Cooler weather hit here for the first time. On Monday the high was 69 and it really felt like a fall day. It was wonderful! Last night the low was 35 and today the high is 61. It is supposed to get back up into the 70's with lows in the high 40' and low 50's. So this is just a glimpse, but it really gets the point across that fall is here.
Last night was wonderful. Amanda and I cleaned out the huge storage room at Cranfest and that pretty much finished up my duties for Cranfest. There are still a few signs to pull down, but it was raining.....I was slopping around in all that water again. So anyway, we finished all the work. I came home and started doing laundry and more laundry. It was rainy and wet, so I built a fire in the fireplace. Then made a huge batch of vegetable soup and we all sat down to a hot, homecooked meal for the first time in weeks. Lately we have been doing sandwiches and easy stuff. We could finally sit down and watch TV and just chill....only there was nothing on. We just went to bed-BEFORE 8:30!
Today I am back to the Post Office for three days. Will is back to Cardinal before having the weekend off. Jacob has his last golf match and Jessalyn has pictures taken at school. Life is back to normal and I am glad.
It will be even better when Jake is done with golf. Poor kid doesn't get home until after 6:00 each night and then there is homework. He gets up at 5:30 am. Not much of a life. Thankfully next Thursday he is done. I am very proud of him for his effort on this. He may get the worst scores, but he gets high scores with me for giving it his best.
Well, time to get Jake up.
God bless.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly
Well, almost finished with the Cranfest thing for two weeks. If you think about it, this festival that we accomplish is really an amazing thing. A board of 13 volunteers and about 40 members, plus two full time office staff bring about this major festival that brings usually 150,000 plus people to our community. I have never sat down and thought about it really. I can only say that it is very hard work, but well worth it to see all these people having such a wonderful time. I think that there is well over 100 acres of cars parked. Probably closer to 200 acres. All the local hotels within an hour and 1/2 are all booked full and we fill up all camp grounds for miles and miles. It's pretty amazing when I sit back and think about it.....but overwhelming, so I don't think I will sit back and think about it much.
We have the town back in order now pretty much. Amanda and I will go out and pick up the last few signs today, as well as a few little piles of garbage. Then pretty much everything will look like it did, except for the wheel tracks through the yards because of the mud. The school playground that we just paid to have reseeded and leveled will have to be done again. The ball field has already been plowed and dragged with the reseeding starting today. We will have to reseed and fertilize many of the lawns in town, but we do that almost every year for them.
Today starts normal family night again. Although, last night we did not have practice for the group I sing in and Will's group did not practice Monday. Amanda goes home today. The best thing that happened to her this week was a stray puppy showed up and her Mom said that they could keep him. Dad named him Spud as he does all dogs and since Amanda lives next to a potato farm she decided that was a good name. But Spud didn't seem to fit him so she is naming him Tater and she calls him Tate. Her Mom said to call him Cranny (Cranberry get it?) and I said she could call him Fester (Cranfest?) but we decided Tater was pretty good. I don't know if it will stick but she is very happy about it.
Time to get Jake up for school and get on with my day. Will put new brakes on both our cars yesterday, so I will have to get out and try them out before I go back to work tomorrow.
Have a blessed day.
We have the town back in order now pretty much. Amanda and I will go out and pick up the last few signs today, as well as a few little piles of garbage. Then pretty much everything will look like it did, except for the wheel tracks through the yards because of the mud. The school playground that we just paid to have reseeded and leveled will have to be done again. The ball field has already been plowed and dragged with the reseeding starting today. We will have to reseed and fertilize many of the lawns in town, but we do that almost every year for them.
Today starts normal family night again. Although, last night we did not have practice for the group I sing in and Will's group did not practice Monday. Amanda goes home today. The best thing that happened to her this week was a stray puppy showed up and her Mom said that they could keep him. Dad named him Spud as he does all dogs and since Amanda lives next to a potato farm she decided that was a good name. But Spud didn't seem to fit him so she is naming him Tater and she calls him Tate. Her Mom said to call him Cranny (Cranberry get it?) and I said she could call him Fester (Cranfest?) but we decided Tater was pretty good. I don't know if it will stick but she is very happy about it.
Time to get Jake up for school and get on with my day. Will put new brakes on both our cars yesterday, so I will have to get out and try them out before I go back to work tomorrow.
Have a blessed day.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
The Party's over.....
Today is Monday and Cranfest is over for one more year. Friday and Saturday went well with many, many people. Marcie (my cousin) and I had reorganized how the many contests in the school gym would work and had meetings with the contest chair people. We thought that we were ready. But then last year's organizer showed up to "show" us all how to do it and everything went downhill from there. Blew us right out of the water. We have already come up with a plan for next year and I have already thanked the "helper" for her help and nicely told her that we can handle it by ourselves next year. I tried my best to make her feel good and at the same time was trying my best not to pinch her.
Thursday morning I was informed that we had to supply 15 tables (from Cranfest) to the Village of Warrens municipal building. The only problem was that we did not have 15 tables. OOPS! I begged and borrowed (I did not steal though) 15 tables from every place I could think of. Tables are at a premium in Warrens with everyone filling their churches etc with people eating.
My general flunky status held up during Cranfest...usually I am in the booth at the church working, but for the most part, not this year. We had so many things that happened that I got called to deal with that I spent most of my time in a golf cart running back and forth through the crowd. Then my golf cart died in the middle of Main Street and I was literally reduced to "running" through the crowd. It was great to meet and help so many, people. I was truly a general flunky BUT due to my position on the board I was a general flunky with power. I actually got to tell a vendor, actually two, that if they did not do what I was telling them, they were out of the festival. Truthfully, it kind of felt good to say it too! We have around 1500 vendors and for the most part they all set up and we don't hear from them. There are about 50 or so that make royal aggravations of themselves. They say they need a 20 feet long booth and then get here and want 30 feet; they don't like their neighbor or some such thing. Somehow it works out most of the time.
