2011 Fun Fourth: Drums, Clowns, Pudding.

The day we had all been waiting for has come and gone, but before we start the countdown for next year's Fun Fourth, I want to share a few of my favorite moments from this year. I hope all of you realize that the fact that I have favorite moments at all means that this year's festival was a huge success. I have been avoiding the Fun Fourth like the plague most of my life. I've always thought, "It is hot. It is boring. My feet will hurt." As it turns out, it was very hot, and my feet did hurt, and I did get stabbed by a metal wire possibly contracting Tetanus. However, it was not boring and I had an amazing time. Here are a few reasons why...

1. I got to be on TV. Twice. If you happened to be awake for the 6am newscast on WFMY News 2, you saw it. If you happened to be anywhere in the festival area after that, you heard me talking about it.

2. I got to hear over 1,000 drummers do a drum roll. My main area of responsibility on at the Festival was helping with the Snare a World Record event where we attempted to break the world record for largest group drum roll. While we did fall short of breaking the record, it was still one of the coolest things I have ever heard/seen/been a part of. The fact that over 1,000 drummers came out and stood in the burning hot sun - some for several hours - is quite an accomplishment. Here is a little video courtesy of WFMY News 2 with the highlights.
Drumming Up A World Record

3. This conversation.
Aislinn: Chuck, have you seen a clown anywhere?
Chuck Folds: Seriously?! What kind of question is that?
Aislinn: I can't find him! Did he walk by here?
Chuck Folds: He's dressed like an actual clown. How do you lose someone like that?

4. Clara Marie's Banana Pudding. See previous post. The whole day I ate: a granola bar, a piece of pizza, and three servings of banana pudding.

5. The Wizard of Oz storm that came up out of nowhere. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a happy moment, because I got soaked and a bunch of our tents got damaged, but looking back on it, it certainly added some excitement to the day. At one point we had almost all our crew holding on for dear life to this tent that was about to blow away while sheets of rain completely soaked us.

6. This lady. After the storm happened, our phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if the fireworks were still a go. One woman called and asked if the fireworks were being moved indoors. I will just let you imagine my reaction.

I sincerely hope that all of you had a great time and made some great memories of your own. I would love to hear them - I couldn't be everywhere at once, so I'm sure there were some amazing and funny things that I missed. You can leave me a comment here or email me at administration@grassrootsproductionsltd.org My inbox is feeling a little lonely these days, so I would love to hear from you!