“In 1986, I had the privilege of doing an Atlantic Debut tour as an accompanist for  soprano, Stephanie Bogle and baritone, John Fanning, two magnificent singers.

At one point, we were at Wolfville to give a concert at Acadia University. We went to a cafe for lunch. When it came time for dessert, the waitress said that they had apple betty. We all agreed that apple betty was just the ticket. However,  Stephanie had a question. Did the apple betty have crumbles or pie crust? Pie crust. The conversation went something like this.

Stephanie. I like crumbles.

Waitress. I’m sorry we don’t have it with crumbles

Stephanie. I like crumbles.

Waitress. Sorry, no crumbles.

After a certain amount of cogitation—

Stephanie. I really like crumbles.

Me. Darling, they don’t HAVE crumbles.

Stephanie. But I like crumbles.

Me. Sweetheart, do you want the apple betty or not ???

Stephanie. If they had it with crumbles.

John. Bring us three apple bettys.

Two years later, I was teaching at the University for the summer and I returned to the restaurant. Sure enough, I got the same waitress.

Waitress. How’s the lady with the crumbles?”

– Stuart Hamilton (July 3, 2014)