For the most part Cranfest was wonderful and people came in droves, bought things and ate food. Then came Sunday.... We awoke to 4" of rain and more coming down in buckets (Will tells me that it rained Saturday too, but I have no clue because my days are all running together.) We ladies at the church were the first people into town. Yuck! We got set up in the booth and the downstairs of the church and at 6:30 the calls started coming in. I was the only board member there. I arrived at one problem (walking in a rain poncho because I still had no cart) and found that the storm drains had plugged with debris...well, the only thing to do was to wade in and unplug them. The only problem was that there was at least a foot of water. Actually it was up to my knees. In I went and prayed all the way that there were no "things" lurking in there to get me. I unplugged that one and proceeded to walk all over Warrens with a garbage bag and unplugged all the storm drains. Not anything I want to ever repeat. You know something? I was standing knee deep in water and I don't think that I have ever felt dirtier in my life. Strange sensation.
Well the rain kept on and suddenly vendors started pulling out. They are under contract to stay all three days, but many decided to leave anyway (that leaves a problem to be sorted out later). Anyway, they decided to pull out and many made it, but many did not. Now we had vendors stuck in the rain, blocking aisles and generally making a mess of everything. When the sun finally decided to shine, there they were blocking all the people from the booths that decided to stick it out. We finally got them all sorted out, but the funny thing is that when all was said and done the vendors that decided to stay had great sales for the second half of the day.
At 1:00 the parade went on as planned. It was much shorter than it's normal 2-hour span due to the number of participants that cancelled, but it went on. In our 33 years we have never cancelled a parade.
One of the most exciting times for me was my "hot pursuit". I finally managed to get a cart back on Saturday evening or maybe Sunday morning.... it all runs together. Anyway, I was driving back to the school gym to help with some problem for the 30th or so time and noticed a red car trying to drive up to one of the booths through the middle of the crowd. I stopped him and had to keep telling him stop while a parking guy came to help him get to a parking area. We thought everything was fine, when here he comes around the block and back again. After this time when we chased him off, he came back and decided to park in the parade route in the middle of the festival. The parking attendants chased him off again and I went looking for the village police. Then I had to chase the guy all around and find him again, because he had taken off into the crowd again. Well, I found him. The cops picked him up and found his car full of drugs. What a hoot! All the people listening in on my conversation with the cops and the parking people were having a great time. It was like a Clint Eastwood movie! So, I have captured my first felon. David VanVoorhees was in the cart with me and I kept telling him to yell "hot pursuit", but he wouldn't. The least he could have done was make a noise like a siren.
Most of the vendors were gone by 4:30 yesterday and clean up began. We broke down the important stuff at the booth and left the rest for another day. We took everything back out of the school gym and brought it back to Cranfest to be sorted another day. We then started hauling garbage.... and more garbage.... and more garbage. Amanda and I left at 8:15. Will came home around 11:00 pm. Boy were we tired.
Today is Tuesday and I have just now found some time to write on this thing some more. I ended up working until 6:00 pm last night. Went to pick up Will, Amanda and the kids at my parent'’s house. We all talked until after 7:00 without realizing it. Time to hurry home and feed the restless natives again and send them off to bed. Fell asleep watching my favoriteTV show TWICE and as soon as it ended, I was out of there.
Would have loved to sleep in this morning, but life goes on. We are still working on clean up from the fest. Will and Amanda worked picking up garbage and moving bleachers etc. all day yesterday. It was our first day that actually felt like fall. Got to the high 60Â’s with lots of sunshine. Today supposed to be close to 80 again. We will see.
Jacob had a golf match last Thursday. Carrie and my Mom went. They all seemed to have a good time. I guess that Jake hides behind his golf bag when the others are hitting. Probably with good reason. There is another match this Thursday again and I hope to be there. I have to work, so I will go in early. Jacob cannot remember if this is really a match he plays in or not so we will see.
Well itÂ’s time to go back in and clean up more mess. Then I can start on our own house.
God Bless.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Well, it's the Monday after the Warrens Cranberry Festival, or Cranfest as it has come to be known. Deanna woke up early and put the kids on the school bus. She then started to put a "blog" together but she had so much to say that she didn't have time to finish it. After all the work she did this weekend with Cranfest she still has to work at the post office today. She wanted me to finish it for her but after reading it I decided I couldn't do it justice. So I "Saved" her blog and I will have her finish it and post it for you later.
I promised you pictures and you will find them below. I really wanted to show how our sleepy little town turns into this thriving mass of humanity for three days and then returns to it's dormant state. It didn't quite work out as I planned.
Friday the first day of Cranfest was absolutely beautiful and the people came. Friday is usually a good day at Cranfest but understandably not as good as Saturday or Sunday; usually that is. I had planned on taking pictures on Saturday and Sunday-which I did-but it turns out that Friday was our best day I think and of course, I didn't take any pictures on Friday.
Saturday started out nice but then it began to turn dark and started to give us a light sprinkle and mist. It wasn't too bad but you could see that the people that had been there since the morning had decided that maybe it was enough. Usually they would have stayed but I think the "wetness" of it all convinced them to leave a little sooner than usual. That night we received word that we were supposed to get between 2 to 5 inches of rain that night and Sunday morning. Their word was good.
Needless to say Sunday was a little bit of a let-down. We wound up allowing the vendors to pack up and we closed the Festival down early due to the weather. I say we wound up "allowing" because they pretty much did it anyway. They are contracted to stay whether they want to or not but so many decided to leave anyway and were causing so many problems that we pretty much gave them the "go ahead". Thankfully though it was after the parade at least. Interestingly enough, the vendors that stayed did a brisk business in spite of the weather and other vendors, at least that%
I promised you pictures and you will find them below. I really wanted to show how our sleepy little town turns into this thriving mass of humanity for three days and then returns to it's dormant state. It didn't quite work out as I planned.
Friday the first day of Cranfest was absolutely beautiful and the people came. Friday is usually a good day at Cranfest but understandably not as good as Saturday or Sunday; usually that is. I had planned on taking pictures on Saturday and Sunday-which I did-but it turns out that Friday was our best day I think and of course, I didn't take any pictures on Friday.
Saturday started out nice but then it began to turn dark and started to give us a light sprinkle and mist. It wasn't too bad but you could see that the people that had been there since the morning had decided that maybe it was enough. Usually they would have stayed but I think the "wetness" of it all convinced them to leave a little sooner than usual. That night we received word that we were supposed to get between 2 to 5 inches of rain that night and Sunday morning. Their word was good.
