So...it's cold outside. Really cold. It's cold enough that all I really want to do is hibernate for the next few months. I have a Slanket (it's fuzzy and leopard print-y and oh so warm!), a bunch of good books, a laptop and an internet connection (guess who spent most of her weekend watching old episodes of Farscape on Netflix [yes, I am a geek]) - I could be entirely happy.
But, as they say, time and tide and Fun Fourth wait for no (wo)man. It's just over six months away, and while that may seem like a long time, the truth is that July will be here before we know it. We're already brainstorming - really, we started planning 2010's Fun Fourth Festival on July 4th, 2009. Our goal, as always, is to take what we've learned in previous years and see what works and what doesn't. Some things we scrap, some things we just tweak a bit.
The thing that is most helpful, though, is feedback from The Public. We can't help but see the Festival from a different perspective than everyone else. We may think that something is a great idea, but we don't know for sure until the big day. So we're putting the question to you, The Public. To steal a bit from Conan O'Brien: People of Earth, what would you like to see at the Fun Fourth Festival?
Let us know! Are there things that you definitely want us to keep? Are there certain things you could do without? Is there something that you've always wished we would have? Now is your chance to help us in our quest to create a more perfect Fun Fourth Festival! Feel free to leave any and all suggestions in the comments section. Or, if you follow us on Twitter, send us a tweet! Or you can write on our wall on Facebook!
While you're at it, be sure to mark your calendars so that you don't miss out on any of the Fun Fourth events:
Saturday, June 26th - Freedom Run
Friday, July 2nd - Kickoff Block Party
Saturday, July 3rd - Fun Fourth Parade & Street Festival
Sunday, July 4th - Pops Concert & Fireworks
Be sure to visit our website for more information!
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Bah! Humbug!!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say, I really, really hate winter -- and pretty much everything that comes with it. The cold, the darkness, the heavy clothes, the grayness and especially the holidays. Not really the holidays themselves, but what people have turned them into. Needless to say, my desire to create a commercial-free, stress-free holiday season, focused on rebirth and renewal, translates to those around me as a Scrooge-like demeanor.
So one day, into my holiday-free zone, completely unsuspecting, walks my buddy, Ted. Ted is a great guy -- he's a buddy from my bagpipe band days who enjoys playing his bagpipes, coffee -- lots of it, his wife and son and their menagerie, camping, gadgets. Ted is not a guy who is typically burdened by the world-weary musings that plague me. One of Ted's biggest passions is turning his house and yard into an extravaganza of synchronized lights and music for the holidays.
Poor Ted; there came the day when he, in all innocence, began to tell me all about his newest additions to his Trans-Burlington hoopla, ending with, "Don't you just love the holidays?" I, of course, proceeded to tell him everything I thought was wrong with them. At the end of my monologue, with an understandably dumbfounded expression on his face, Ted quietly said, "Oh, I hadn't really thought of all that. I guess you're right. But all I want to do is make people smile."
I realized in that moment that I had been missing something important. Perhaps if I peeled away all the commercials, the long lines for gifts that will soon be forgotten, frayed tempers and everything that drives me crazy about the holidays, I would see, that at the core of everything, everyone is trying to give birth to a smile.
I can't say that this new perspective has completely changed my feelings about the holidays, but it has made me grateful for Ted and what he taught me. Ted will send me a link to his holiday creation this year, as he does every year, and it will make me smile. And it will remind me that every year, at Festival of Lights, I am graced with the opportunity to participate in making someone forget whatever their particular troubles are, even if for just a quick moment -- and smile.
Maybe this year, it will be you. Pass it on.......
So one day, into my holiday-free zone, completely unsuspecting, walks my buddy, Ted. Ted is a great guy -- he's a buddy from my bagpipe band days who enjoys playing his bagpipes, coffee -- lots of it, his wife and son and their menagerie, camping, gadgets. Ted is not a guy who is typically burdened by the world-weary musings that plague me. One of Ted's biggest passions is turning his house and yard into an extravaganza of synchronized lights and music for the holidays.
Poor Ted; there came the day when he, in all innocence, began to tell me all about his newest additions to his Trans-Burlington hoopla, ending with, "Don't you just love the holidays?" I, of course, proceeded to tell him everything I thought was wrong with them. At the end of my monologue, with an understandably dumbfounded expression on his face, Ted quietly said, "Oh, I hadn't really thought of all that. I guess you're right. But all I want to do is make people smile."
I realized in that moment that I had been missing something important. Perhaps if I peeled away all the commercials, the long lines for gifts that will soon be forgotten, frayed tempers and everything that drives me crazy about the holidays, I would see, that at the core of everything, everyone is trying to give birth to a smile.
I can't say that this new perspective has completely changed my feelings about the holidays, but it has made me grateful for Ted and what he taught me. Ted will send me a link to his holiday creation this year, as he does every year, and it will make me smile. And it will remind me that every year, at Festival of Lights, I am graced with the opportunity to participate in making someone forget whatever their particular troubles are, even if for just a quick moment -- and smile.
Maybe this year, it will be you. Pass it on.......
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