The family headed off to the Mount Carmel Block Party on Friday. It was the first time I’d attended the event in many years. And I’ve definitely been missing out.
The Party, which is now billed as a Pre-Fun Fest celebration, was wonderful.
There were tons of activities for the kids: including inflatables and the Jericho Junction Puppet show, which rocked the socks flip-flops off the toddlers. The fire department was on hand to distribute “Stop, Drop and Roll” activity books and little red fire helmets. The karaoke stage was a hoot – and on down the street, folks were cuttin’ a rug with Nowhere Fast (Diva included.)
Like any other festival, the “festival” food was a bit pricey – but the Dairy Cup, which has big fat juicy hamburgers for a reasonable price, remained open for business during the festival. ( I’m sure they have healthier items on the menu, but pshaw! I wouldn’t know anything about that.) We did miss the civil war re-enactment because we were waiting in line for Smartypants’ funnel cake. Still, the wait wasn’t horrible since people we hadn’t seen in ages kept drifting by – and there was lot of chatting to do.
The fireworks, which signaled the end of the event, actually started on time. And the show was “ooh and ahh” worthy.
Overall, I was most impressed by the super-cute honorary police supervisor and the friendliness of the people. Here you had this very large, diverse crowd, yet there were no complaints or bickering. The old people weren’t grousing about the young people or vice versa. You didn’t see anyone walking around grumpy or worried about what someone else was doing. It was truly laid-back and everyone enjoyed themselves.
This isn’t always the case in my immediate neck of the woods. More often than not, events in Rogersville are nitpicked to death before they ever happen. The nitpickers are usually far removed from efforts of organizing – and thus heavy-handed with the complaints. As a result, by the time whatever it is rolls around, you’re so tired of the griping and wary of what might happen next, all the fun has been sucked out of it.
This might go on in Mount Carmel too, but I didn’t see any signs of it. So, seems to me the Rogersville folks could learn a thing or two from the Mount Carmel crowd.
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