Needless to say Sunday was a little bit of a let-down. We wound up allowing the vendors to pack up and we closed the Festival down early due to the weather. I say we wound up "allowing" because they pretty much did it anyway. They are contracted to stay whether they want to or not but so many decided to leave anyway and were causing so many problems that we pretty much gave them the "go ahead". Thankfully though it was after the parade at least. Interestingly enough, the vendors that stayed did a brisk business in spite of the weather and other vendors, at least that%
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
2 days and counting
We are at full throttle here in Cranfest Land. Will is off until next Wednesday and I think he will be glad to go back to Cardinal just to take a break from all the work that I keep finding for him.
I worked on last Friday, Saturday and Monday at the Festival. I will have to work next Monday also, but until then, I am Deanna Donaldson, Executive Officer and GENERAL FLUNKY! I have this unique position at Cranfest. I am responsible for many things, but nothing that ties me down all day for days, so that I am able to help with any general work that comes along. For the last couple of weeks I have been cleaning the store room, organizing volunteers and organizing stuff. Now comes the time that it all has to be delivered to it's ultimate destination. Hundreds of signs, 30 or more tables, boxes and boxes of garbage bags, equipment, supplies, parking tape etc.
I also have enough office experience that I can be left in charge of junk going on in the main office long enough for the office staff to go to lunch and take a well deserves break. Not only do they have to deal with all of the committee chair people, things being delivered, 100's of phone messages, emails etc....they also have to deal with the vendors. In a festival this large (over 1500 booths) there are many people that cannot find their booth, are unhappy with location, ordered the wrong footage etc. You would not believe how many people think that because they buy a 10X10 spot for their tent, they should have an ATTACHED AREA for their camper and two vehicles. If that was the case we would have about 100 booths and no customers.
I have been organizing volunteers, troubleshooting, problem solving, soothing ruffled feathers and moving tons of equipment, and supplies all over.
The golf carts arrived yesterday for the most part. We order about 75 and they are in full swing every day of the festival. My father is getting a special one from our local Toro plant. One of the other directors works there and got it for him. I will have my hubby take a picture. Evidently it is one of the new line of electric small truck/golf carts or some such thing. He sure is excited-a new TOY!
I will switch over to a golf cart today and not see my car until it is time to go home each night at whatever time, I can make it here. Probably earlier tonight because Will has his gig at the VA with Country Revival and so I will need to get the kids showers and in bed. Tomorrow, I will probably be out dealing with vendors until midnight or so.
I also found out yesterday that when they asked me to set up a buffet lunch up at Cranfest on Friday, they were asking me to cook for the Governor of Wisconsin's wife. Guess I won't be making peanut butter and jelly. There are many special guests going to be here this year including many royalty (Miss Wisconsin and those types), the CEO of Ocean Spray etc. Usually they come and eat in our church, but there was just too many so I am setting a buffet up in the Cranfest Office. My Mom and Aunt will serve.
Jacob has his first golf match tomorrow. I had asked the teacher to not schedule it during Cranfest week. He forgot. Thankfully my Aunt can go to it. She will bring him back after stopping at McDonalds. He is nervous, but will be fine, since she can be there. She will take pictures, I hope. Maybe if they turn out we can post them.
We have to take our almost 500 pies out of the freezer tonight and thaw them. Tomorrow the volunteers will come in to slice and box them. We sell some whole, but most get sliced and we sell them that way.
Things seem to be on their way for a great Festival. Please keep us in your prayers that we will all stay safe, well and will get everything done it time. So many things have to wait for the last minute and I really pray that I don't forget anything.
God bless
dea
Ephesians 3:14-21
I worked on last Friday, Saturday and Monday at the Festival. I will have to work next Monday also, but until then, I am Deanna Donaldson, Executive Officer and GENERAL FLUNKY! I have this unique position at Cranfest. I am responsible for many things, but nothing that ties me down all day for days, so that I am able to help with any general work that comes along. For the last couple of weeks I have been cleaning the store room, organizing volunteers and organizing stuff. Now comes the time that it all has to be delivered to it's ultimate destination. Hundreds of signs, 30 or more tables, boxes and boxes of garbage bags, equipment, supplies, parking tape etc.
I also have enough office experience that I can be left in charge of junk going on in the main office long enough for the office staff to go to lunch and take a well deserves break. Not only do they have to deal with all of the committee chair people, things being delivered, 100's of phone messages, emails etc....they also have to deal with the vendors. In a festival this large (over 1500 booths) there are many people that cannot find their booth, are unhappy with location, ordered the wrong footage etc. You would not believe how many people think that because they buy a 10X10 spot for their tent, they should have an ATTACHED AREA for their camper and two vehicles. If that was the case we would have about 100 booths and no customers.
I have been organizing volunteers, troubleshooting, problem solving, soothing ruffled feathers and moving tons of equipment, and supplies all over.
The golf carts arrived yesterday for the most part. We order about 75 and they are in full swing every day of the festival. My father is getting a special one from our local Toro plant. One of the other directors works there and got it for him. I will have my hubby take a picture. Evidently it is one of the new line of electric small truck/golf carts or some such thing. He sure is excited-a new TOY!
I will switch over to a golf cart today and not see my car until it is time to go home each night at whatever time, I can make it here. Probably earlier tonight because Will has his gig at the VA with Country Revival and so I will need to get the kids showers and in bed. Tomorrow, I will probably be out dealing with vendors until midnight or so.
I also found out yesterday that when they asked me to set up a buffet lunch up at Cranfest on Friday, they were asking me to cook for the Governor of Wisconsin's wife. Guess I won't be making peanut butter and jelly. There are many special guests going to be here this year including many royalty (Miss Wisconsin and those types), the CEO of Ocean Spray etc. Usually they come and eat in our church, but there was just too many so I am setting a buffet up in the Cranfest Office. My Mom and Aunt will serve.
