Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord
When I was growing up the Maine Potato Blossom Festival was about four days long, the third weekend in July, starting on Thursday with activities like swim meet, softball games and a potato picking contest. Friday were sales in all the shops and the big street dance in the evening. Saturday would offer a pancake breakfast, chicken barbecue and all the cotton candy you dared to eat, followed by the main event, the parade.
The parade started at the high school and ended at the elementary school. There were bands, clowns and queens. Most of all, there were floats and farm equipment. The focus was on the Potato Industry, the farmers, tractors and machinery. Every town had their local queen and they all participated in and the Potato Blossom Festival Pageant for Miss Maine Potato Blossom Queen Saturday evening.
Sunday you could go to a horse show or an antique car show. In later years they had an ‘Anything Floats’ race on the Aroostook River. It was like old home week. Class reunions were held during the weekend and everyone from ‘away’ came home for vacation. You might see neighbors you hadn’t seen in years and catch up on all the news.
Now the Festival is about two-weeks long. They’ve added activities like human chess games and movies under the stars. I’m not sure what the connection to potatoes and farming is exactly, but it fills up events for two-weeks.
This year as the potato fields came into blossom, I spent some time with classmates that were home for the Festival. Some I probably hadn’t seen since graduation!!
Proverbs 27:9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.
There were some classmates I didn’t recognize, but as soon as I heard the name, I saw my friend that sat across from me in science class. A little older perhaps, but the same person.
As I listened to the stories and laughed at the memories, I wondered about how the memory works. I dare say I had forgotten 90% of the stories!!
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Childhood friends are the best!! They are the friends that go through playground scrapes, fights, apologies, A’s and F’s and are still there all through the years.
Our classrooms were all alphabetical throughout our school years, so there were several people in my class that I didn’t know as well simply because they were not in my homeroom. A good number of my best friends were those whose last names began with A, B or C.
By the time we were in high school, we still had home room alphabetically, however, we now were in ‘tracks’ of college prep, business or vocational education. I knew everyone from seeing them in the hallway, but some I didn’t even really know because their last name began with J, M or S, and, they were in other classes.
During our visit, I was reacquainted with some of my classmates that I really didn’t know well, but it seemed like we had been friends all those years. Now that we have reconnected, I’m sure we will continue our friendship!!
It was a wonderful Potato Blossom Festival, I didn’t see a clown or hear a band. I did visit and talk with several precious childhood classmates creating even more memories!!
The Nose Bump 