. Other newspaper employees will finish the floor and the sides of the float, but making the house was our job.

  By the time we get home, it is way past my bedtime, so I won’t be taking a shower tonight. Oh, well — at least I am doing my part and saving water!

  Momma and Daddy tuck me into bed nice and snug, and I tell Ugly Brother, “One float down and one to go!”

  He barks, “Ruff, ruff.”

  “I just thought of something,” I say. “People can watch and read Daddy’s float at the same time!”

  Ugly Brother doesn’t say anything, but I hear him snoring. He is worn out, and he didn’t even come help us tonight! I must be worn out, too, because I go right to sleep.

  On Thursday night, Momma and I go over to Granny and Pappy’s house to work on the Garden Club float. They are making it in the garage.

  Pappy already has the frame ready. It looks like a giant dogwood tree, and all around it will be baskets of real flowers.

  Everywhere I look, I see tall buckets full of fresh flowers in every hue and color. It looks like we are in the Bizzy Bee Flower Shop, and it smells like perfume!

  As soon as she spots us, Granny waves. “Am I ever glad to see you two,” she says. “We need all the help we can get!”

  “Just put us to work,” Momma says. “We came to help!”

  The floor of the garage is covered with giant plastic tarps. Some of the Garden Club ladies are sitting on stools, clipping the stems of the flowers and placing them on the tarps. Momma and I get to put the flowers through the wire frame.

  “I sure hope this is easier than making the newspaper house,” I tell Momma.

  Momma warns me to put on my garden gloves before we start. “The wire and prickly stems might cut your hands,” she says.

  Slipping on my gloves, I get busy pulling the flowers through the tree design. In no time at all, I have half of the tree finished. Wow! I sure am proud of myself.

  Granny says, “I think your tiny hands make that the perfect job for you, Kylie Jean.”

  The Garden Club ladies chat while they work. They talk way more than Daddy and T.J. do! I like to listen to them.

  We haven’t even been here an hour, and I already know who has a new baby, who brought the best recipes to the church potluck last night, and which salon does the best job for French tip fingernails. Now if I only knew what French tips were!

  Granny is a great Garden Club president. She keeps all the ladies on track. “Y’all are doing an awesome job!” she tells everyone. “Keep it up. Just give me thirty more minutes, and we’ll quit for the night. I have chocolate icebox cake and sweet tea so we can have a little snack before you head home.”

  Momma looks in my direction. I just know she’s going to say we’ll have to go soon, but that chocolate cake sure does sound tasty.

  Before Momma can say it’s time to leave, I beg, “Please, can we stay and have some cake? I promise to go right to sleep when we get home!”

  I know I have a secret weapon in my favor. Momma’s weakness is chocolate! She seems unsure, but finally makes up her mind. “Okay, but no sweet tea for you. Only milk,” she tells me.

  I smile real wide. “You’re the best momma in the whole wide world,” I tell her.

  Before long everyone is in Granny’s big kitchen enjoying a well-deserved treat after all our hard work. Then it’s home and right to bed for me! I need my rest — Earth Day is almost here!

  On Friday, I notice that something strange is going on. The contest judges are still here! They have been here all week long.

  Tomorrow is Saturday, and the Garden Club is having their Earth Day luncheon. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Granny finally gets to be Garden Club president!

  Mysterious things keep happening. That night while we are all watching TV, Momma gets a phone call.

  When she hangs up, she tells us, “Granny says our family has been invited to the luncheon.”

  “Really?” I ask. I have never been to a luncheon before!

  “Usually only Garden Club members attend,” Momma says. “What do you think is going on?”

  “I think this is a very good sign!” Daddy says. “Before you know i
t, I’ll be calling my momma ‘Madame President.’”

  “Be careful, or you might jinx her,” T.J. warns.

  T.J. only thinks that because he’s a football player. They’re really superstitious. He has a pair of lucky socks that he wears for every game. They are old and stinky but so full of luck that T.J. won’t let Momma throw them out.

  Just then an idea hits my brain like salt on a fresh garden tomato! “T.J., you should let Granny wear your lucky socks tomorrow for the Garden Club luncheon,” I say. “She’ll be president for sure!”

  T.J. shakes his head. “No way!” he says. “Those socks only make me lucky.”