Jacob has his first golf match tomorrow. I had asked the teacher to not schedule it during Cranfest week. He forgot. Thankfully my Aunt can go to it. She will bring him back after stopping at McDonalds. He is nervous, but will be fine, since she can be there. She will take pictures, I hope. Maybe if they turn out we can post them.
We have to take our almost 500 pies out of the freezer tonight and thaw them. Tomorrow the volunteers will come in to slice and box them. We sell some whole, but most get sliced and we sell them that way.
Things seem to be on their way for a great Festival. Please keep us in your prayers that we will all stay safe, well and will get everything done it time. So many things have to wait for the last minute and I really pray that I don't forget anything.
God bless
dea
Ephesians 3:14-21
Sunday, September 18, 2005
My shoes are a nice shade of orange
We are almost finished marking where the 1500 booths go for Cranfest. We have gone through cases and cases of bright fluorescent orange paint. I think that at least one can of it must be on my shoes. Some of the paint was from last year and the cans got too cold in the store room. It spits little blobs of paint all over. Last year we had rain to deal with on the wrong days and ended up not finishing until the day before set up. We were all a little frantic. This year is going much better, thank you God, and we are all more relaxed.
The display boards (except for a final coat of paint) are all ready to be set up. Tuesday we will load it all in a trailer to be ready to go take it up to set up in the school gym on Thursday. The porta-potties are all starting to come in. We spend over $15,000 on porta-potties alone. We are going to set up the balloon signs today too, I hope. The list goes on. I at least did get to spend some time with my family yesterday. That was nice. Will calls himself a Cranfest widower.
I keep telling myself it will all be over in 8 days and then you can rest........fat chance. We still have clean up.
Today was my one chance this week to sleep in....I wish someone had told my body. There I was awake at 5:00 and the first Cranfest thought came into my poor overworked brain and there was no sleeping after that. Might as well be up getting my things to do list going. I have this added blessing though, our friend Amanda is staying with us to help set up Cranfest for the festival and for the church. She is a very hard worker and a joy to be around. I asked her to help last year and she caught the Cranfest bug and now she enjoys it as much as I do. By the way, her shoes are orange too. There seems to be a rash of that around lately.
I will buy a new pair as soon as Cranfest is over. You never know what you will get on them during clean up ect. It's always safest just to wait.
Our church services switch back to 10:00 am this morning instead of 8:00 am. We switch them every year because of the summer heat. Our church is well over 100 years old and has no air conditioning. Stained glass windows don't work well with window a/c units and we would rather spend our money on missions than on a/c. Besides with church so early it gives you a whole day to enjoy the summer.
Monday I work at the Post Office and Will goes into Cardinal. That makes for a long day for both of us. Then he has practice on Monday night with Country Revival. They are one of the feature groups on the Cranfest stage. Tuesday is more set up with finishing touches. Will is going to be working at Cardinal again. I told the Post Office that I am unavailable until next week. There are 100's of picnic tables to set up, 100's of garbage barrels to put out, information booths to set up and so forth. All of that will happen by Wednesday. Booths are already setting up this last week. Wednesday and Thursday is set up for the majority of the booths.
On Thursday is one of our favorite parts of the festival. We all make sure we are at the church ready to watch the spectacle. Almost 80 booths are set up on the elementary school lawn BUT they cannot step one foot on the lawn until 4:00 pm on Thursday. Do you remember that Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidmann movie where they all had a race for the homesteading land? Well, that's just what it looks like. They all line up all over around the perimeter fence and stand there with their racks, wagon, push carts, boxes and tents. As soon as the Sheriff yells they all run like crazy to get to their booths and start set up. It is a riot and we all just watch, grinning like loons.
They cannot get onto the lawn because of the school, but Cranfest is large enough that they close the schools county wide for it(possibly 2 or 3 counties).
The weather is absolutely beautiful right now. We are in the 70's during the day and the 50's at night. The trees are just starting to turn colors. There is still even fresh sweet corn to be eaten. Still fresh green beans and fresh tomatoes. My Aunt Marj pulled her green bean plants as she picked the last time. She has given us 2 grocery bags full and other people got beans too. She said she had canned as many as she was going to and was tired of picking. We are planning a large garden next year. Hopefully, it will come to fruition. This year my canning is going to be going to Aldi's and picking up cases of veggies. I might still find time to do homemade apple butter though. We have an apple farm here that grows the best apples in the world.
Well, time to get going. I need to bake something for fellowship time.
I just remembered that tonight is "Cranberry Queen and Princess Coronation". Jessalyn and I have girls night out every year for it. She is just thrilled with it and I like to have something special to do with her, that is just us girls. Jacob does not want to come, but he appreciates the royalty. Last year Miss Wisconsin USA and a couple other visiting royalty were down in our church basement eating lunch and Jake was there. He came out and told me that he really, really thought that she was pretty. I think sitting near them was a little too much for a 12 year old. He was pretty overwhelmed. It was cute. As he gets older though there are definite times when I send him to his father for advice. Having never been a growing boy myself, I feel inadequate for some questions. I let Will deal with them. It surely makes me feel for single mothers. I suppose they just have to punt and hope that they deal with it correctly. Makes me very glad that I have my hubby.
Have a blessed day!
dea
Ephesians 3:14-21
The display boards (except for a final coat of paint) are all ready to be set up. Tuesday we will load it all in a trailer to be ready to go take it up to set up in the school gym on Thursday. The porta-potties are all starting to come in. We spend over $15,000 on porta-potties alone. We are going to set up the balloon signs today too, I hope. The list goes on. I at least did get to spend some time with my family yesterday. That was nice. Will calls himself a Cranfest widower.
I keep telling myself it will all be over in 8 days and then you can rest........fat chance. We still have clean up.
Today was my one chance this week to sleep in....I wish someone had told my body. There I was awake at 5:00 and the first Cranfest thought came into my poor overworked brain and there was no sleeping after that. Might as well be up getting my things to do list going. I have this added blessing though, our friend Amanda is staying with us to help set up Cranfest for the festival and for the church. She is a very hard worker and a joy to be around. I asked her to help last year and she caught the Cranfest bug and now she enjoys it as much as I do. By the way, her shoes are orange too. There seems to be a rash of that around lately.
