My brother, Kenneth, was an active member of the Kinsman's Club. Since the chapter he belonged to was involved in community projects, he attended many special events and consequently met the prominent individuals invited to them as the guests of honour.
On this particular occasion, it was a tree planting ceremony in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The guest of honour was the Prime Minister of Canada, the Honourable John Diefenbaker and he would be planting a tree commemorating the opening of a new park in the city.
Kenneth greatly admired the Prime Minister and named his son after him and so for him it was a real privilege to finally meet the man and participate with him in the tree planting.
Mr. Diefenbaker was a tall, dignified gentleman with curly gray hair and distinctive jowls. "My fellow Canadians" was the phrase he always used to commence a speech, shaking his head with great vigour causing those famous jowls to jiggle. He was fussy about his personal appearance and always dressed to the nines in a dark blue or black suit along with black dress shoes so well polished they were like mirrors. I saw him once at a book signing for one of his books in The Hudson's Bay store in Calgary and he appeared there as I have described.
Although Kenneth was at ease meeting people, he readily admitted that he was a little nervous about the meeting the Prime Minister. It was a public event and the news media were on hand to record the proceedings. As the moment came for planting the tree, Kenneth was to hand Mr. Diefenbaker the shovel which was standing sticking partly in ground that had already been loosened for the tree planting. As Kenneth pulled the shovel out of the soil to hand it to Mr. Diefenbaker, loose dirt came with it and landed on the P. M.'s well polished shoes. "Dief" as he was called was not pleased but said nothing and shook off the offending soil. The tree was dutifully planted and he moved on to another appointment.
Kenneth was embarrassed but put the incident out of mind not realizing that it would come back to haunt him. About a year or so later, he had occasion to meet the Prime Minister again at a Kinsman's function. As the two shook hands, Kenneth asked him, "Do you remember me?"
Mr. Diefenbaker, who was known for his remarkable memory replied, "I never forget a face. You are Mr. Kirsch and you are the guy who dumped dirt on my shoes."
That was awesome! Thanks for sharing
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