Festival of Flags 2008

Davison's Festival of Flags 2008 started tonight. Don't bother looking for details online. The new Davison Index doesn't have the schedule on their web site and neither do the Chamber of Commerce or City of Davison web sites. (I did find a nice Shop Downtown Davison website though!) Pure Michigan, the state's travel web site, has the same minimal info as teh Chamber of Commerce site, but it's more than the Index or City web sites. I guess if you want the schedule you have to read the printed copy of the Davison Index!

The festival started tonight with a parade (usually a good one -- about 1.5 hours), an ice cream social at the firehall, and fireworks in the park. After a day in the park with four of my great-nieces and -nephews, I was so tired I skipped the parade. We live behind the part and I had hoped to watch the fireworks from home but they weren't above the trees. How disappointing. By the time I realized that, I was far too tired to drive over to the football field (since we no longer live close enough to walk) and try to find a place to park before it was over. How disappointing!

Activities for the rest of the weekend include:

• A carnival at Hahn Middle School Wednesday night - Sunday
• Karoke at Davison House (formerly known as the Davison Hotel) Thusday night and Sunday night
  
• A car cruise downtown Friday night
• Family Movie Night at Colonial Square Friday night (showing Open Season starting at dusk)
  
• A beer tent at Madden's (local pub) on Friday and Saturday nights
• Art in the Park on Saturday and Sunday
• A quilt show at First Batist Church Saturday
• Miss Davison Tea Party at Trinity Lutheran Church Saturday
• A chicken dinner at the Masonic Temple Sunday

I always enjoy the Festival, especially the Art in the Park. If you are looking for something to do this weekend, come to Davison and join the fun.

Pumpkin Festival 2007

The Davison Pumpkin Festival is this weekend. The Davison Index and the City of Davison web sites both include a schedule of activities.

I love Pumpkin Fest but won't be able to go this year because we already have other plans for Saturday. We won't miss the fish fry at St. John's, however! The food is always good. It's so crowded we usually get our dinners to go and they give us so much we always have leftovers.

Looks like nice (but strangely warm) weather is in store for the weekend, I just wish I could be there to enjoy it!

Irish Fest 2007

Saturday I attended the Kalamazoo Irish Fest held in beautiful Arcadia Creek Festival Place in downtown Kalamazoo. Unlike last year, the weather was perfect: sunny, breezy, and pleasant with not a monsoon in sight. The festival itself featured good food (with beer, unlike Scottish fest), music, and shopping. What a great way to spend the day! I was too busy to take many pictures, except of my friends' booth. Here are a few pics of their merchandise:














































































































































Now you know where I get my amber and Celtic jewelry. :)

Since the Irish American Club of Kalamazoo doesn't keep archives of the Irish Fest info on their web site, here's the info on this year's Irish Fest:

Dates
Friday, September 21st from 4:30 p.m. - Midnight
Saturday, September 22nd from 10:30 a.m. - Midnight

Food Vendors
Bennigan's
Gallagher's Eatery
Ibison Concessions
Kalamazoo Scottish Festival
Kalamazoo Kettle Corn Co.

Beverages
Guinness
Harp
Smithwick's
Smirnoff Ice
Killan's
Coke Products

Marketplace Vendors
Celtic Expressions
Celtic Imports
Celtic Seasons
Darkblade Studios (my friends)
Designs in Glass
Earthencraft Pottery
Lynch's Lair
O'Brien's Irish Cottage
Medieval Madder
Philosophers Stone
Rampant Lion
Scottish Tinker
The Irish Baker
Thy Sterling Silver
UK Market
We'll also have on hand Handiworks Palm Reading and a Celtic Shaman Healer. (I never saw either of these but our booth was very busy all day! O'Brien's Irish Cottage was left off the list on the Irish Fest web site, so I wonder if this list is accurate.)