  Momma doesn’t agree. “Just smelling them is unlucky, so let’s agree to leave them behind,” she says.

  The next day, we get all dressed up in our fancy church clothes to attend the Garden Club luncheon. It’s being held in the Magnolia Hotel’s Grand Ballroom. Momma and I wear pretty dresses with flowers on them. Mine’s pink, of course. We also have on gloves and hats.

  All the tables are set with fancy crystal, china, and silver and have dazzling flower arrangements in the middle. When we arrive, a waiter walks us over to a special table right in the front. There is a little sign on our table that says RESERVED.

  “What does that mean?” I ask.

  “It means they have been saving the table just for us!” Momma tells me.

  Just then, I recognize someone walking toward us. “Here comes Granny!” I announce.

  Daddy and T.J. stand up like real true gentlemen. T.J. pulls out Granny’s chair for her, and Daddy kisses her cheek.

  “I’m as nervous as a cat in a canoe!” Granny says. “I wish they’d just serve lunch already.”

  Granny has to wait for a special announcement before she gets her wish. The mayor’s wife and current Garden Club president, Lottie Jenkins, walks up to the podium to welcome everyone. She is a teeny-tiny woman wearing a humongous hat that is completely covered with silk roses.

  Mrs. Jenkins says, “Mrs. Carter, would you mind joining me on stage for a moment?”

  Granny makes her way up to the podium and Momma whispers, “This is it! Granny is going to be the winner!”

  Mrs. Jenkins smiles and says, “Everyone, please give Mrs. Carter a round of applause for all her hard work. Thanks to her, Jacksonville has lots of new gardens for everyone to enjoy!”

  Everyone claps for Granny, and I smile proudly. Granny’s gardens are sure to help us win the Prettiest Town contest!

  “Mrs. Carter is my dear friend and a fabulous gardener,” Mrs. Jenkins continues. “And now she is also our new Garden Club president!”

  People are standing, clapping, and cheering. Mrs. Jenkins hugs Granny and steps to the side. Granny says the blessing and invites everyone to enjoy a delicious lunch. Back at the table, Momma gives Granny a kiss.

  “I am so proud of you!” Daddy tells her.

  The waiter comes around and sets plates down in front of everyone. I think it’s supposed to be a salad, but I see flowers in with the spinach leaves.

  “This is too pretty to eat!” I exclaim.

  “They really do taste good,” Granny reassures me.

  I’m really glad Granny is the Garden Club president, but I think Garden Club Queen sounds better. Even so, I tell her, “Granny, you know everything about gardens, and that is why you are a real true Garden Club president.”

  “Thank you, sugar,” Granny says. “That’s real nice of you.”

  After we eat our second course of chicken and some delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert, Granny gets up to thank everyone for coming. Mrs. Jenkins goes to the podium, too, and Granny looks confused.

  In fact, everyone except Mrs. Jenkins looks confused. Suddenly the doors to the ballroom open. The mayor and the judges from the Prettiest Town contest walk in!

  Mrs. Jenkins asks, “Madame President, may I please introduce some special guests?”

  “Yes, please do,” Granny says.

  The mayor and the judges come to the front of the ballroom, and Ms. Fairchild steps up to the microphone.

  “Jacksonville is a remarkable town with a great green spirit,” Ms. Fairchild says. “You have lovely gardens and trees. You are pretty inside and out, and we are very pleased to name you the Prettiest Town in Texas!”

  Everyone goes crazy! One of the male judges hands the mayor a giant check. It is so big that it takes two people just to hold it!

  “How do you spend a check that big?” I ask.

  Daddy laughs and tells me, “The real check is smaller.”

  The mayor steps up to the microphone next. Everyone stops cheering so he can speak.

  “Jacksonville is pleased to have received such a special honor,” Mayor Jenkins says, “but it would not be possible without the vision of one fine citizen. Let’s all give Mrs. Carter another round of applause for all of her hard work!”

  Everyone cheers again. Granny is so happy she looks like she might cry.

  “I know just what to do with some of this prize money,” the mayor says. “We will put a new sign at the city limits so everyone knows that Jacksonville is the Prettiest Town in Texas!”

  It is finally Earth Day! My whole family wakes up bright and early to get our floats lined up for the parade.

