Mini Ice Cream Cones and…Once I Won A Trophy

When I was in my final year of high school I wasn’t anything fabulous like Head Girl or a Prefect or voted on to the Student Council or even the Teacher’s Pet.  But my prowess on the oval did earn me the title of ‘Athletics Champion’ and for that I was to be awarded a special trophy.

Mini Ice-Cream Cone

Trophies were handed out in special award ceremonies.  I went to the award ceremony and watched as others crossed the stage and were presented with their trophies and waited for my name to be called but it never happened.


I didn’t say anything.  I thought perhaps it was going to be announced in the following assembly, or maybe the next.  But weeks went by and still nothing was said.

One day close to the end of the term I was in the quadrangle where the senior students congregated.  The teachers’ staff rooms were above the quadrangle and the teachers used to like to lean on the railing and look down on us as we socialised below.  One day at recess I heard from above, ‘Oy, Charlie!’  I looked up to see the Sports Master leaning over the railing and staring at me.  He yelled, ‘Can you come and get your trophy?  It’s cluttering up my desk.’

And I was kind of stunned.

He yelled, ‘I’ve had it on my desk for weeks.  It’s gathering dust.  Do you reckon you could get it this afternoon?’

That afternoon I went up to his office but he wasn’t there.  I told the other teacher who shared the same office that the sport’s master had asked me to come and collect my trophy.  He said, ‘Oh yeah, there it is.  Just grab it and I’ll let him know you’ve been.’

And he didn’t get up or help me or even congratulate me.  I had to reach across a dirty, messy and  dusty desk and forage for my own trophy.

I took it home and stored it away in some back cupboard but I vowed and declared if any of my children ever won a trophy they would be congratulated and applauded and made a big fuss of and no matter how ugly or abhorrent their trophy, it would be displayed.

Have you ever been awarded a trophy?

Mini Ice Cream Cones all standing in a row and dripping because of the heat in the kitchen!

Tomorrow is Alfie’s birthday.  He’s very excited.  We’re having a family dinner and I made him some mini ice cream cones.  I bought the cones and filled them with store-bought ice cream using a melon baller dipped in hot water, then returned them to the freezer.  Once hardened I covered them in dark chocolate melted in a double boiler over simmering water with a splash of vegetable oil, then dipped them in sprinkles.

To stand them up while in the freezer I upturned an egg carton and poked holes in it then pushed the cones through.  They stood up rather well.  Alfie was very pleased.

 

‘Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Anyone for Ice Cream’

Want to keep in touch?  Let’s be friends on Facie!


 

 

Comments

  1. LOL you poor thing. You should have been recognized. That’s just a crappy performance by the teachers.

    I did get a trophy-ish at the end of year 12. It was a plaque more than a trophy. At the ceremony someone wet my candle wick and I couldn’t get the thing lit. The auditorium was full and they were waiting for my speech and I couldn’t get my candle to light. I don’t know what my friends put on the candle but it would not light.

    So I gave my speech pretty much laughing throughout the whole thing and my mother was livid. Seriously, it wasn’t like I won the Nobel prize or anything but she was angry with ME for embarrassing her. She thought I should have turned the candle upside down and lit the bottom and got on with it.

    The ice cream cones are really cute. I bought some coconut oil to mix with chocolate to make a choc top for my husband as a surprise but I never thought about putting SPRINKLES on it. don’t tell, he’ll expect big things.

  2. That’s horrible! (not the ice cream cones – they are fabulous!)

    I notably didn’t get a prize at the year 12 speech day. 99% of the grade got some sort of prize, but 2 of us sat there, prizeless. Admittedly I had missed the second half of the school year with illness, but surely they could have been creative and thought of something!

  3. If we’re being honest…I prefer one of these ice cream cones to a trophy that’s just going to clutter my life.

  4. Ouch … anticipating and not receiving isn’t a pleasant experience. Meanwhile, the ice cream cones appear as trophies … well done!

  5. You obviously came out the true winner! A witty writer, a yum inspiring Trophy worthy weilder of the spatula. Poo on the sports master who obviously didn’t understand his role. Love the egg crate idea! Yum on the ice cream. I won Most Polite in the Fifth grade. I said thank you of course.

  6. How strange…almost Twilight Zone, no?

    These little cones are so adorable…and what a brilliant idea to use the egg carton! I’ll remember that. Delicious.

  7. That’s just terrible.

    I never won a trophy in school. I was definitely not athletic. I was so shy that I think winning a trophy and having to walk up on a stage would have given me a heart attack anyway. I’m with the others: I would have rather had these ice cream treats. As usual, beautiful.

  8. Happy Birthday to Alfie; ice cream cones look great. I bet you still have that trophy!

  9. Oh, Charlie, how anticlimactic! That hardly seems fair to treat a tender young person’s (or anyone’s) sensibilities like that.

    I never won a trophy, but did get a wee bit of attention for speaking and poetry contests when in high school. Gosh, it seems so long ago. I love it that your stories are so fresh!

    Th ice cream cones look great!

  10. Oh you poor dear! I think I would be scarred for life if it were me! I haven’t received an award as such, only crowned Miss College.
    Love your mini cones – and Happy Birthday to Alfie!
    🙂 Mandy

  11. I remember getting some awards but not in the same way you did, that’s just mean!

    The cones look fantastic, I’m sure your son will have a fantastic birthday!

