CCEvents Labor Day Picnic and Concert Series
Hurricane Gustav threatened all week; however, the weather was great. A nice summer breeze began blowing when our band Checkered Past struck the first note and kept us refreshed all evening--I though of Crosby, Stills, and Nash a couple of times throughout the evening. We were even blessed with the attendance of a few out of town guests from Louisiana.
Photos of the Event
James Coney Island served around 800 hotdogs to the approximately 650 Coles Crossing residents in attendance over the course of the event--we could not have asked for a better food vendor. Watermelon was conspicuously missing--next year, we promise.
Entouch Communications stepped-up in a huge way by providing not only monetary support for the event, but also through their 2 way underpaid employess, Matt Thaxton and Todd Johnston (and their families). Matt, Todd, and their families, served popcorn and sno-cones in a fashion that would make the most experience carnival worker jealous for 3 hours straight. One of their daughters showed me her blue-stained hands (sno-cone syrup) and innocently asked, "How do I get this off my hands?" I responded (from sno-cone experience), "Give it about 3 days." We are responsible for a middle schooler being heckled as the blue-berry girl today folks--I forget the name of the character from Willy Wonka, but I am certain it has been thrown out today in her direction.
I mentioned the band earlier--Checkered Past. I must say that even though their lead singer is an attorney, they are amazing. I think I even saw some of the reserved Coles residents dancing. No really, these guys give us a great show each and every year, and we are thankful to them--even amazed that old guys like that can rock. They give me hope that when I get that age, I'll still be jammin'.
Entertainment for the chidren ranged from Paddy Cake the Clown (donated by AmiCleaners and Phil Ramirez), Karl the 'Balloon Master' Whitehead (donated by www.lanieevans.com real estate and author of this blog), Airtime Amusements' train and Rockwall (donated by Matt's Custom Decks). The Rockwall was our big draw of the day--there was a line all evening.
Paul Bland stepped-up during the band's break and lead us in a game of 'Simon Says' and gave out free pizza party coupons from Wood Fired Pizza company.
In addition to the other sponsors mentioned above, our other major contributors were: Dr. Lori Logan, DDS (much appreciated water and Koozies), Galaxy Health Care (Dr. Alex and Crystal Riley), and Terminator Pest Control. Sponsors mentioned previously were Entouch Communications, Matt's Custom Decks, AmiCleaners (Phil Ramirez), Wood Fired Pizza, and Lanie Evans--Prudential Gary Greene Realtors.
As the evening progressed, I began walking around the crowd of people about 7PM and asked a simple question, "What could we have done to make the event better, or what should we change next year?" To a person, they all smiled and said, "Nothing. We had a great time." Other comments were, 'it was all so easy to engage in', 'things were very safe for the children', 'we love the hot dog idea', 'how can we volunteer next year?', 'why don't we do this more often?'.
Alas, all things were not without obstacles, though. We did have 4 volunteers that could not make it, because they had family in from New Orleans having evacuated due to Gustav. One lady called and said, "I can come help for a little while, but I have 30 people in my house from Louisiana, so I'll have to leave early." She was given a reprieve from volunteer duty for the day, but she embodies the volunteer spirit alive in Coles Crossing. For those families from New Orleans and others like them, our heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out.
Many thanks to the Coles Crossing HOA for their support in these types of events. Because we have these great events and an outstanding elementary school like Sampson Elementary, Coles Crossing remains a great place to live. One of the other comments I heard often when debriefing the crowd was, "It is great living in a place where our HOA dues are actually used responsibly".
I couldn't agree more. To volunteer for events like this and others, just go to www.colescrossinghoa.com. You can find the link on the home page.