The Soroptimist Fair

Like any other Saturday, the Gurney Drive road is packed with weekend shoppers flocking to Paragon mall for lunch and social activities. In the main atrium, a temporary stage is set up, Christmas paraphernalia littering the backdrop. There's a certain excitement in the air as the Dalat Choir steps onto the stage, clad in their signature black dresses and suits. The first notes of   “The Hallelujah”, drift up the mall as enthralled onlookers watch from the second floor balcony.

To the right of the stage, the stalls of the Soroptimist sale bustle with noisy clamour as curious shoppers poke and prod items displayed on sale. Every year, the Soroptimist Club organizes a fund-raiser to collect funds to enable and support women and children. Musicians and bands are invited to perform and support the event, while vendors may set up stalls to help raise funds for the charity. One such stall, displaying perhaps the widest variety of items from painted stones to containers of slime, stands in the centre of this bustle. Behind the counter, Mrs. Nichols peers over the handiwork that her art students have diligently made over the course of the past month. Behind a tray of Temari Ball ornaments, Alicia Chin (11) scribbles feverishly onto paperwork, carefully keeping track of the bountiful sales of the day. Collectively, the art students from 9^th grade through 12th grade made items to sell at the event like wire earrings, and even 3D printed alpacas.

“Slime for sale!” Abel Tan(9) promotes, a tray of items in hand, bravely taking on the daunting sea of shoppers.

The Dalat Band and Choir finishes their performance as the afternoon dims. but Mrs. Nichols and her students plow on, with over half of their items sold by the day's end. As shops turn in for the night, Abel Tan kneels in front of his tray in the middle of the mall, advertising his last three containers of slime to a young boy.

“Dalat students have worked really hard this year to make this sale and performance happen,” Mrs. Nichols muses, as Tian Ooi (12) and Niki Tsumagari (10) close up the stall and count the earnings that will ultimately go to helping the women and children supported by the charity.