  12. It would feel like a tarnished trophy, wouldn’t it. Just not the same 🙁
    Once when I was 10 I won second prize for a cake decorating contest. I was pretty chuffed until I was told it would have been first, but the judges were convinced I couldn’t have done it without a parents help, but because they couldn’t prove anything I wasnt disqualified just penalized.
    I was soooo mad, and even though my mum was there and stuck up for me they refused to listen. I didn’t want my prize anymore either 🙁
    I would happily accept a box of your cutie cones instead. Bright, cheery, and no broken dreams or hearts attached! 🙂

  13. Happy birthday, Alfie! I still enjoy ice cream cones and yours, dipped and sparkled, are just perfect for a lad’s birthday. Hope he has a great day!

  14. Oh, sad! I won my share of trophies back in the day, but I honestly couldn’t tell you where any of them are now, and I don’t really care. But regardless, you should have been recognized!

    Those mini ice cream cones are adorable, and the upside-down egg carton is genius. Happy birthday to Alfie!

  15. My only school awards were academic ones but it was nice to be acknowledged in front of my peers though my parents never attended which was disappointing. Nice ice cream cones though. For a little kid, it would be better than a trophy … even for a big kid come to think of it. 🙂

  16. Heh, I was never a prefect or head boy either, although I did want to be 🙁 I think they made me… er, what was the title?… something like “Head of house”. Not entirely sure why – I wasn’t the most well-behaved boy in school, but I did have a knack of looking innocent when the teacher came into the room and found me and my friends throwing snooker balls at the wall (to make dents, you know!), I would often be pretending that I was in the middle of giving them a good scolding! 😀

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Oh, it sound like you went to boarding school? My Archie had a billiard table in his boarding house and the walls were full of dents too. Archie wasn’t awarded Head of House – far too naughty for that!

  17. What yummy cones! And, I’ve won trophies before, but they just end up being dust collectors.

  18. Oy! It’s hard to feel congratulated when … you aren’t! We bought our current house 6.5 years ago and there are these funny tall built-in cupboards (without doors) in the family room…which the realator told us were where they displayed their children’s trophies! I thought that was kinda funny – but at least it shows that they were proud of their kids!!!

  19. I LOVE those mini ice cream cones.. and I love the way you have them showcased.. gotta love a egg carton :). Genius. I hope Alfie has a great birthday and enjoys himself :). As for an award.. I have won a lot of papers awards in school (attendance, academics, etc) but the one I enjoyed the most was when I won a trip to Washington D.C. and my mother and grandmother came along with me. It was the best time 🙂

  20. They’re adorable. What a brilliant idea!

    That’s terrible I can’t believe you didn’t get awarded like everyone else. There seems to be a theme with you missing out on sporting accolades.

  21. Magnolia Verandah says:

    What an anti climax! Love the idea of the egg carton to stand up ice creams.

  22. I didn’t follow – why didn’t they give it to you in the assembly?
    Those edible trophies look delicious, I am sure they won’t get the chance to collect any dust.

  23. that egg carton was really a brilliant idea for ice cream stands, never thought of that….

  24. What a rotten way not to award a trophy! Still, your icecreams look just like rows of trophies, and you can award them all to yourself now.

  25. That was pretty thoughtless of them – a congratulations was most certainly due.

    Happy birthday to Alfie!

  26. I’d take those mini cones over a trophy any day. Happy birthday to Alfie. I’m sure the kiddies in the neighbourhood would be lined up for one of those adorable little ice creams. I must make them!

  27. As someone who has never come close to winning an athletics trophy, I am very indignant on your behalf! These ice creams look rather great though…so I suppose we can all take consolation in that 🙂

  28. What a sad story! I have actually never won any trophy (I’m not a competition-type of person, not to mention sports…). The ice-creams look fabulous!

  29. Lovely ice cream cones, I am sure that they went down well. It’s probably best if you come and collect your trophy ( for the best chocolate icecream cones) from my house before I have to give it to someone else.

  30. That’s not really fair! You really should be congratulated and the teacher should not have left it there.

    Having said that…I don’t think I’ve ever really won a trophy but I remember getting a ‘participation’ trophy and my parents just said ‘oh you didn’t get it because you’re any good…’ then left the trophy in the cabinet sighhh asian parents are so mean 😛

    Happy Birthday Alfie 😀

  31. What lovely ice- cream cones. Looks delicious!!!

  32. What a poor effort by the teacher, I once won an egg and spoon race but was awarded second prize and it still stings! (oh and I am totally stealing that egg carton idea)

  33. That’s no good at all! 🙁 Sorry to hear that! Well as someone that isn’t athletically gifted I haven’t won a sports trophy but last year I was lucky enough to get one for travel writing. But I’m resigned to never getting one for sports (I’m ok with that, something is really wrong in the world if I get one for sports :P).

  34. Never got anything from school, but I had a Little League participation trophy (which I still have) and a little medal for 3rd place in a tournement my kung fu club went to when I was 13 (which I don’t). Both were much lauded by my folks, gor-bless-em.

  35. You know, that’s a sweet and sad story at the same time – sweet because you are passing on a better experience to your kids and because I am sure those mini ice cream cones were a huge hit!

  36. Awww… yes I have been… same happened with a present the school forgot to give me… I had to go pick it up from the office the next day and no one said ‘good on ya’

Trackbacks

  1. […] And he said, ‘But how old are your trophies?’  And yes, they are somewhat covered in dust and yes, I probably was presented with them a few decades ago – or wasn’t presented with them as you can read in this post! […]

  2. […] And he said, ‘But how old are your trophies?’  And yes, they are somewhat covered in dust and yes, I probably was presented with them a few decades ago – or wasn’t presented with them as you can read in this post! […]

Leave a Reply to Pure Complex Cancel reply

*