Oftentimes in the past, I would volunteer to help out at the Wine & Craft Festival, checking drivers’ licenses to verify age before exchanging tickets for wrist bands for an hour or two. This year was a bit different, as I was operating a vendor booth all day, but thankfully, I had a few friends who let each other wander off and explore throughout the day. I arrived a few hours before the event started to help set up our table. Parking was easy, as only vendors were parked nearby, and I got a spot within a hundred feet of our spot. After setting up, I then went into the Virginia Beer Museum behind us, where breakfast was cooked and served.
I was asked how I wanted my eggs, and I replied, “Hard!” We had a few laughs and passed the time talking. We started talking about all the things we forgot to bring with us, or should have considered: drawdown tickets, kazoo’s, stickers, or anything else to hand out to kids. “There is always next time”, I said, “This is just a trial run.”
I had ordered 500 extra balloons and a rechargeable portable air pump (Borisino Model B211) that could inflate them all on one charge. The shipment was initially estimated to arrive the day before the festival, but was later updated to a Sunday delivery. I brought a small bag of 260 long balloons (2×60 inches) that I had left, along with some hand pumps. I practiced making balloons a little in the morning, but one of the smaller pumps fell apart; I kept getting the proportions wrong on a balloon dog, and it popped. I was able to make a Teddy bear with the assistance of a fellow clown, who told me to twist it six times to keep it from coming undone. Nobody else was making balloons, and kids weren’t lining up asking, so for the most part, I put everything behind my chair after a while.
At one moment, I walked around the streets where vendors were still setting up, trying to scope out where various people I knew in the business community had been set up.
The full day was pleasant. It began with an occasional light breeze, and it wasn’t all that hot. By the time the festival started, people would occasionally drop by to ask questions or share experiences. One lady had what appeared to be a tiny furry puppet at first, until it crawled up onto her shoulder. She said it was a monkey, but I hadn’t seen one up close before, let alone on someone. Television and movies often have larger monkeys with a distinct appearance on their own.
Many of us brought folding chairs and sat in the shade of our pop-up tent. I always keep one in my car, as there have been many times when I wished I had a place to sit. It’s come in useful many times over. We were just talking about random things as the day went on. We tossed around the idea of getting a button maker to make buttons ahead of events to help raise funds. I let them know that our library already had two sizes we could use, but for mass production of buttons, we should definitely get our own. We would need to settle on a button size to acquire the press for. I purchased two buckets of boardwalk fries for the group, but it was more than I had realized, and they went cold before they could be consumed. I brought my Kazoo, but everyone left theirs behind. I would hum tunes to myself occasionally, like “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “The Benny Hill Theme Song,” “Welcome to the Black Parade,” and just random sound effects.
I went on a couple of little trips around the event during lunch to see the festival in its glory. To my surprise, Crescent Street was occupied up toward the edge of E. Wilson Morrison Elementary school, and Chester Street had booths all the way to Sixth Street. The alley on Cloud Street between Main Street Geek and Melissa Ichiuji Studio Gallery was full of children playing games with a giant Connect Four, as well as a water station set up by Warren County Parks & Rec offering free water in plastic cups. I chose a purple cup.
I purchased a corndog and joked with people I knew that it was a Beef Wellington. After I was done and asked what I had, one friend commented that she was sold on getting one herself until she heard it was on a stick.
I was looking for Petty Betty’s drinks, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. I eventually settled on a little trailer called Sippy’s. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, but I stood in line anyway. It looked like they may serve snow cones or fruit slushies. I asked the family in front of me, and they mentioned it was dirty soda. I had heard about that some time ago, originating out of Utah, since many religious people out there can’t drink coffee, tea, alcohol, or caffeine. I settled on Sprite and chose a Pink Dream. I talked with the owner, and she said she was thinking about adding a note to let people know she served “Dirty” Soda. I picked up a straw and immediately noticed it was thicker than usual. The pink dream was sweet, refreshing, and gone a bit too quickly.
A lady from St. Luke’s offered to give a presentation at one of our meetings, but she didn’t have a business card or contact information on her, and directed me to seek out her booth later. I found her booth and picked up a flyer. From what I understand, St. Luke’s is specifically to help children with Cancer, so I’d like to hear more about it.
At one booth, there was a DJ setup. While walking past in one direction, it sounded like someone was just reading the lyrics in their normal voice without a tone. However, coming back the other direction, there were a couple of ladies singing “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes. As I walked towards them, just about every woman walking past would raise their hands, singing along. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the He-Man version.
I sat for a bit to see The Crone and The Crow band perform. I hadn’t seen or heard of them before, but I met the lead singer at the Clown Lounge back in January, and then ran into her a few times at Stone Branch and at a felting workshop making eggs (I turned mine into my own clown face). The lead singer was dressed up in what many would probably associate with Goth. Although her band was huddled in the shade of a pop-up tent, the Crone was out in the open daylight singing. Another person dressed up in makeup was also dancing along as part of the show. I gave a little wave to the Crone, and she nodded back in recognition, before I headed to the next place.
I saw one of my old friends from the Nova Geek Club and a past coworker dressed up as the Ghostbusters group in front of Main Street Geek. One of the group’s members acknowledged that he and I were meeting at long last. Anytime I see the Ghostbusters in town, I always ask if he’s around – and this time he was. I found that he had changed his common nickname to a new one, but his friends still knew the old one. I stumbled over calling him the old name a few times, but I’ll get used to it.
He had attached a string lasso device that spun a loop of string so fast that you could wave the loop around on the edge of his plasma gun. I asked what happens when you cross the streams? His reply was that you should never cross the streams. He had set up a game where you loop the string around different ghosts at the back of a booth and catch them. Very ingenious indeed.
At one point, I dropped by the Stone Branch Center for the Arts and purchased a set of magnets from a young girl who had captured the King and Queen on their recent royal visit to our town of Front Royal. They looked like bottle caps with pictures in them, but made of colorful plastic. The entrepreneurial spirit was strong, and she offered a deal that was hard to turn down. I picked up a full set of three with purple plastic. Her mother, sitting behind her, mentioned that I should seek out the girl’s father, who was interested in both the phone exhibit and the newly acquired jukebox. I couldn’t find him, so I had to keep walking.
I found my ghostbuster friend on the way back, and he suggested that we head into the Blue Ridge Arts Center (BRAC). Inside, I found the director of the Chamber of Commerce hosting the event sitting among a few other familiar faces. I introduced my friend as someone who had known me long before moving to Front Royal. We both talked about how Front Royal’s main street has changed over time, with new shops such as the Fireball Arcade, Main Street Geek, and a few others bringing in a bit more life to the community.
There was talk of rain in the next hour, so I headed back to my booth and told the guys. Sure enough, it started to rain within the last hour. Some vendors, including us, began tearing down our stations. At this time, a neighbor came to visit. His two sons asked me to make toy swords with the balloons. I let them pick out the colors, and I rushed to twist it all together as the table was being packed up.
The rain and wind picked up after more time had passed. The lady next to us had a canopy tent that was blowing in the wind and lifting up. I shouted for help to the guys on the porch, but it seemed that no one had heard me. It was lifting up at times, and I couldn’t find a way to get around and pull down the other side while I was still fighting to keep it down. Eventually, the wind eased, and one of the guys came from inside the museum to assist.
The wife of one of the guys in our group dropped by to help us pick up our pop-up tent. Once everything was packed up, I headed on home myself. Tired and sore – tomorrow, my body is going to ache.
