So, where were you?
One of my favorite traditions is visiting the town of Paonia, CO, for the Fourth of July. Paonia is a town of about 2500 people, located on the western slope of the Rockies. It is a pretty little town with one grocery store that closes by 8pm. Paonia has a couple of restaurants, a bank and a library too. My favorite store is Homestead Market, where you can get anything from bait for fishing to craft supplies. Wandering the aisles of Homestead Market is a marvel for me.
The town's diversity is limited to two types of people: Ranchers and Hippies. It makes for an interesting scene on Grand Avenue: pick up trucks with gun racks parked next to psychodelic buses with trampolines on top. But, it all appears to work in Paonia. Neighbors rely on each other for so much in small towns. Tolerance is abundant, even if the surface doesn't look terribly diverse.
The Fourth in Paonia is a day filled with activity. It starts with a pancake breakfast served by the volunteer firefighters. For a couple of bucks, you can feed the entire family breakfast, support the fire department and visit with your neighbors. Usually the breakfast ends just as the parade begins. Those citizens who aren't in the parade, line the side walks to cheer for the parade participants. High School classes celebrating reunions ride on floats. Clowns throw candy to kids. The horses are at the end of the parade for obvious reasons.
When the parade ends, the crowds head to the shady central park for the Cherry Days festival. The majority of the town spends the day picnicking in the park and waiting for the crowning of the Queen and King of Cherry Days. Considering there is scholarship money at stake, the competition for the title is fierce. There is always entertainment in the park too. The entertainment line up changes annually, but kids singing patriotic songs and blue grass bands picking their hearts out are always in the line up. There are also a few amusement rides at the park and the whole festival wraps up with fireworks at night.
Cherry Days in Paonia is Americana at its best. It is hometown, family and friends, gathered in honor of our country's birth. The event isn't overtly patriotic, but the spirit of the Fourth lives in the red, white and blue hats, the beautifully sang National Anthem and the frequent renditions of America the Beautiful. It is the type of celebration we want our kids to experience, because of its purity. It isn't commercial, it isn't polished. It is an authentic, heart felt celebration and that matters most.
This was the first year that La Nina and the Magster made an appearance at Cherry Days. While the Magster slept through a good part of the picnic, the parade was a big hit. The girls enjoyed gathering candy off the street and petting a miniature horse that stopped right in front of us. The girls were worn out by the time we left the picnic. It was the type of tired that makes a parent smile. Good old fashion fun had worn them out, and they slept all the way back to the ranch.
The town's diversity is limited to two types of people: Ranchers and Hippies. It makes for an interesting scene on Grand Avenue: pick up trucks with gun racks parked next to psychodelic buses with trampolines on top. But, it all appears to work in Paonia. Neighbors rely on each other for so much in small towns. Tolerance is abundant, even if the surface doesn't look terribly diverse.
The Fourth in Paonia is a day filled with activity. It starts with a pancake breakfast served by the volunteer firefighters. For a couple of bucks, you can feed the entire family breakfast, support the fire department and visit with your neighbors. Usually the breakfast ends just as the parade begins. Those citizens who aren't in the parade, line the side walks to cheer for the parade participants. High School classes celebrating reunions ride on floats. Clowns throw candy to kids. The horses are at the end of the parade for obvious reasons.
When the parade ends, the crowds head to the shady central park for the Cherry Days festival. The majority of the town spends the day picnicking in the park and waiting for the crowning of the Queen and King of Cherry Days. Considering there is scholarship money at stake, the competition for the title is fierce. There is always entertainment in the park too. The entertainment line up changes annually, but kids singing patriotic songs and blue grass bands picking their hearts out are always in the line up. There are also a few amusement rides at the park and the whole festival wraps up with fireworks at night.
Cherry Days in Paonia is Americana at its best. It is hometown, family and friends, gathered in honor of our country's birth. The event isn't overtly patriotic, but the spirit of the Fourth lives in the red, white and blue hats, the beautifully sang National Anthem and the frequent renditions of America the Beautiful. It is the type of celebration we want our kids to experience, because of its purity. It isn't commercial, it isn't polished. It is an authentic, heart felt celebration and that matters most.
This was the first year that La Nina and the Magster made an appearance at Cherry Days. While the Magster slept through a good part of the picnic, the parade was a big hit. The girls enjoyed gathering candy off the street and petting a miniature horse that stopped right in front of us. The girls were worn out by the time we left the picnic. It was the type of tired that makes a parent smile. Good old fashion fun had worn them out, and they slept all the way back to the ranch.
posted by One Lucky Mom @ 8:43 PM
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