Spring Has Sprung

Ah, spring! After a long, dull winter, Small Town, America is ready to kick up its heels, and this translates to, "I know! Let's have a festival!" My small town is no exception, and we compete with all the other small towns in the area.

Festivals and craft shows abound, beginning early in May and occurring at intervals throughout the summer and ending with a flourish in September. In north Arkansas, the first signs of spring signal the "Snow Tire and Daffodil" festival, which is really only a state of mind brought about by the sight of Jonquils peeking up through an inch or two of snow.

Last weekend, in a town about 15 minutes from here, there was a Cinquo de Mayo festival. This is not sponsored by the town. Apparently, the townspeople have chosen to ignore the huge influx of Mexicans who have moved there to work at Tysons, even though, if you toss a rock in any direction, it is likely to land in the parking lot of a Mexican Restaurant. Jay drove over there Saturday to check it out, and if you'd like, you can read his post about his experiences.

The first big festival in my town is designated as Crawdad Days, in spite of the fact that there is not a crawdad to be found within four hundred miles, and that the crawdad is commonly thought of in these parts as bait. The ones they sell at the food stands have to be shipped in from Louisiana. This festival used to be "Dogpatch Days", in honor of our once very popular "Dogpatch, USA" located at Marble Falls, just outside of town.

Dogpatch flourished until the owners of the theme park sold it to a group of people who turned it into a "Crafts Park," which, after the first summer, quietly slid into oblivion. The land has since reclaimed it, and it is a jumble of rotting wooden buildings and weeds. Now, when the locals talk about Dogpatch, USA, they have convinced themselves that it was an insult to this area. This, from a town full of people who wear their hats bills-backward and think that a rise in population of 2,000 souls in a ten-year census period and eight new fast food joints constitute "urban sprawl."

Whatever. Crawdad Days is a very popular weekend with everyone, even though no one gets to dress up like 'Lil Abner, Daisy Mae, or Mammy and Pappy Yokum. And, it's coming up in a couple of weeks, so make your plans.

Memorial Day and Labor Day aren't actually commemorated with festivals, but they do break the monotony because they offer three-day weekends. Fourth of July is a day for family picnics, town-sponsored fireworks displays that only last between 15 and 30 minutes, and don't interfere with your beer-swilling and personal fireworks.

Then, there's a bit of a hiatus which takes us through the dog days of August, culminating in "Harvest Homecoming", heavy on crafts and family reunions, with the hope that people will buy them for Christmas presents. We have to be careful when we schedule this festival, because all the other towns compete for a big finish, and that includes the Arkansas State Fair, and nobody wants to compete with that. And, we're careful not to schedule ours on the same weekend as Yellville's "Wild Turkey Calling Contest and Turkey Trot".

Then, it's on to hunting season, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And, after that we all settle down to a long winter's nap, while visions of upcoming festivals dance in our heads. Whew!