It was that time of year again in Carstairs a few of weeks back (we're getting behind in our posts), when the town comes alive and celebrates being a town with their annual Beef and Barley Days brouhaha. I've been to about 5 or 6 of these now, and though I've eaten their pancakes, I've never been served or even seen signs of beef and/or barley. We must be missing something, it is a big town.
After the pancake breakfast, everyone parks themselves along the side of the road to watch the parade go by and to have candy thrown at them. The parades are actually pretty good for a small town, even if you include those who sneak in and try and use the parade as a venue to express personal grievances. Last year it was a clown in his clown car with a sign that read "poverty is no joke", and this year it was a guy towing his wrecked vehicle with a sign that read "what are we going to do about thieves in our community?". Talk about your Debbie Downers.
After the parade, we usually wander around town with the family and some of Tammy's old high school friends and check out the shows and games they've got going on. Emma took a ride with Kaylie in the tractor train, and some of her older cousins went in the bouncy castle, but there wasn't much else going on outside of that this year. We ended the day with a trip to Burger Baron where we got our own beef, but no barley.
Maybe next year I'll enter a float into the parade with a sign that reads "Where's the Beef?" and pack it full of sad, hungry children or something. That should get results.
1 comment:
"Beef and Barley Days" sounds like quite an event. I like your idea to put the beef back in Beef and Barley. I get the sense from your description that this is a one-day affair. If so, I think the whole title is a misnomer: no beef, no barley, and no days.
You should have a float that says: "Reinstate The Barley" and another that says "We Demand Another Day".
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