Winterfest, 2012

What a nice day.  There were enough minor threats, though, to keep us honest.  There was significant rain early this morning, but the clouds broke well before the planned start.  There was very minor drizzling during the event, but not enough to change anyone's behavior, except mine and Gary Kuhl's.  We kept bringing the Parks and Parkways fundraising table in, then bringing it back out.  Ultimately, out is where it stayed.

We started off with a small, but interesting, car show.  The organizer was Joe Chao, who has done these before, and he has them down to a science.  He brought in friends from other parts of the county, but most of the cars were from the Dezer car museum in North Miami, and BP residents.  Some were old, some newer, several exotic.  And all pristine.  Many of us, some who I would not have imagined were interested in cars, enjoyed looking and touching.  The car and motorcycle, and bicycle, show was appealing and satisfying.

The rest of Winterfest was a mixture of pleasures.  There were inflatable funhouses for the kids, a small merry-go-round, and lots of music.  There were just a few tables of fundraisers and vendors.  Not as many as in recent years, though.   Actually, I miss the vendors who used to line the whole southeast edge of the park.  There were food trucks, at least one of which made very good food.  I didn't try the other two.

The other thing I ate was Barbara Kuhl's cupcakes and brownies.  They were the reward for a donation to P&P, which is raising money to finish the planting outside the recreation center.  The finish is plaques identifying the plants (what else would P&P want to do?), and Barbara raised more than enough money.  She's quite a baker, Barbara is.  And it should be acknowledged, with pleasure and special gratitude, that we have some very generous neighbors here.  These are people who are devoted to BP and clearly happy to live here and be a part of things.  There were some people who had to be asked to be slightly less generous.  One of them asked Barbara how much money P&P needed to raise ($150), and when she told him, he said he'd cover it himself.  She thanked him, but wouldn't let him do that, and he made a sizable donation anyway.  That's a hell of a thing, isn't it?  Those are the kinds of neighbors, and friends, you want.

The turnout was distinctly gratifying.  The usuals were there, of course, but we also had the car crowd.  And there were loads of kids.  Probably five or six of our police were there, including Charlie Dayoub and his new friend, Melody, the canine.  It looks like Charlie is still trying to train Melody, who is quite overactive.  Ana Garcia was there, as were four of our Commissioners.  Too bad that's worth mentioning, right?  We're not getting the fifth, so it was as good as it was going to get.

The usual police-escorted Santacade happened.  I'm told Jim Reeder is not well enough to be Santa any more, so it was reportedly Richard Ederr.  I didn't see him, if he was there.

But everyone seemed to have had a nice time.  The kids played with each other, the parents talked to each other, people enjoyed the music, and everyone seemed pleased to have a community day.