Main Stage Events
Friday, September 21
5:00 pm Craic Wisely
6:15 Quinn School of Irish Dance
6:50 Harvest Home
8:10 Kalamazoo Pipe Band
8:45 Fonn Mor
10:45 Craic Wisely

Saturday, September 22
11:00 am Twin Thistle
11:30 5 Leaf Clover
Noon Leim Irish Dance
12:35 Squid Jiggers
1:35 Kalamazoo Pipe Band
2:10 Rare Combination
3:20 Quinn School of Irish Dance
3:55 Kennedy’s Kitchen
5:10 Quinn School of Irish Dance
5:45 Whiskey Before Breakfast
6:55 Leim Irish Dance
7:30 Blackthorn
9:15 Belfast Gin
11:00 Napper Tandy

If you've never been to Irish Fest, it's worth the trip to Kalamazoo. Keep an eye on the Irish Fest web site for news about next year's fest. It's usually the third weekend of Sept., no doubt to celebrate the fact that it's only six months until St. Patrick's Day. :)

Scottish Fest

This is a picture of one of the many pipe and drum bands I saw yesterday at the Kalamazoo Scottish Festival.

The festival was held at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, so there was lots of room but, unfortunately, the rain kept many people away, including some of the vendors.

Speaking of vendors, we really liked the t-shirts by Got-Kilt? (Follow the link to pictures of the t-shirts on his web site; there you will also find a link his blog with a Celtic joke every Monday.)

After a rainy start, the day turned out to be sunny and breezy -- perfect weather for all the activities, and there were quite a few:

Event Attractions For 2007

* Ceilidh
We are host a traditional ceilidh again this year at the Kalamazoo Fairgrounds. Friday night, please bring a dish to pass. Join us for an enjoyable evening of storytelling, singing, piping, and dancing.

* Pipe Bands
Enjoy on-field performances by area bands and two massed band demonstrations. Talk with band representatives about piping and drumming and, maybe, give it a try!

* Clans
Visit the clan tents to trace your roots, meet “family,” and join in the parade of tartans!

* Dancing
See demonstrations of highland dancing given by the award-winning Kathleen McMahon Dancers. Watch or join in with the Kalamazoo Royal Scottish Country Dancers.

* Heavy Events
Cheer the regional amateur athletes competing in such highland games events as the stone put, hammer throw and caber toss. You could test your skill in the renowned haggis throw!

* Children’s Games
Kids of all ages may participate in the children’s parade and games.

* Artisans
Watch artisans demonstrate ancient crafts. Marvel at spinners, weavers, and a blacksmith.

* Re-enactors
Walk through the encampment of Grant’s Company of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment. Visit the History Tent and join in the activities with Elliot MacFarlane.

* Vendors
Shop for Scottish and American food, clothing, jewelry, books, music and more.

* Animal Exhibitions
See rare Highland cattle and watch border collies in herding demonstrations. Visit Clydesdale horses, Jacobs Sheep and see the greyhounds.

I didn't see the Clydesdales or greyhounds, but enjoyed the herding demos and visiting with the Border Collies and the longhorned Highland cow and her calf.




















Lots of people bought their dogs, so I got meet and pet lots of beautiful dogs. Here are a few:




















A cute Dachshund in a kilt.




















Just a few of the 16 Border Collie puppies.



















Connery stopped by our booth to visit and enjoy the shade.

The people who didn't attend due to the threat of bad weather missed a good festival and lots of fun. Hopefully this year's Irish Fest will have equally lovely weather (unlike last year's monsoon).

Festival of Flags 2007

Today is the first day of Davison's annual Festival of Flags. A parade on Main Street, an ice cream social at the fire hall, and fireworks in the park kick off the activities. For a complete schedule of everything that's happening between now and Sunday refer to The Davison Index or the Chamber of Commerce web sites.

The festival is one of the many things I like about living in a small town. My only complaint it the timing. Since it's the the Festival of Flags and Davison is the City of Flags, I think the festival should take place on an appropriate holiday, like Flag Day or Independence Day.

