Fair Week Was A Blast!

It was a busy week around here. The Douglas County Fair, The Blast's 50 year Anniversary, the dramatic conclusion to Band Camp and the continued ramp-up to back-to-school.

Just the Fair itself is enough to stop the heart of any radio person.

Like alot of businesses, we put alot of effort into the Fair.

For us, hours in the booth are compounded by live broadcasts and emceeing stage events, not to mention trying to get our own kids (and blankets) down to see all the fun.

Highlight #1: Meeting Huey Lewis:

Lowlight #1: Having to sit behind a group of teenagers who stood the through Huey's entire concert. They never looked up from their phones and one girl cried on her other friend's shoulder - no doubt the catastrophic ending to a deep and meaningful relationship.
It was so bad, the girl was crying during "Back in Time"! C'mon yo, ain't that what the Teen Zone's for!?


Highlight #2: Riding "El Nino" with my middle daughter.

Lowlight #2: Seeing my oldest daughter holding hands with a boy. More than once.

Highlight #3: Interviewing Tyler Pinch, who won Grand Champion lamb just days after losing several sheep to a lightning strike at the family ranch.

Lowlight #3: Thursday at 12:25 I still didn't know who was going to be at our booth for Inside Douglas County. (Here's a secret: I'm a little bit 'last minute' sometimes. Shhhhh)

Highlight #3A: It turned into our best show with Sam Lee saving my bacon, Drake the race promoter and Harold Phillips himself stopping by.

In addition to the Fair, it was the 50th Anniversary of the Roseburg Blast.
Monday, I spent time with Del McKay, who recited his memories from that day. Thursday, I caught up with Chuck McCallum, the owner of Chuck's Texaco, to hear his take.
Over the weekend, the News Review produced an amazing special section on the Blast, educating us all on the real-life terror of that day.

Last week, my oldest daughter, Tori, participated in a daily band camp at Fremont, leaving the two younger girls without their (free) babysitter. When Del and his wife Ginny heard that Abby and Raegan were going to fend for themselves, they insisted the girls spend the mornings at their house. Those girls fell in love with the McKays, spending time feeding the birds and squirrels in their backyard and telling stories. It was a beautiful thing to see how much fun my girls had at Del and Ginny's.

We spent Friday night at UCC to see Tori's band play some jazz in the Swanson Amphitheater. It was fun to sit outside and watch those kids belt out the jazz with the likes of Dr Jason Heald, Ross Hansen and other accomplished pickers and players.

Finally, in a weak moment, I agreed to spend the night in the backyard in our tent Saturday night. Raegan has been asking for months and this weekend provided the best opportunity to pull it off.
Two things.
1) 50 degrees, when combined with overnight dew, only one blanket and an air mattress feels like 30 degrees. I woke up at 1:23am, freezing cold. After retreiving socks, sweats and a quilt, I returned to finish out the night though my big soft bed did call my name.
2) air matresses stink.

Should be a calm week, considering the running we did last week.
School's coming very quickly. We've got haircuts and supplies to pay for and the local economy will benefit from a recent clothes shopping trip. Thank God my wife and three girls left me home for that one.