Octoberfest

This week is Octoberfest at the Escapee Park in Livingston. As I've been told by the participants, this event hearkens folks back to the park for the winter season or some just come for the activities and fellowship during this week. Yesterday and today I attended RV seminars on maintenance type issues and the information was outstanding. Lots of great tips to help prolong the life of RV batteries, easy way to deter pests from making nests in your burner tubes, etc. The speakers, leading the sessions, were experienced in the subject matter and gave great presentations.
As I was walking up to the Activity Center this morning for the first session, I wondered why there was chalk lines painted across the gravel road. It became apparent to me when it was announced that the morning's activity, at the same time as my seminar, was a cow patty toss and a marshmallow hitting contest. While I did not see the cow patties, I did see watermelons, cut in half, with the fleshy red part placed downward and golf tees placed on the topside in the green rind....hmmmm...Interesting…....During my seminar we could hear the hoots and hollers of eager participants outside for each of these events. Tonight at the social hour they announced the winners of each. In the women's division, the winner slung her cow patty for 68 feet....Holy Crap ! Now, mind you this was a senior citizen woman doing this. Little did I know, as a child growing up on a dairy farm, that I could have been perfecting this skill in preparation for THIS VERY DAY. Instead of dodging these "bovine biscuits", in my bare feet on my way to the nearby swimming hole, I could have been hurling them across the pasture in my quest for distance. Unbeknownst to me, my feet always seemed to be heat seeking devices, finding the smoldering ones as I'd jump over the clumps of grass or weeds. While a soft landing, not a desirable one. Made it even more pleasant to get INTO the water to rinse off any remaining souvenirs.
I don't remember the distance achieved by the golfers but they say that the golf club "connecting" with the marshmallow made a unique sound. What kind of sound do you suppose that would be ? Squish ? Thud ? Whissssh ? They DID say that those NOT connecting with the marshmallow and whacking the watermelon tee looked like someone at a Gallagher (http://gallaghersmash.com)show. Spectators and competitors alike bore the brunt of that failed attempt...ICK ! I did attend a Gallagher show once (the last show held in the old Capitol Theatre before it became the Community Arts Center and the first ten rows needed a tarp to protect themselves from Gallagher's onslaught on a boatload of watermelons. Not a pretty sight !
So anyway, today's Octoberfest covered everything from the serious to the sublime...and there are more events to come....stay tuned.