Busy, busy, busy!

Sorry about the lull in writing. I've been swamped!

On June 26th, we hosted the Peach Festival Luncheon, which is the kick-off event for the Ruston Peach Festival. Our guest speaker was Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, who is standing with me in the above picture. It was a pleasure to work with the folks in his office; he was a very nice man and an entertaining speaker. As always, my job included coordinating the event and setting the agenda, selling corporate tables and serving as the host/emcee. It's a big job, and it kept me busy for a couple of months leading up to the luncheon.
When it was over, I took a deep breath and rested... for about a day. Then it was time to plan for our July 4th shindig. We began with a children's parade through the park, for which the kiddos patriotically decorate their bikes, trikes, wagons and mini-four wheelers and march from the Park Homes up to the pool area behind a fire truck. Then we have pool games, a BBQ buffet, a live band and fireworks at dark. Like last year, my buddy Keith Horton and his band provided the music (they were, as always, FABULOUS!) and our general manager, Cliff, and the Choudrant Mayor provided the fireworks display.

Cliff refused to start the theatrics until I sang the National Anthem, so I obliged, mostly for the purpose of job security. (He had asked me about it early in the afternoon, and I hoped by the time 9pm rolled around he would have forgotten. He didn't forget. In fact, he called me on my cell phone as the band was wrapping up to remind ME.) When I hit the final note, I wished everyone a Happy 4th, and announced by microphone to Cliff (who was down the hill) that he could begin blowing stuff up.

I gotta say... I'm not a big fan of fireworks. Never have been. The whole thing has just never appealed to me... until recently. For the second year in a row, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. These guys really know what they're doing, and our fireworks display rivals that of any I've ever witnessed. Plus, our fellas somehow miraculously manage to come out of it unscathed each year. I always say a quick prayer before they begin that they don't blow themselves up.

All in all, it was a long but fun day. I hope you, too, had a great Independence Day!

(I don't have pictures yet from the 4th festivities, but as soon as I receive them from Allison, our photographer extraordinaire, I'll add them to this post.)