🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, today we did the Dixon Lamb Festival.  Last year, it was an A+. 
This year, I give it a D+ :(

What happened?

The Chamber of Commerce told me that this year, the town's residents
wanted it to be "less commercial".  So it was moved downtown.  Instead of
three and one half days, it was one day.  There were fewer events - no
mutton busting by the little kids.  No exhibits, no 4-H'ers. 

Instead the downtown was lined by fat ladies selling the dopey country
kitsch crafts they make out in the suburbs.  Yukky! 

It wasn't less commercial, it was utterly commercialized.  Tacky wooden
signs, "Cowboy - Wipe Yer Feet", little rag dolls, dried flower
arrangements in pastels, bird houses.  Not even an Elvis impersonator! 

There were two music stands about a block apart.  One featured Mexican
music, mariachi - sort of - but it was lively, at least.  The other music
stand was country music.  When we got there, there was a guy I've seen
perform around.  No one was listening.  A few kids were standing there; 
one of them was shooting the performer with a cap gun. 

Food?  Nowhere near as many offerings as last year.  No iced tea.  No
shaved ice.  No ice cream.  No watermelon stand. They did have lamb rib
BBQ.  Instead of last year's all-you-can-eat for 3.99$, you got 9 burnt
riblets for 2.99$. 

This was a lamb festival, but there wasn't a sheep in sight.  There were
no exhibits of old farm equipment, one of the highlights of last year's
fair.  The food demonstrations were very limited.  There was a kid's play
area which required a separate admission price.  The rest of the fair was
free but barely worth it. 

If it's like this next year, I won't even bother posting the announcement. 
I can only assume that there must have been some sort of small town fist
fight about the "fair" and the sensible ones lost. 



-- 
Yours,
Susan
_____________________________________________________________________________
Susan Hattie Steinsapir       hattie@netcom.com        Sacramento, California