And a Happy Fourth It Was!

 

Just got back a couple of hours ago from doing a wonderful little event in a town called "Seaside" on the northern Oregon Coast.  Seaside is unabashedly a resort town, and has been for more than a century.  Sort of like the "Cape Cod" of Northern Oregon.  What I wouldn't give to own one of those cute little beachy-looking cottages that line the blocks along the shore!

Our event was billed as an "Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social."  It was held on the grounds of the Seaside Historical Museum.  Definitely an event for the locals.  And what fun it was!  Little attractions like bingo, "fishing," and face-painting going on under slightly shabby green-and-white striped canopies.  The Methodist Women had a Pie booth (of course I had to have a piece of the pecan pie...my new "cannot live without it" indugence) and the AARP had a half-dozen little crockpots on a card table, from which they were serving clam chowder.   A great Dixieland Jazz band was set up on the front porch of the historic "Butterfield Cottage,"  which was festooned with red, white, and blue bunting. (Gosh, we get to hear some great music at some of these little festivals!)  The only thing missing from a REAL old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration was the political speeches.  (Didn't miss 'em, though.  We get to see enough of that on TV every other day of the year...)

We kicked some butt, business-wise.  I'm starting to like these little events where we're the only, or almost the only, food available.  We did more volume at this tiny event with its thousand or so attendees than we've done at large events with tens of thousands of visitors (but LOTS more food.)  And the organizers of this social were absolutely wonderful.  They made us feel so welcome...gave us a place to park our trailer overnight, for FREE!!!  Kept hovering around and asking if everything was going well for us...Did we have enough power?  Were we doing enough business?  Did we need anything, anything at all?  We've done plenty of events where the vendors are treated like pond scum.  I'll take the folks at the Seaside Historical Museum any day!

Well, it's nearly midnight, and the neighborhood fireworks are still going strong.  And I am TIRED.  But not too tired to do a little pimping...my best friend down south in Springfield (the one who was with me when we were busted by the "Conversation Police" a few weeks ago) has just started an AOL Journal.  I would appreciate it if y'all could stop by her journal and welcome her to the community.  She can be found at http://journals.aol.com/thesheatons/PixelsPoliticsPosiesandPussycats/ .  As the name implies, she's a gardener, has kitty-children, and a new digital camera...  She also has a prodigious background in history that gives her a unique outlook on things political, which I hope she will share with us on future "e-pages" of her journal.  Welcome to AOL J-land, Jackie!