I Love Our Communities

from last year

             Friends of Myrtle Creek Library did not have a booth this year.  Jenna was bummed as she desired to lure others to the booth as she had last year.

            While at my swim class, one of the women stated that she would be manning the booth for the Riddle Library.  How awesome.  When I returned home, I let Jenna know about it.

            Turns out that it wasn't a booth for the library after all, but rather the sawdust jubilee which is held the Saturday before July 4.  They had actually held it on the 4th every year until this year. It just wasn't conducive for many volunteers to put in the hours and try to work the next day.  There is a disappointment among many, but I for one understand the dilemma.

            Yesterday was the first year they created a booth for Myrtle Creek Days.  The idea was to raise fireworks for the sawdust jubilee that will take place next year.  Jenna asked if she could assist and blew up some inflatable toys for them.   

When the inflatables were all blown and hanging, Shelly and Tony left and left Susan in charge.  So Jenna and I stayed so that Susan would not be alone.  We stayed after Annie had come to release Susan.  But still, it didn't seem right to leave Annie alone - and I'm so happy we didn't as it turned out the heat was more than she could bear.  I think it should be mandatory that there be at least two people in every booth - especially if more than one activity is offered - which in this case was two games - one throw two footballs through one hole, or get a ring around a hook (that one was the hardest of the two) 

            Jenna had asked if she could hang around with one of her friends, and I ran to the car for a bit.  When I returned, Annie appeared as though she'd pass out.  She had come prepared with water to drink and water to squirt on herself, but it wasn't enough.  She contacted the next shift and asked if they could be there early.  Jenna and I left shortly after they arrived - though Jenna would have been happy staying until closing - I knew Roland would have a problem with it.  I don't know why.  Leaving her with the community for a community activity feels a lot safer than having her just walk down the street in our prior Utah neighborhood.  But Roland doesn't know the community as well as Jenna does.

            I got in touch with Annie on facebook so that she'll be able to get a hold of us next year as she would like Jenna's assistance for the Sawdust Jubilee. 

I'm Grateful That My Plans Didn't Work Out

                I had made contact with different family members about my plans of sending Jenna to Utah by herself to visit family and we would pick her up in August.  It had been a thought is all.  It's not that I was trying to get rid of her during the summer.  I just know that she's been homesick for her brothers and cousins and probably a week would not be enough for her.

         She did want to march in the parade at the end of last month and this month - only this month didn't work out for anybody in the group except for Jenna.  We manned the booth instead.  Jenna and I had been assigned for the very first shift, and then she got recruited to stay (see here).  Her actions certainly helped with funds but even better (in my opinion) was that it gave her  a confidence that she has somehow kept hidden for many years.  She enjoyed doing it, and she enjoyed being needed.

          She did taper off that last day however, palling around with a group of kids - which was also good for her.  In addition, we assist at the library every Monday (at least for the summer) with the summer reading program, and she enjoys that.  She enjoys the children - which surprised me.  Other than her cousins (and sometimes even the boys have been exceptions) she has never shown an interest in children - especially really little ones.  But she has often told me how much she misses Devin and Ally - and she didn't even get to spend that much time with them.  I'm happy to hear that she misses them.  I really would have liked to spend more time with them myself.  But it doesn't feel like it was meant to be.

          Uncle Ted will be buried on Tuesday.  I wished I could be with the family again.  But I knew before we left to move out here than it would be highly doubtful for us to go back. I didn't know the return back to Utah would be so hard on me.

          I miss seeing my family.  At the same time I am truly excited to watch Jenna grow and gain new confidences.  I'm glad this summer has been working out to be a positive experience.

Silly Parade

I do hope not to offend anyone in Myrtle Creek by calling their parade silly.  It's just that I am used to bands and floats (see here) and spacing and not everything clumped together.  I certainly did take a lot of pictures - but not as many as I had the first year we lived here.  We did not even attend last year.

The Friends of Myrtle Creek had marched in the Rodeo parade (see here) on the 17th and had planned on walking in today's parade, but with manning the booths and lack of availability, it felt like their were too few to accomplish our desire - so we opted out.  

I don't think the parade started on time.  Roland made certain we had ice cream as we had two years ago.

