WHEN THE BEATLES NOTICED ME

The day the Fab Four took over Toronto

- Christine Dirks

We had everything we needed that morning of August 17, 1966. I remember we had letters of introduction from the mayor of Sarnia, Ont., and the managing editor of The Sarnia Observer, a four-footlong key to the city, which we'd cut from Styrofoam, covered in white lace and trimmed in purple ribbon; a card professing our undying love; and tickets. We had red-level box seats for the afternoon concert and gold-level, fifthrow floor seats for the evening.

The Beatles were performing at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and my best friend, Connie, and I were on our way. We were 14, so my parents drove. We'd ordered tickets for both shows as soon as they were announced. Tickets for the afternoon show arrived with a note that the evening concert was sold out. We knew there had to be some still available, so we called the director of publicity at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Weeks earlier, the PR director had replied to a letter we'd mailed to the president of Maple Leaf Gardens asking if we could attend the Beatles' press conference. I recall that he'd written only full-time journalists over 18 could attend. Still, we reasoned he might take pity on us, and there was no harm in trying to secure tickets for the evening concert.