I will buy a new pair as soon as Cranfest is over. You never know what you will get on them during clean up ect. It's always safest just to wait.
Our church services switch back to 10:00 am this morning instead of 8:00 am. We switch them every year because of the summer heat. Our church is well over 100 years old and has no air conditioning. Stained glass windows don't work well with window a/c units and we would rather spend our money on missions than on a/c. Besides with church so early it gives you a whole day to enjoy the summer.
Monday I work at the Post Office and Will goes into Cardinal. That makes for a long day for both of us. Then he has practice on Monday night with Country Revival. They are one of the feature groups on the Cranfest stage. Tuesday is more set up with finishing touches. Will is going to be working at Cardinal again. I told the Post Office that I am unavailable until next week. There are 100's of picnic tables to set up, 100's of garbage barrels to put out, information booths to set up and so forth. All of that will happen by Wednesday. Booths are already setting up this last week. Wednesday and Thursday is set up for the majority of the booths.
On Thursday is one of our favorite parts of the festival. We all make sure we are at the church ready to watch the spectacle. Almost 80 booths are set up on the elementary school lawn BUT they cannot step one foot on the lawn until 4:00 pm on Thursday. Do you remember that Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidmann movie where they all had a race for the homesteading land? Well, that's just what it looks like. They all line up all over around the perimeter fence and stand there with their racks, wagon, push carts, boxes and tents. As soon as the Sheriff yells they all run like crazy to get to their booths and start set up. It is a riot and we all just watch, grinning like loons.
They cannot get onto the lawn because of the school, but Cranfest is large enough that they close the schools county wide for it(possibly 2 or 3 counties).
The weather is absolutely beautiful right now. We are in the 70's during the day and the 50's at night. The trees are just starting to turn colors. There is still even fresh sweet corn to be eaten. Still fresh green beans and fresh tomatoes. My Aunt Marj pulled her green bean plants as she picked the last time. She has given us 2 grocery bags full and other people got beans too. She said she had canned as many as she was going to and was tired of picking. We are planning a large garden next year. Hopefully, it will come to fruition. This year my canning is going to be going to Aldi's and picking up cases of veggies. I might still find time to do homemade apple butter though. We have an apple farm here that grows the best apples in the world.
Well, time to get going. I need to bake something for fellowship time.
I just remembered that tonight is "Cranberry Queen and Princess Coronation". Jessalyn and I have girls night out every year for it. She is just thrilled with it and I like to have something special to do with her, that is just us girls. Jacob does not want to come, but he appreciates the royalty. Last year Miss Wisconsin USA and a couple other visiting royalty were down in our church basement eating lunch and Jake was there. He came out and told me that he really, really thought that she was pretty. I think sitting near them was a little too much for a 12 year old. He was pretty overwhelmed. It was cute. As he gets older though there are definite times when I send him to his father for advice. Having never been a growing boy myself, I feel inadequate for some questions. I let Will deal with them. It surely makes me feel for single mothers. I suppose they just have to punt and hope that they deal with it correctly. Makes me very glad that I have my hubby.
Have a blessed day!
dea
Ephesians 3:14-21
Thursday, September 15, 2005
The ants go marching one by one...
We were discussing yesterday at the cranfest office how we all looked like little worker ants, running this way and that. No set pattern going on to the bystander, but we really did have a system. Our friend Amanda has been staying with us since last Sunday and I and Will are working her to the point of exhaustion every day and we all love it!
On Sunday we had church at 8:00 am and then right after we all got down to business and worked on finishing a "honey do this" list that needed to get done for Cranfest. All the windows were washed inside and out. The outside of most of the downstairs windows were painted and stained. All of our remodeling materials were stacked upstairs or down. The paper supplies for Cranfest were sorted and stored, the bathrooms scrubbed, the upstairs including pews and window ledges were all dusted and cleaned. All floors were swept, mopped, vacuumed and mopped After that we set up the booth outside. Believe it or not it took less than 3 hours.
Then we all sat down to a well deserved pot luck lunch that made us all laugh because almost everyone had brought desserts. Well, what a way to celebrate a good job-dessert. The best part about it for me was the feeling of everyone working together and having a great time. We all were laughing and smiling while we sweated up a storm.
I truly felt like that is what a church is supposed to feel like. That feeling of working together through all things. What a blessing. I wonder if that is what the churches back during the apostle's time had that most of our churches don't seem to now. Is that the feeling that changed the world back then? More importantly why don't we feel that way now all the time? Ready to support each other in our work, ready to step up and help someone else with a task, ready to help someone else carry a heavy burden, willing to empty out the things that are cluttering our lives in order to do God's work. Why are many of God's people more willing to kick someone when they are down, spread news of their sins, mistakes and shortcomings all over town and judge someone for making mistakes when we have made the same one before ourselves. Why do we refuse to forgive someone and then ask God for forgiveness for ourselves? Why can't people in the church work together? Is it because we have forgotten what we were working towards? Have we forgotten the "real goal" or is it that we have a new goal "ourselves"?
Why do people in the church tend to not make the effort to get to know all the "broken people" that come through our church doors? Who do we think Jesus came for......the pretty people?
I read one of those internet stories awhile ago that talked about a dirty, strangely dressed "hippie-type" man coming into church and none of the "church people" wanted him to sit by him. They all wanted him to go somewhere else where they wouldn't have to deal with him at all....so he went and sat on the floor in front of the communion table. One of the elders of the church went forward towards the man and the congregation heaved a sigh of relief because they all figured he would usher the man outside and they could go on with their "service". Instead the old man sat down on the floor next to the broken man. He went to where the man was. That story has had a profound impact on me for weeks now.....Jesus came for the "broken people" just as much as for me. He said he came to heal the sick. After thinking about this for awhile, I have to wonder just who is "sick" and who is "broken"? What about those that sat on the pew and waited for someone else to do something? Are we sure that they aren't the broken ones?
Our church seems to get more than most of broken people. You know the funny thing is....they do not feel denied by society for the most part, the common thread seems to be the churches that they tried to go to and were forced out for some reason. The most common reasons seem to be that they might have dressed differently, were not as well off as the other church members or the killer one for me.....they wanted to talk about Jesus. What is going on in our churches today?! Jesus died for these people and we turn them away because they are not "good enough" to be in our church. If they are good enough for Jesus to die for what right do we have to say that they are not good enough?
