By Loretta Humble/Around the Town
Well, despite the really cold weather, the Malakoff Christmas Parade was just great. I can’t tell you for sure who won, but you probably already know, or will find out elsewhere (check here for winners). I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait around to see. It wasn’t us, and I went home the first minute I could. I was freezing to death from riding in a rocking chair on Cedar Lake Home Health and Hospice’s float with Frosty the Snowman dressed as Elvis. (We were rocking with the Rocking Christmas theme.)
Frosty joined us last year, and was a real hit, and he was again this year as Elvis, but we did have a couple of small hitches. Pat Hustead came up with this Frosty Elvis idea. We ordered him an Elvis cape and made him some big fuzzy sideburns to hang out from under his hat. Problem is, we didn’t really consider the size of his (sewed on) hat and how it fit on his head. So when we got the sideburns and Frosty together, we found they couldn’t reach from the hat to where they needed to hang, so they ended up just stuck on, looking more like dog ears than sideburns. Then there was the matter of his zipper. It thoroughly and hopelessly broke right as it was time to jump on the float and head out. But a couple of determined ladies and some Velcro figured out how to save the day. Our Frosty Elvis is a real trooper, and after that everything was cool. A little too cool. Last year he nearly had a heat stroke. This year, our snowman nearly got frostbite.
There were a lot of great floats, and I hope there will be a description of them somewhere. I have some pictures posted on www.facebook.com/aroundthetown. A big favorite every year is the Royal Flush float. They are a plumbing company, and they get a little more elaborate with their float every year. This year they had a person made out of PVC pipes, and as usual, they threw toilet paper instead of candy.Everybody loves that. But this year, it didn’t work quite so well. While the rain had stopped, there were still puddles, and a whole lot of that toilet paper ended up in those puddles. Not very usable after that. I’ll bet they bag it next year.
I’m surprised the parade could even take place without Pat Isaacson. Her husband, Carl, was taken very ill, and I think it was the first time ever that Pat was not there to make things work. I suspect she had pretty well laid the groundwork beforehand, though, and Rhonda Roberson Wilcox picked up and with the help of sister Barbara Gunnels, Donna Rinn, and others too, I’m sure (I was too cold to notice) it went off just fine.
Another fun thing I got to witness this week was the Children’s Christmas Play at Henderson County Performing Arts Center. Really, really cute. John and I sat by Jeff and Christi Weinstein, who are the proud parents of two of the stars. Christi was helping with the fundraiser auction, and Jeff was bidding on it all.
Then there was the concert at The Railway Cafe. Wonderful evening of blues by the Rafael Espinoza Band. I loved it. I was kind of mad because I had to go alone, but it turned out great because I met a new friend named Alice French. And I think she has an interesting piece of wood for Christi Barrett to make something neat out of. Of course she hasn’t met Christi, but I’m going to see what I can do about that. Then, to cap off the week, my beautiful great-granddaughter Audrey Grace Humble celebrated her very first birthday, in the lovely new home she and her parents Beau and Ashley moved into recently. She was an unbelievably charming birthday girl, and got way too many presents. Her mommy made every kind of goody imaginable, and everybody there ate way too much.
The only other interesting thing I can remember doing this week was going to see Hunger Games 2, which I didn’t like much. But I think I’m probably the only one in the world who didn’t.