Am I going to be the only person eating a special lunch? Hmm.
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All Mark really wanted to do on Father’s Day was watch the golf. Okay by me! I watched, but only peripherally. Tiger Woods got knee surgery and I heard a lot of grumbling about the excessive pro-Tiger coverage, but overall, I think Mark had a good day.
This weekend was super busy. I need to back up a sec and start with Saturday.
It was Westfest weekend. It was… what can I say? Lacking something. I don’t want to be down on Westfest, in fact, I feel strangely disloyal doing so. And also, is it fair to be critical about something that is free?
As someone once pointed out to me, Westfest isn’t really for Westboro, it’s about Westboro. It’d say that rings pretty true.
Westfest is great for the music lover. You can’t beat free concerts. Year to year (this is our fifth year attending) the acts keep getting better and better, and I heard the concerts were great. But, but but … and I cringe as I type this, what else is there? There is nothing fest-like about merchants cleaning out their back storerooms and turning Westfest into a big sidewalk sale. Who really shops during a street fair?
Westfest, at its core, is supposed to be a street fair. So let’s talk about what makes a great street fair. In my view, it’s people, food, and fun. And Westfest does have these things. What helps Westboro feel like a street fair is things like Ray’s Reptiles. Here’s a rare purse-snatching specimen:
… the buskers are great, why weren’t there more? There were a couple young guys who remade household goods into drums and noisemakers. There was chess on the street, that’s cool. Heck, even the square dancers were worth watching.
But otherwise? It’s a looooong walk down Richmond Road with only a few good diversions dotting the streetscape along the way.
As I said, I feel slightly low, publicly airing my feelings on this topic. I love this community so much. And I do support the effort of all the volunteers and the good folks who are giving us some great entertainment – nothing against them – but there needs to be something more to Westfest. Those blocks between the Superstore and Golden Avenue need filling. Wouldn’t it work better if the displays and events were condensed into a smaller area?
Am I the only one who thinks so?
Westfest is trying to be so many things to so many people that it’s lost its focus. How about bringing something more to Westfest than the big musical acts and shopping? What about asking local vendors to set up stations and feed the hungry masses something other than sausages and French fries? (I’m thinking about the Sparks Street Ribfest event as I type). Or how about opening things up to even more street music and buskers? Or how about a huge book/word/art show? Or something just about pets? I am not saying that any of these ideas would work (this is all off the top of my head) but you know what I mean, right? There has to be something more.
I’m quoting someone else here, who, as we talked about Westfest said, it’s not like you walk down Richmond Road and turn your head and say WOW, and then turn it the other way and say WOW! There isn’t THAT much going on.
Bark and Fitz (the dog store) had a fun idea. They set up a booth to take portraits of dogs. Hilarious! There was a dunk tank outside of Tiggywinkles. All money raised went to charity. And Emma actually dunked someone. Yay Emma!
The organizers need to ask themselves whether Westfest is supposed to be a street fair or whether it has become something else. How big is too big? Should it stay true to its roots, and if so, how can they bring it back there? Most importantly they need to ask themselves if Westfest works for both the visitors, the residents, and the merchants.
Anyway, I’ve written a lot on a topic I didn’t want to write about. A lot of folks around here really love Westfest and what it brings to our community. If you have solutions or ideas, or just want to share your experience, I’d love to hear it.
Phew. So on to lighter topics!
Sunday was Father’s Day. Saturday night the girls and I stayed up to make him a special card. Conceptually it was pretty easy, but I goofed and there were tears (not mine).
It’s easy:
- Take a piece of cardstock and get your kids to draw a big house with as many windows and doors as there are people in your family. If you’re going to frame it, please note, your piece of cardstock measures 8 ½ x 11. Your frame is probably 8 x 10. Trim your paper BEFORE your kids draw anything on it.
- Tape or paste a photo of each member of the family behind each window or door. And voila! You have a great little keepsake.
It turned out great (I should take a photo).
I went out to get fresh bagels on Sunday morning and fried up some bacon for breakfast. Mark opened his gifts. We did all of our shopping in Westboro village. The girls picked out a nice shirt for Mark to wear to work, a red t-shirt with a big Super Mario mushroom on it (Mark’s a gamer, what can I say), a bunch of candy (Payday bar, fancy noughat, salty caramels), a stack of magazines, a quick-dry towel for camping, and a potato gun. (Which requiures really fresh and crisp potatoes as ammo.)
We all had breakfast and returned to Westfest (the girls missed the bouncy house due to rain the day before):
… and then went to Mark’s parents.
Have I mentioned we’ve been dog sitting?
So we’ve had an extra member of the family this week, which has been fine, except this guy’s internal alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Gah.
Anyway, we splashed around in the pool, played with the Wii Fit (I still hold the record for hula hooping) wow, is that ever a workout) after which the boys settled down to watch the golf.
Dinner consisted of (what else!) steak, Caesar salad, onion rings, and a lovely loaf of garlic/rosemary sourdough from Art-is-in bakery. I made a banana cream pie (from SCRATCH, which is something I do VERY RARELY) so by the end of the meal I was so stuffed I could barely move.
Yes, it was busy. But busy is good. How was it over at your place?
