Thursday, September 29, 2011

Buckwheat Festival: Fireman's Day

It's Thursday and it's Fireman's Day at the Buckwheat Festival.  The parade tonight will have lots of firetrucks!  It's the only night parade.  I don't know if I will be able to get any pictures with my little bitty camera.  I'll try.
Off we went this afternoon to have our first buckwheat cakes and sausage...
See the sign?  Thatta way to buckwheat cakes and sausage...

There they are.  Not pancakes.  Buckwheat cakes...slightly sour is the best.
The sausage is processed by students at the high school.
After the first plate of all you can eat buckwheat cakes you must
go downstairs to the arts and crafts (pictures tomorrow) and
then next door to the judged exhibits.

From quilts to

4-H projects to

canned veggies to

plants.

Prize winning zucchini....

giant pumpkins,
sweet sweet potatoes,

and heritage corn.
And then something for the kids....


In the next building there were a few more crafts and I was lured in for my first purchase.
These are tie-dyed scarves made out of the softest t-shirt material.  There were so many
to choose from!  It took forever!

The next stop is one that I have trouble with even after 30+ years.  The barns.
This is where the animals that the kids have raised all year are shown and sold.
I get it that it is a good way for the kids to raise some money for college, but
I just can not stand it...
Seeing how beautiful my hamburger is BEFORE....oy.
So, no photos.  I was walking too fast.
Here are some pretty horses.

Another ride.

And look at those colors.
Home for about an hour to feed Mercy and rest a moment before the parade. 
Bands line up on our street, right in front of our house.
Firetrucks line up on the 'main' street. 
See the big building?  Remember it from my retirement party?

And the parade.  Lots of firetrucks.  The festival royalty...
Queen Ceres and King Buckwheat....photos tomorrow in the daytime parade.
And the lighted toy guy.
I love parades.  I cry at parades.  In this one there were bands from 250 strong to only 25.
They come from 3 states and the firetrucks from the band's home town
or area are always right behind them.

Tomorrow's parade is my favorite.  It has my little one's on floats and in trucks...
Tomorrow I'll show you more favorite festival food and some of the arts and crafts...
if they will let me take any pictures...



5 comments:

K said...

This is FABULOUS! This is WONDERFUL!! You live in a GREAT place, and i envy you for it - small enough to feel like a real town, large enough and energetic enough to do things like this. Our town has long lost that intimate feel - it's home, but it's gotten too big, and too big for its britches. People who love development don't see what could have been right in front of them. I wanna come to this.

W-S Wanderings said...

What a grand celebration!!! Buckwheat cakes sound delicious. Yum. And Bert made me giggle.
I remember my first country fair well. Watching kids parade their sheep and cattle out into the ring and listening in city-girl shock to the panel judging the beautiful creatures FOR THEIR MEAT. They were living SHEEP, not MARKET LAMB. Says the city-girl living on a farm. I made a point of avoiding all areas that contained evidence of the "processing" of the meat birds that my husband has done in the past week. Which means I now avoid the freezer. Sigh. I'm no farmer.

Tanna said...

Fun. Fun. Fun!! Is there any knitting in the arts and crafts?? So much fun and things to see! It just has to be a joy to get to attend! blessings ~ tanna
I cry at parades, too, Donna.

Donna said...

***Kristen...would love to show and share this with you. Kingwood is a wonderful little town, but there isn't much shopping here. But all the needs can be met.
***WSW...every time I really let my brain process the whole live animal, dead hamburger thing, I want to be a vegetarian.
***Tanna, I will take some pictures of the knitting for you tomorrow...

Tanna said...

Yea!!! Thank you, Donna!