Summer Reading 2017 Closing Carnival

Time goes by quickly when you are busy, and boy were we busy! We always look forward to the summer reading program each year, but we are also ready for a rest by the end. Our last day to earn prizes was July 26, and we wrapped up with a carnival July 29.

In previous years, we always drew the raffle prize winners in front of the crowd, which made for a lot of disappointed faces. I hated it, kids and parents hated it, and I finally realized it was the only thing I was still doing "because that's the way it was always done". This year, in between the 26th and 29th, I asked random patrons (and one guy who came in to ask about carpet cleaning) to draw the winning tickets, and we announced them at the carnival:

If you can't read the names in the picture, don't worry - if you won, we have already contacted you! Of course we wanted to make sure everyone thanked the staff, the volunteers,

and the sponsors. We posted some pictures taken throughout the summer as well, to make sure everyone was looking at the thank-you lists ;)

Our carnival theme was "Dragons Love Tacos" (which we of course read out loud). As I told the crowd, this was one (actually, two now) of those books that adults think, "meh," but kids absolutely LOVE. Including my own son, whose book report and Halloween costume were both inspired by it:

Of course we had some games, like toss the taco in the dragon's belly,

And a simple roll-the-dice, tell us that many fun things you did this summer:

Dragon crafts:

Masks

Puppets

Coloring pages WITH shiny metallic markers of course

 

I set up a photo op with serapes, giant taco, Can of salsa,

and flames

Space City Sertoma brought over some bouncy houses:

There were dragon approved snacks - some hot, some mild!

We had a nacho bar I did not get pictures of, and it was my one disaster for the day - I turned the slow cookers full of cheese on, but neglected to make sure the power strip was on. Oops! So by the time the cheese warmed up enough, half the crowd had left. There was a BIT left over. 

Just in case dragons came and got into the spicy stuff, we had fire fighter practice outside:

My volunteers got a tiny bit wet running this.

And a real live fire fighter

with a real live fire truck!

Thanks to Mr. Tommy and the High Rolls Volunteer Fire Department, as well as everyone else who helped make this such a great summer!

Now, off to clean the glue bottles and straighten up the shelves...

Fire Prevention Week 2015

Usually I start off the Fire Prevention Week assembly at the school outside, taking pictures. This year I decided to wait inside, and take video. 

I really know how to mix things up, huh?

Ignore the child at :06 racing back from the bathroom.

Alarm goes off, and at :12, the kids discover the primary exit is blocked. They weren't expecting that, but they immediately knew to turn around and head the other way! Awesome job, guys!

:28 remembering to wave to Mommy on the way out (Christopher ignored me).

:56 everyone out - and the fire department is already here! Amazing response time!

Ignore the pink ribbon of death.

1:53 head count complete, we are missing one! Aaliyah must still be inside! Oh, no!!

2:17 Emmett vows, "We'll find her! We will!!"

Meanwhile, the flames rage on...

EMS and Fire personnel do their thing:

Tommy suits up with absolutely no one helping him, because we are busy video taping.

:30 Cody asks, "Does he realize he has that on upside down?"

:36 Yes, he does.

1:17 Alex has located the victim, and gives the others directions.

1:25 The exceptionally brave Cody announces, "If it's on fire, I'm not going in."

They found her!

:26 Aaliyah looks like she isn't entirely sure what "intubating" is, but she doesn't think she wants me doing it.

:48 Her classmates are literally jumping for joy.

She was whisked off to the ambulance, given oxygen, and pronounced fit to join the rest of the school in the auditorium.

Alex makes sure everyone knows what we look like when we come into a fire.

Tommy explains what each part of our gear does.

The intrepid EMS crew

Our safety officer, who always seems to be on the verge of shaking his head at us.

Showing off the latest in Wildland Fire fashion.

The students were all very attentive.

Shane...not so much.

And then we got to train some future firefighters!

P.S. She DOES have jackets that fit, but Daddy gave her this one. Three years ago.

Alex always gets the fun jobs.

I didn't get a shot of Christopher with the hose, because he knocked the whole house down!

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped, and to HRMP Elementary for letting us come and play with you!

Renaming a Fire Station

We live in an absolutely fantastic little mountain community, with absolutely fantastic people.

Who we never see unless we run into them for three seconds at the post office.

To help remedy that, the Fire Department decided to host a community pot luck. We provided the meat, and invited people to bring sides or desserts (or just themselves!) It's hard to get the word out in a place like this. We put flyers up at the post office, and at the only two stores in town, let the local hairdresser know, and created an event on Facebook.

According to Facebook, 16 people were coming.

But, as the time drew near, people started trickling in...

Cody (who had been there since noon) started flipping burgers...

Kids started defacing the carefully scrubbed cement...

More people started trickling in....neighbors started visiting...

And the food started piling up!

Oh my word, the food!

Never, ever, EVER pass up a chance to go to a mountain community pot luck. I did not eat a single thing that wasn't fantastic, and I tried my best to sample everything!

 And then Mike called everyone together for 'a few words'.

See the guy in the HRVFD shirt? Keep an eye on him.

Mike talked about what a great crew we have, and all the people who helped him out when he was first starting out at the FD.

 And then he called one of those people to the front - Emmett Savage.

Emmett gives Mike this look a lot. It keeps him in check. 

Mike told the crowd that Emmett has put 39 years into this fire department, serving this community in every position the department has (except female fire fighter, he was quick to point out).

So, what's your point, Mike?

Well, the point is, we want you to know how much you are appreciated, Emmett, so if you'll take a good look at this plaque...

...you'll see that you are now standing in the bay of the Emmett Savage Fire Station.

Oh, and by the way, your kids (one of whom lives way out of town) would like to congratulate you.

"What are you doing here?!"

 (He literally jumped back when he saw them! Please somebody tell me they got that on tape!)

I think the surprise was a success. And Mr. E can never say that we can't keep a secret.

Now...time to eat!

Junior firefighters first!

 And to visit! 

 Ooh, did I mention desserts?

This fabulous cake was made by Rene (the humidity was not helping things stay together, but I think it looked fabulous!)

Yes, that would be my daughter on her 16th trip to the table.

 More visiting! Tommy and Leon, there, were part of the department from early on, also.

Nobody has dropped a thing yet! What's up with that?!

 Shane wasn't feeling very good towards the end,

but he perked up for the desserts.

Mr. E is still trying to figure out how we pulled this off!

I have never seen Hunter without a smile on her face. I think Shane is slightly enamored!

Hunter's big brother, Oliver, may have something to say about that, though!

It took some time to convince Emmett that the pot luck came about because of the renaming, and not the other way around - I'm still not sure he believes us - but we do want to repeat the pot luck part! Chili cook-off in the fall, maybe? We'll be having a station work day on July 11, and an auxiliary meeting the next afternoon, so anybody interested in lending a hand is very much invited!

In the meantime, huge thanks to everyone who cleaned the station and trucks, went shopping, cooked,  set up, got the word out, and stayed to clean up. A special thank-you to the High Rolls Lions Club for the loan of the tables and chairs, and to The Spaghetti Western for donating a gift card to Sally, Emmett's wife, in appreciation for 39 years of missed meals and interrupted sleep!