(e:Mike) & (e:Libertad)'s friend Eileen reminded me of this burlesque skit:



And a photo Dianne took at the party (for (e:metalpeter) in particular)



I had a blast, as always. Thank you!!

Only pic I took

By far my favorite shot of the day - Myra Kreger is the chief of the (all volunteer) ambulance company and she was tickled to show off the new ambulance they just bought. Her mom taught me to sew as a kid - I have very special memories of Peg's house.





I took this shot at 8:16am and am posting it just as proof of awakeness. I am rarely awake at that uncivilized time of day and I had forgotten how beautiful the light can be as it's peeking over the mountain.





The mayor has a new little scooter thingy that I got to ride around the parking lot for a minute.


My brother also took it for a spin.


Mayor and one of the county commissioners.


The fire & ambulance department just bought a new "Jaws of Life" set. They cost $40,000. The department donated their old set to an even smaller fire department in the west side of the county.


The department gave a demonstration and demolished this car in under 30 minutes.




The Masonic lodge gave the department a check for $1,500 and had an open house in their secret space above the auto parts store. It's the first time I've been in there since I was a very young child. My grandmother and uncle lived across the hall from the lodge room (the baby is my uncle's grandchild). I really liked the lighting and casual pile of top hats.



My littlest cousin.


and his grandmother






Sue participated in the hot dog eating contest with one of her sons, sold out of all the yummy egg rolls, noodles and fried rice that she made, and then won the pie-baking contest!









My friend Jennie's daughter Skye grumpily showing me her new tattoo. Sometimes Jennie makes me wish I was a good girl...


Patrick (one of the folks who lost his house in the fire I wrote about in June) ate 15 hot dogs to be the new champion.



Part of the crowd watching the hot dog eating contest.




More pix here

My reporter pal Jason took this video of the jaws of life demo: