The Odyssey of Samwise Gamgee: Big Event in Review (Part 2)

I walked to work in the dark on Saturday. 4 am. I spent the day running on 4 hours of sleep and coffee. The volunteers for the morning were at the office at 5. I sent Postmaster to the food court. Dad watched for arrivals at the powwow. Predecessor-neighbor checked in the non profits, and four others helped me with the sixty or so crafters. A chamber member security company lent us radios, so my team was stationed with them throughout the craft section to help vendors find their spots. The whole process went off almost without a hitch. There were two difficulties, but my awesome team smoothed them out easily. When the dust settled and the cars were off the street, I only had one no-show. Sadly, it was the vendor I most looked forward to seeing, but what can you do.

By then, sc0tlas and our thirteen-year-old cousin Flip were there to pass out programs at the parade. Our parade, by the way, featured an orange Dodge Charger. You might be familiar with this car. It is generally (ahem) known as the General Lee. I missed it, but one of the photographers I hired caught a picture.

Sc0tlas left Flip with me (such was the arrangement), so of course the Health Department chose that moment to appear. Again, it was almost perfect. The glitches here, though, were enough to cause some stress. There was a flurry of discussion on the radios among those of us who were still on them. The sink had no hot water. The Health Department didn't like that. Bob fixed it. We lacked soap and paper towels. The Boss took care of that, after a quick call to Tony the Toilet Man. (I'm not making this one up!) Had these two issues been uncorrected, we would have been shut down. All this time, we were loitering in the general vicinity of my friends, the Tri-tip brothers. Joe Tri-tip gave us each a piece of chicken and a sample of beef to munch. Mmmmm.

About this time, everyone suddenly wanted to borrow my golf cart. First, the beer truck guy needed to transport wine. (His helper at that moment was someone who was part of my parents' circle of friends when I was little. I grew up going to her house every year for Superbowl Sunday.) After Richard was done moving wine, Bill needed to move food from the office to the powwow grounds. Then I got a call on the radio saying Erik was to have my cart the rest of the day. Flip and I prepared to proceed on foot.

First, it was lunch time. We split a Philly cheesesteak from my cheesesteak vendor, and we each got a smoothie from my smoothie vendor. With twelve vendors in the food court, two at the powwow, and kettle korn and roasted nuts on the street with the crafters, I wasn't particularly planning to get to everyone, but I figured I'd get to what I could. Flip and I decided we'd split a funnel cake later. I called my aunt to tell her that I was spoiling the boy's dinner. Heehee.

For the next few hours, my trusty sidekick and I walked through the craft fair. We talked to every single vendor, making sure everything was going well. Mostly, I was hoping they were happy with the things that were mine to deal with, like the layout and check in. By 5:00, I had a tired cousin, a bum leg (the one I tweaked on Wednesday), a really nice walking stick, and a street full of happy vendors. And a funnel cake buried in powdered sugar, strawberries, and whipped cream. Flip was wearing his powdered sugar.

We bailed at 5:30. I had nothing else required of me for the day, and Flip needed to get home. On the way, I called his mom to alert her to our imminent arrival, and she invited me to stay for dinner. When we got to Grandma's house, I sat on the couch and didn't move for four hours. I was so tired!

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Sunday morning. Call time was a wonderful 8:30 am. Much better than the 4 or 6:30 of the two previous days. Even better, we drove golf carts to the diner down the street for breakfast. On the Chamber. W00t! Grilled cheese. Mmmm.

It was the day to distribute evaluations to all my vendors. When I say all, I mean sixty crafters, fourteen food booths, and two dozen powwow vendors. And I still didn't have a golf cart. Well, I took the evaluations to the food court first, and wouldn't you know it, I was a bit rumbly in my tumbly. First stop was the roasted almonds. This guy sent us a sample back in July. Almonds, pecans, peanuts, and cashews, all roasted and coated in a cinnamon/sugar/vanilla concoction. So good. I was not going to miss the chance to buy a pack. Except that Jim the Almond Guy decided to give me one. Of each. The potato guy decided I needed a stuffed potato. For free. (This job has seriously tasty perks.) It took quite a while to finish with the food court, for a few of the vendors wanted to talk, so by the time I got back to Joe Tri-tip, the potato was long gone. Before I knew it, I had a piece of tri-tip to munch. The beer truck was between me and the exit, and the Chamber President from Town Next Door was working, so I said hi. He got me a glass of wine. (Woohoo!)

Before I managed to hand out any more evaluations, I realized there was no way I was going to make it without my walking stick. I was pretty beat up and limping badly. (I have to say, standing on pvc pipe is a bad plan, unless you wish to dislocate something.)

I went through the powwow next. I figured that would be shorter and easier, since it was on grass. Lower impact. It was also next door to my house, so it was convenient after I picked up the stick. I gave a bag of almonds to a friend I ran into there. Of course, to get to the crafters from the powwow, one must walk through the food court.

I have no idea how, but I was hungry again, so I stopped by the sausage place. I pulled out my wallet as the grill dude buried a sausage in grilled onions and peppers, but the lady at the register shook her head. Are we picking up on a theme? I didn't pay for a single scrap of food on Sunday, and I haven't yet gotten to the lemonade I got after all the evaluations were out, or the kettle korn that I ended up taking home, or the two pieces of chicken that Joe gave me as we were tearing down!

By midday Sunday, the comments flying across the radios were pretty crazy. There were nine of us, and we were all tired. There was reference to the dead squirrel that Karen had to deal with last year. Someone was talking about diarrhea. Supervisor asked at one point if anyone could hear her, and we all answered no. Erik signed off saying he had to go bowling. Three people responded with a highly incredulous "Bowling?!" It was all exceptionally silly.

Tear down started at 5. I have no idea how we did it, but all the vendors were out, signs were down, and trash was picked up by 7:30. The Boss, Supervisor and I were in the office. He looked at me and decided it was time for me to go home. I guess my eyes were glazing over. Supervisor decided she'd finish what she was working on and drive me home. In a golf cart. At 8 pm.

My brain was gone well before I finally gave up and went to sleep at 10. How wonderful it was to know that I had nothing to do and nowhere to go on Monday! (The office is closed the day after The Event.) I slept straight through until 11 am, and even when I did wake up, all I did that day was read. It was great!