After weeks of thinking about this, I can honestly say that some of these "broken people" that have come to our church and had God work in their lives are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known. Some have not been easy to love and others have been hard to understand, but when you get below the surface they are great and loving people. You know something else? They bring others to church more often than the average. They know what it is like to be "unacceptable and an outcast", so when they see someone in the same situation they bring them to where they found answers - Jesus. What right do we have to keep anyone away from God? When it all comes down to it.....when we don't do our part to reach the lost and hurting...isn't that what we are doing? I'm not saying that everyone should be a street evangelist or wear fur vests and eat bugs, but think about it the next time you come in contact with a lost person.....Consciously think about how you a looking at them. When someone that doesn't fit the "mold" walks into church....look at them through your eyes and take note of what you are thinking AND THEN look at them through Jesus's eyes. Remind yourself that Jesus died for them and see if it doesn't change the way you look at things. Remember Jesus didn't die for just skinny people, clean people or nicely dressed people...
God created us out of dirt, so I guess we are all "dirty" people.
He created us naked, so I guess clothes don't matter.
He created us without material possessions and gave us everything we needed, so having "stuff" shouldn't matter.
He created us as just "man" and "woman" so position should not matter.
He created us all as his children so "race" should not matter.
So I guess what it all boils down to is that we are all just naked, dirty people who have nothing without God......
Ephesians 3:14-21
Deanna
On Sunday we had church at 8:00 am and then right after we all got down to business and worked on finishing a "honey do this" list that needed to get done for Cranfest. All the windows were washed inside and out. The outside of most of the downstairs windows were painted and stained. All of our remodeling materials were stacked upstairs or down. The paper supplies for Cranfest were sorted and stored, the bathrooms scrubbed, the upstairs including pews and window ledges were all dusted and cleaned. All floors were swept, mopped, vacuumed and mopped After that we set up the booth outside. Believe it or not it took less than 3 hours.
Then we all sat down to a well deserved pot luck lunch that made us all laugh because almost everyone had brought desserts. Well, what a way to celebrate a good job-dessert. The best part about it for me was the feeling of everyone working together and having a great time. We all were laughing and smiling while we sweated up a storm.
I truly felt like that is what a church is supposed to feel like. That feeling of working together through all things. What a blessing. I wonder if that is what the churches back during the apostle's time had that most of our churches don't seem to now. Is that the feeling that changed the world back then? More importantly why don't we feel that way now all the time? Ready to support each other in our work, ready to step up and help someone else with a task, ready to help someone else carry a heavy burden, willing to empty out the things that are cluttering our lives in order to do God's work. Why are many of God's people more willing to kick someone when they are down, spread news of their sins, mistakes and shortcomings all over town and judge someone for making mistakes when we have made the same one before ourselves. Why do we refuse to forgive someone and then ask God for forgiveness for ourselves? Why can't people in the church work together? Is it because we have forgotten what we were working towards? Have we forgotten the "real goal" or is it that we have a new goal "ourselves"?
Why do people in the church tend to not make the effort to get to know all the "broken people" that come through our church doors? Who do we think Jesus came for......the pretty people?
I read one of those internet stories awhile ago that talked about a dirty, strangely dressed "hippie-type" man coming into church and none of the "church people" wanted him to sit by him. They all wanted him to go somewhere else where they wouldn't have to deal with him at all....so he went and sat on the floor in front of the communion table. One of the elders of the church went forward towards the man and the congregation heaved a sigh of relief because they all figured he would usher the man outside and they could go on with their "service". Instead the old man sat down on the floor next to the broken man. He went to where the man was. That story has had a profound impact on me for weeks now.....Jesus came for the "broken people" just as much as for me. He said he came to heal the sick. After thinking about this for awhile, I have to wonder just who is "sick" and who is "broken"? What about those that sat on the pew and waited for someone else to do something? Are we sure that they aren't the broken ones?
Our church seems to get more than most of broken people. You know the funny thing is....they do not feel denied by society for the most part, the common thread seems to be the churches that they tried to go to and were forced out for some reason. The most common reasons seem to be that they might have dressed differently, were not as well off as the other church members or the killer one for me.....they wanted to talk about Jesus. What is going on in our churches today?! Jesus died for these people and we turn them away because they are not "good enough" to be in our church. If they are good enough for Jesus to die for what right do we have to say that they are not good enough?
After weeks of thinking about this, I can honestly say that some of these "broken people" that have come to our church and had God work in their lives are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known. Some have not been easy to love and others have been hard to understand, but when you get below the surface they are great and loving people. You know something else? They bring others to church more often than the average. They know what it is like to be "unacceptable and an outcast", so when they see someone in the same situation they bring them to where they found answers - Jesus. What right do we have to keep anyone away from God? When it all comes down to it.....when we don't do our part to reach the lost and hurting...isn't that what we are doing? I'm not saying that everyone should be a street evangelist or wear fur vests and eat bugs, but think about it the next time you come in contact with a lost person.....Consciously think about how you a looking at them. When someone that doesn't fit the "mold" walks into church....look at them through your eyes and take note of what you are thinking AND THEN look at them through Jesus's eyes. Remind yourself that Jesus died for them and see if it doesn't change the way you look at things. Remember Jesus didn't die for just skinny people, clean people or nicely dressed people...
God created us out of dirt, so I guess we are all "dirty" people.
He created us naked, so I guess clothes don't matter.
He created us without material possessions and gave us everything we needed, so having "stuff" shouldn't matter.
He created us as just "man" and "woman" so position should not matter.
He created us all as his children so "race" should not matter.
So I guess what it all boils down to is that we are all just naked, dirty people who have nothing without God......
Ephesians 3:14-21
Deanna
Monday, September 12, 2005
This is the Church, and this is the Steeple...
