Fur Fashion Show

I ended up going to the Fur Show twice…first in the afternoon, where the hall was set up with great rows of tables covered in newly-cured furs. Wolf, lynx, wolverine, fox (including a black fox), marten, and some other variety of weasel. People are bringing in furs for the judging contest later in the day; I get a little blue ticket at the door which reads “Feed Me! (this voucher is good for one serving of stew & bannock). But they’re not serving food yet, so I decide I’ll come back for the Fur Fashion Show, which starts at 7:30. My neighbour Sz. drops by at 7:15 (wearing a lynx-fur headband…I decide to leave my fake fur hat at home); we walk briskly downtown, Sz telling me which buildings are actually historic and which are well-done fakes--a fairly recent heritage law keeps new buildings within a Klondike/Wild West schematic. Mostly, this works pretty well, so an ordinary visitor like me can't tell the difference unless I think about the size or design more carefully.
When we get there, the fashion show is already underway. The hall is packed, there’s a television camera, local models showing off amazingly-beaded gloves and moccasins, kids modelling huge fur mittens, bearded guys in Davy-Crockett hats, and an MC wearing most of a fox on her head. She looks pretty good. For the thousandth time this week, I wish I had my camera. After the fashion show, Sz. introduces me to a slew of neighbours and drags me into the kitchen to get some stew and bannock. I’ve missed the moose stew--should have gotten here earlier--but the bannock is easily the best I’ve ever had, fluffy and chewy at the same time.