The Festival used to always be on Flag Day until some wimp complained that it was too cold in June to sit in the beer/entertainment tent at night. In June! That person must no longer live in Michigan if he or she think June is cold. Now the Festival is at the end of July, when it's always hot and humid. Hope the whiner is happy now that the rest of us are miserable in the hot, sticky weather!

Even if it's hot and humid, the Festival of Flags is always worth attending. I can hardly wait for Art in the Park this weekend.

Pumpkin Festival in the Snow

This weekend is Davison's Pumpkin Festival. I think it will be the first time we had snow at Pumpkin Fest! I doubt it will make a difference. Like the Festival of Flags, Homecoming, and the Santa Claus parade, attendance is always good despite the weather. Visit the City of Davison web site for a complete list of activities. (It's a nice web site! Much more info than the Chamber of Commerce.)

Now that we have a nice walking trail in the park, I'm surprised the Pumpkin Fest does not include a haunted trail walk. Maybe that's because all the other activities are downtown. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pumpkin Fest expanded some day and included activities all over town (like the Festival of Flags).

Irish Fest

I spent yesterday at the Kalamazoo Irish Fest in Arcadia Creek Festival Place. It's a beautiful park in downtown K'zoo. I visited with my friends who run Darkblade Studios and worked in their booth. There was lots of good food, drinks, shopping, and music. Unfortunately, it was rainy so the turn out wasn't good -- but we had lots of fun anyway.

The funniest moment of the day happened when all of us were away from the booth but Doug. Several people came it at once and one person asked, quite seriously, which of the Celtic knotwork jewelry was Scottish and which was Irish. What make this so funny is that it's remniscient of our favorite joke (obviously based on a Blues Brothers joke):

Q: What kind of music does your band play?
A: Both kinds: Scottish and Irish.

Doug politely explained that knotwork was common to both while the thistle was Scottish and the claddagh and shamrock were Irish -- and he did it with a straight face.

Irish Fests seem to be very popular in Sept. (probably celebrating the fact there are only six more months until St. Patrick's Day). If you are free next year, visit the K'zoo Irish Fest. The Irish American Club has details on their web site.

Festival of Flags

Davison's annual Festival of Flags is one of the reasons I love living in a small town. Here's what this year's festival included, courtesy of the Davison Chamber of Commerce:

Festival Of Flags 2006, July 26th - 30th

In Park
Ice Cream Social...Wed 26th.
FREE Train Rides...Wed 26th.
Pony Rides & Petting Zoo...all 5 days.
Davison Karate School...show Wed 26th.
Fireworks...Wed 26th at dusk.
Art-In-The-Park. Sat. & Sun. 29th & 30th.

Downtown
5-K Run...Wed 26th before parade.
Parade...Wed 26th, Largest in Genesee County for three years.
Car Cruise...Fri. 28th Main St.
M-15 Car Show-Swap Meet. Sat. 29th, prizes.
Motorcycles...during car show.
Moon-Walk...Sat. 29th for care & share
Lunch...Demolay.

New Kroger Lot
Moon-Walk, Games, Kids Music...Thurs 27th -Sun. 30th.

St. John's Family Center
Talent Show...Thurs. 27th, get applications at 810-653-6266.

Hahn Middle School
Carnival... all 5 days.
Battle of The Bands...Sat. 29th Collins Field. Info & applications-810-653-6266.

*****

My only complaint about the Festival is the timing. Since it's the Festival of Flags, I think it should revolve around a patriotic holiday, like Flag Day or July 4th. It used to be centered around Flag Day but someone decided June was too cold for evenings in the Entertainment Tent. I hope whoever made that decision is happy! This year we had near record-breaking heat and humidity just in time for the festival. There were heavy rainshowers Wed. afternoon which stopped just before the parade. Instead of cooling things off, it only got more hot and humid when the rain stopped and the sun came back out. I have no idea how the people in the 5K run or the parade could stand it. I was sweat-soaked just sitting still and watching the parade! Despite the heat & humidity it was five days of fun.