I promised some pictures from re-roofing the Church Steeple, so here you are. Seth Frost played boss to a lot of wonderful people who came and helped with the re-roofing of the entire church. They also cleaned up the roofline quite a bit by adding or raising the roof on one side and removing part of another. They also added three skylights with one that opens to help keep things cool in the summer. I don't know for sure who all helped with the remodeling but I think I might have been the only one whose last name wasn't "Frost"! What an amazing family! I'm sure glad to have 'em around.
I was only there for a few hours on like, three days I think, so the odds are good that I missed some people. If I did, I'm sorry!
There may be some more pictures later. These were all taken from Seths camera. I believe his dad actually snapped the pics.
It's kind of fun arranging these for the blog. I have to Post them individually so I have to post them last one first and then write and post this introduction so that they appear in the correct order.
The third picture down is the side I climbed down during the storm. When that picture was taken Seth was quite nervous. Not from being that high but from what his "Sweetie" was going to say when she found out what he was doing! I know that Deanna was glad she didn't come watch after she saw these.
One last thing, Could you do us a favor? Could you leave a "comment" every once in a while, just to let us know who is reading this? It doesn't have to be much, just a Hi! Would be ok. Thanks!
Numbers 6:24!
I was only there for a few hours on like, three days I think, so the odds are good that I missed some people. If I did, I'm sorry!
There may be some more pictures later. These were all taken from Seths camera. I believe his dad actually snapped the pics.
It's kind of fun arranging these for the blog. I have to Post them individually so I have to post them last one first and then write and post this introduction so that they appear in the correct order.
The third picture down is the side I climbed down during the storm. When that picture was taken Seth was quite nervous. Not from being that high but from what his "Sweetie" was going to say when she found out what he was doing! I know that Deanna was glad she didn't come watch after she saw these.
One last thing, Could you do us a favor? Could you leave a "comment" every once in a while, just to let us know who is reading this? It doesn't have to be much, just a Hi! Would be ok. Thanks!
Numbers 6:24!
Friday, September 09, 2005
Just another Blog
"...Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless Sea..."
I just realized that it's been more than a couple of days since either Deanna or myself updated this blog. I try not to go more than a couple of days because I know how frustrating it can get looking up someone's blog over and over again to see that they haven't updated, until months (!) later they finally throw you a bone. Of course the down side to updating all the time is that often you don't have anything really to say. I mean to us often every day feels just like the last. I get up and go to work. I come home. I visit with the kids if they haven't gone to bed already. I visit with my wife, but mostly I watch a little tv and then go to bed. Next day: See above. Every once in a while though something happens that you hope is good enough to keep people coming back to your blog. That is the whole point of blogging; having someone else read it. Otherwise we would never post it!
I specifically started this one to help all of the family and friends that Deanna and I have scattered all over this great nation to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It gives them a place to make a comment to let us know what they think and to give us their opinion and it gives them a place to start if they want to send us an email to let us know what's going on in their lives. I truly wish that all of our friends (even the ones who live nearby) would have a "blog" or webpage. I would never get anything done but I would know what's going on in loved ones lives.
I forgive those who don't take the time to read this page. Even when they call and say "what have you been up to? We haven't heard from you all week!" I know that Dea and I posted about Cran fest and how busy we are but they never read it. (sigh) I do understand though, really, I do.
I had an interesting moment the other day. We had just been discussing the New Orleans disaster, pretty much like everyone else in the country. I made the comment: " I understand people doing stupid things like being where they never should have been. I just don't understand them blaming everyone else and demanding that someone else fix their mistake..." We were on our lunch break from reroofing the church steeple.
As we headed back to the church we noticed the sky turning that sick looking green grey color. The winds started picking up bad and we were all thinking of all the materials and tools we left way up on the scaffolding. We pulled up to the church and made a mad scramble up the scaffolding piling everything we could into a box so I could lower it down with the winch. The other guys started heading down while I was running the winch and boy! The winch never seemed to unwind that slow! By the time it was all the way down the storm was on us-or rather, Me.
The heavens opened the wind howled and the scaffolding became terribly slippery. For the first time in days I became nervous at being up that high. As I was climbing down Thinking "This is really Dangerous!" I was also Praying "Yes Lord I really do understand people doing Stupid things like being up on a scaffolding in a storm!" but I don't blame anyone but myself. I also didn't demand that God get me out of it. I was praying that He would but I didn't demand it. I know that I surely would have wanted to know why He didn't if He hadn't. How often do we do that?
Get ourselves in a pickle and then Blame God and demand that He get us out and complain the whole time He's working to save us?
It's Five am. Time to go to work.
Numbers 6:24
Will
I just realized that it's been more than a couple of days since either Deanna or myself updated this blog. I try not to go more than a couple of days because I know how frustrating it can get looking up someone's blog over and over again to see that they haven't updated, until months (!) later they finally throw you a bone. Of course the down side to updating all the time is that often you don't have anything really to say. I mean to us often every day feels just like the last. I get up and go to work. I come home. I visit with the kids if they haven't gone to bed already. I visit with my wife, but mostly I watch a little tv and then go to bed. Next day: See above. Every once in a while though something happens that you hope is good enough to keep people coming back to your blog. That is the whole point of blogging; having someone else read it. Otherwise we would never post it!
I specifically started this one to help all of the family and friends that Deanna and I have scattered all over this great nation to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It gives them a place to make a comment to let us know what they think and to give us their opinion and it gives them a place to start if they want to send us an email to let us know what's going on in their lives. I truly wish that all of our friends (even the ones who live nearby) would have a "blog" or webpage. I would never get anything done but I would know what's going on in loved ones lives.
I forgive those who don't take the time to read this page. Even when they call and say "what have you been up to? We haven't heard from you all week!" I know that Dea and I posted about Cran fest and how busy we are but they never read it. (sigh) I do understand though, really, I do.
I had an interesting moment the other day. We had just been discussing the New Orleans disaster, pretty much like everyone else in the country. I made the comment: " I understand people doing stupid things like being where they never should have been. I just don't understand them blaming everyone else and demanding that someone else fix their mistake..." We were on our lunch break from reroofing the church steeple.
As we headed back to the church we noticed the sky turning that sick looking green grey color. The winds started picking up bad and we were all thinking of all the materials and tools we left way up on the scaffolding. We pulled up to the church and made a mad scramble up the scaffolding piling everything we could into a box so I could lower it down with the winch. The other guys started heading down while I was running the winch and boy! The winch never seemed to unwind that slow! By the time it was all the way down the storm was on us-or rather, Me.