The parade stared out with six firetrucks.  I evidently took nine pictures:

most had passengers who threw candy.  Roland got a Frisbee from one thrower:

followed by a series of monster trucks.  I took a picture of the first one:

followed by five others.  I did take a picture of this rig pulling two monster cars only because Roland had made a comment about the expense of one pulling the expense of the other.

Six more monster trucks passed before I took this picture:

I stopped counting between this and the last two show off cars:

Next came Miss Douglas County:

Followed by a series of classic cars.  I may have gotten all of them.

And here's what followed the classic cars:

This last truck was pulling a trailer.  I guess these next two would be considered the floats?

Both had been issued trophies.  I wonder if the Friends of the Myrtle Creek Library would have received a trophy.  Probably.

We didn't get to see a log truck in the parade as we had the first year (see here).  But we did see more walkers than in prior years.

This last truck was  followed by five more of it's kind.

Hope you enjoyed our parade. 

It IS a Big Deal

            Our class size varies at the pool.  We have had as many class members as 15 (our instructor had brought four members of her family to participate in our class on Tuesday) and as few as one or two (I did not attend on Wednesday but had heard that there were only two students to show) Yesterday there were seven students plus our instructor.

            After our class ended, Jenna and I stopped by Millsite Park to look for the FMCL booth for the Myrtle Creek Festival as we had been assigned to man it during a shift yesterday.  It hadn't been set up yet.  We decided to return home for some breakfast and I texted Serena to see if she needed help with the booth.

            Roland fixed French toast for Jenna and me before we returned to the park to help set up.  We were there for just over an hour before we left again.  Jenna had wanted to go to Riddle for their Pre-Solar Eclipse Party. 

It was the end of their summer reading program for the small kids - teens will go until mid-August, I guess.  There is no teen program for Myrtle Creek.  

            I had posted pictures of the Riddle Library grounds before -just over two years ago not long after we had moved to Oregon.  The teen activities usually take place in the pavilion in the park right next to the library.  I thought we would go to the pavilion for the party, but we didn't end up at the pavilion at all.

            First thing on the agenda was to walk from the back door of the library to the door to city hall. Aside from the pictures, I think the Riddle City Hall looks very much like the Myrtle Creek City Hall. 

The librarian had set up a display of the planets moving around the sun.  She explained a bit about sky activity and the solar eclipse.  We then went out into the courtyard to first, use our special glasses to look at the sun, and then several of the children made slime.

            When the slime was done, children packed their treasures in plastic containers and returned to the library for prizes.  It was announced that the total summer reading had included 16,230 hours but then was upped to 18,465.  Prices were awarded to all the children who participated.

            The finale ended just outside the library doors for all participants to enjoy vanilla ice cream floating in the beverage of their choice (Lemon-Lime, Orange, Strawberry or Root Beer).  Jenna left with a book called "Prankster Magic" which she is quite proud of.

            One of the perks I enjoy about small town living is how the community pulls together.  The last weekend in July is reserved for Myrtle Creek Festival.  Some people will check out of their businesses early or may not even open at all.  Time is spent into setting up booths before noon on Thursday.  The booths open at 4:00 p.m. and close at 11:00 pm.

            Jenna had saved her money for this event, and it is still in a storage unit somewhere in Winston.  The thought of it had made her cry, but Roland said we would lend her the money and she can pay us back if/when she should ever get her room (belongings) back.  I don't think she realized how much of her time would be utilized for the sake of the library.

            Our booth offered paint n play . . . $3.00 to paint a rock and play a game.  Most of our consumers were either/or.  We may not have had any customers at all if it wasn't for Jenna - plugging every patron who walked by.  The first day is Not the busiest day.  I think the majority of people come on Saturday.  But there were a few wanderers yesterday.  I believe that Jenna was able to get half to invest in painting a rock or playing the game.

            We were able to leave before the end of our shift, but as Jenna forgot her bag, we returned for it.  Serena and Sheila recruited Jenna to finish out the night and have said that if she will work all of them, they will feed her.  (Evidently, they don't know that she eats like a teenage boy) and so she was left to "sell" the booth's activities until Sheila brought her home. 

            We have an earlier shift today, but I may be dropping Jenna off earlier and she may stay all day; her rewards will be even greater than what she had saved up for. Roland and I both believe this is good for her.  I'm actually excited to see how much she's involved.