  We are all so excited to be celebrating. I put on a pretty T-shirt with pink flowers on it. Ugly Brother gets to come too. He is so excited that he keeps on waggin’ his itty-bitty tail.

  Momma is really worried because it looks dark and overcast outside. Black clouds hang low in the morning sky.

  The weatherman on the local news is predicting rain. “If it rains, they’ll have to cancel the parade,” Momma says.

  “Don’t worry,” Daddy says. “That weatherman is wrong just as much as he’s right.”

  I think about the newspaper house on Daddy’s float. Wet paper is heavy. Rain will ruin everything!

  But Daddy isn’t worried. He tells us, “Either we can worry, or we can get ready for the best Earth Day parade ever. Think positive. I bet the sun comes out.”

  T.J. nods. “If we’re going to have a float in the parade, we’ve got to get going to get in the lineup,” he says.

  Momma, Ugly Brother, and I walk down to the town square. It is already busy when we get there. There is a snow-cone stand, a face-painting station, and a band playing music. Ms. Corazón has our class’s recycled art projects displayed on tables.

  In the middle of the town square, right in front of the courthouse, a stage with four microphones has been set up.

  On the other side of the square, the Jacksonville Recycling Center is passing out information on recycling, and the Jacksonville Library has a book-exchange table set up. Ms. Patrick, the librarian, keeps looking nervously at the cloudy sky.

  “Don’t worry,” I tell her. “My daddy says the sun’s going to come out.”

  “I thought your daddy was a newspaper man, not a weatherman,” she says. “But either way, I sure hope he’s right.”

  People are starting to fill up the square. I decide to get a snow cone before it’s too busy. They have berry berry, mint leaf, and sunny citrus. The thing about snow cones is that the color always stays on your tongue, so I decide on mint leaf. That way my tongue can match my shirt!

  I don’t want Ugly Brother to feel left out, so I offer him a bite. “Ugly Brother, do you want a green tongue, too?” I ask.

  He barks, “Ruff, ruff.” That means yes!

  Ugly Brother and I are sitting on the curb sharing our snow cone when Momma sees me. She waves while she talks to Miss Clarabelle.

  I sure hope Momma doesn’t notice Ugly Brother’s green tongue sticking out. She doesn’t believe in eating after other people or dogs. Especially dogs.

  Momma always says sharing germs can make you sick. I don’t know if that’s true, but if you ask me, sharing treats is fun!

  Pretty soon Momma, T.J., and Daddy come get me, and we pick a good spot for listening to the mayor’s speech. We are right in front!r />
  Mayor Jenkins comes out first. “Welcome, everyone, to Jacksonville’s Earth Day Parade!” he says. “I have a surprise for everyone — some special guests.”

  Three people join him on the stage, and I can’t believe my eyes! It’s the VIPs!

  Mayor Jenkins talks about our beautiful new trees and gardens. “We are lucky to live in the Prettiest Town in Texas, but we also have a responsibility to care for our natural resources,” he tells us.

  We all clap and cheer. Finally the mayor says it is time for the parade. Daddy is driving the newspaper’s float, so he has to go.

  “Hey, Lil’ Bit, want to sit on my shoulders so you can see better?” T.J. offers.

  Sometimes it’s great having a big brother. “Yes, please!” I say.

  Ugly Brother whines and cries.

  “Sorry,” I tell him. “There’s no more room up here.”

  We hear the high school marching band before we see them. Just as they come around the corner, the sun comes out, pushing the clouds away. The twirlers come next. They have green ribbons tied onto their batons.

  The café float is next, and as it turns the corner on the square, a giant strawberry rolls out of the big bowl and down Second Street. Ugly Brother starts to chase after it, and Momma has to call him back.

  Next up, we see Daddy’s float. It looks fantastic! The paperboy is throwing papers, and the man next to us catches one.

  I can hardly wait to see the Garden Club float! Finally it appears. Granny is riding right in front of the dogwood tree I made out of flowers. She is wearing a pretty pink sundress and a sash.

  All our hard work has paid off. I’ve never seen a more beautiful float.

  When she gets closer, I call out, “Granny, Granny!”

  Just as the float passes, Granny looks up and I give her my best beauty queen wave, nice and slow, side to side, with a dazzling smile. It sure is good to be a Green Queen on parade day!