The heavens opened the wind howled and the scaffolding became terribly slippery. For the first time in days I became nervous at being up that high. As I was climbing down Thinking "This is really Dangerous!" I was also Praying "Yes Lord I really do understand people doing Stupid things like being up on a scaffolding in a storm!" but I don't blame anyone but myself. I also didn't demand that God get me out of it. I was praying that He would but I didn't demand it. I know that I surely would have wanted to know why He didn't if He hadn't. How often do we do that?
Get ourselves in a pickle and then Blame God and demand that He get us out and complain the whole time He's working to save us?
It's Five am. Time to go to work.
Numbers 6:24
Will
Monday, September 05, 2005
You will never believe what Will is doing...
Today is Labor Day...So Will is laboring and I am praying. He and our friend Seth (and probably a few others) are nailing new shingles to our church's "steeple". I stay at home where I cannot watch and pray for their safety. It is many, many feet in the air and they have scaffolding all around it. I am really very proud of the man that he has become. How he can find the courage to get up on that roof is beyond me.
My parents are down watching "Chuck Wagon" races in Iowa with my Great Aunt and Uncle. They really are the covered wagon, chuck wagons. I hope they are having a great time.
My sister and her hubby are down visiting my brother and his family in Tenn. I hope they are
having a great time too. My little sister is around here somewhere, but she manages to live in different hours than I do. She is usually just going to bed when I am waking up.
Will and I had my Aunt Carrie and our good friends Peggy and Amanda over for a Labor Day cook out lunch. Aunt Carrie works at night, so we had it around 1:00 or so. Grilled chicken, fresh sweet corn, potato salad, garlic bread and cherry cobbler still warm from the oven. We ate on a picnic table under a shade tree in the back yard. It was wonderful.
We also learned one important fact.....if you make our son Jacob laugh while he is drinking sweet tea, it comes out his nose. Poor kid......I don't know who laughed more at his demonstration, us or him. He seemed quite pleased with himself. Like he had discovered a new talent or something.
I have been working in the Cranfest building on cleaning up the old so that we can bring in the new. We have a button contest each year to design a button for each Cranfest. This is our 33rd year, so there are 33 different buttons. Well, they order many, many of them because it is cheaper. They had over 1000 left over from each year. That meant that there were OVER 33,000 buttons stored in the back room. We decided to keep only 250 of each year so the old ones had to go. I and our President went in and got rid of them with the help of others before they could change their mind.
Today is our last day of calm before the storm. We are 15 days or so out from when the town fills up. That means that for the next 15 days Will and the kids are pretty much on their own. They don't really mind though. I think they look at it as a vacation from me. I will have my hubby post some pictures so you can see the change in Warrens.
The weather has been wonderful lately. Sunny and 70's during the days with 50's at night. Good sleeping weather and great daytime weather. Will's allergies have kicked in as usual this time of year. We have figured out that it is something to do with the grass and grass seed that happens this time of year. He is miserable after mowing. Jacob had to do it this time. Jacob loved it and Will hated it. My hubby loves to mow the lawn. He just gets out there and bugs around on a toy. Makes him happy and this time he had to share. The poor thing.
Well, time to get the kids fed and showered. Will has band practice after his shingle project tonight. I won't see him until after 9:00 pm. Then he heads out to work tomorrow morning by 5:00 am. Don't feel sorry for him though.... he hasn't worked since last Thursday and after tomorrow he doesn't go back to work until Friday. Those 12 hour days are long, but he gets lots of days off to compensate.
God Bless.
dea
My parents are down watching "Chuck Wagon" races in Iowa with my Great Aunt and Uncle. They really are the covered wagon, chuck wagons. I hope they are having a great time.
My sister and her hubby are down visiting my brother and his family in Tenn. I hope they are
having a great time too. My little sister is around here somewhere, but she manages to live in different hours than I do. She is usually just going to bed when I am waking up.
Will and I had my Aunt Carrie and our good friends Peggy and Amanda over for a Labor Day cook out lunch. Aunt Carrie works at night, so we had it around 1:00 or so. Grilled chicken, fresh sweet corn, potato salad, garlic bread and cherry cobbler still warm from the oven. We ate on a picnic table under a shade tree in the back yard. It was wonderful.
We also learned one important fact.....if you make our son Jacob laugh while he is drinking sweet tea, it comes out his nose. Poor kid......I don't know who laughed more at his demonstration, us or him. He seemed quite pleased with himself. Like he had discovered a new talent or something.
I have been working in the Cranfest building on cleaning up the old so that we can bring in the new. We have a button contest each year to design a button for each Cranfest. This is our 33rd year, so there are 33 different buttons. Well, they order many, many of them because it is cheaper. They had over 1000 left over from each year. That meant that there were OVER 33,000 buttons stored in the back room. We decided to keep only 250 of each year so the old ones had to go. I and our President went in and got rid of them with the help of others before they could change their mind.
Today is our last day of calm before the storm. We are 15 days or so out from when the town fills up. That means that for the next 15 days Will and the kids are pretty much on their own. They don't really mind though. I think they look at it as a vacation from me. I will have my hubby post some pictures so you can see the change in Warrens.
The weather has been wonderful lately. Sunny and 70's during the days with 50's at night. Good sleeping weather and great daytime weather. Will's allergies have kicked in as usual this time of year. We have figured out that it is something to do with the grass and grass seed that happens this time of year. He is miserable after mowing. Jacob had to do it this time. Jacob loved it and Will hated it. My hubby loves to mow the lawn. He just gets out there and bugs around on a toy. Makes him happy and this time he had to share. The poor thing.
Well, time to get the kids fed and showered. Will has band practice after his shingle project tonight. I won't see him until after 9:00 pm. Then he heads out to work tomorrow morning by 5:00 am. Don't feel sorry for him though.... he hasn't worked since last Thursday and after tomorrow he doesn't go back to work until Friday. Those 12 hour days are long, but he gets lots of days off to compensate.
God Bless.
dea
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