Hilltown Families 
How It All Went Down Last Weekend in Ashfield
Notes from Nan: Whew!
BY HF Contributing Writer, Nan Parati
Oh did we have fun!
At noon, Karen and Sturgis from Klondike Sound arrived to set up their gear for the Blues concert and so, at that time we had to make the defining decision as to where we would set up—outside in the (present) sunlight or inside in the safe Town Hall. I, of course voted for outside. Karen suggested we look at the weather on-line. The weather on-line called for everything but plagues of locusts and frogs: Straight line winds, devastating thunder storms, murderous lightning, hail, sleet, floods and (I quote here) “Small tornadoes cannot be ruled out.” I, of course still thought we should hold it outside, but Karen came up with, “But if we hold it inside we can do it regardless of the weather.” Oh. Right. If you’re going to use that kind of logic, what choice do I have?
So we moved the concerts inside and kept the food outside. At 2 o’clock the clouds parted and the Red Sea fell out of them. At 4:15 the Red Sea dried up and we were able to quick, move the food booths into place, fill them with food and off we went. While it would have been more fun to be able to have the music outside, it was much more fun to have the music at all when the skies re-opened around 7:30 or so. The food was fabulous (once again, I am not the cook so I can say that), the music was entrancing and as far as I know, a good time was had by just about all. We still have some organizational issues to work out, but we were far better prepared this time than we had been for the Cajun Fest crowds and not a food booth ran out of food!
Even Gus (of Cajun Fest fame) came back to help in the cooking!
And speaking of cooking:
This Friday (08/08/08) we are having for dinner a bunch of stuff I cannot pronounce:
- Chilatole which means Corn and Masa soup –which means Corn and Hominy Soup
- Guiso de tamale Carnitas which means Braised smoked pork shoulder tamale pie
Newcomers might think, “But Chef Jim is from Massachusetts! How can he cook such foreign-sounding foods?”
To which I say, Chef Jim ain’t from no Mississippi, neither, but he sho ‘nough cooked the heck out of some catfish and hush puppies last weekend! Man I’m tired. That’s the good tired after a lot of really hard work!
The Ashfield Film Festival!
And if you want to make your own entertainment, don’t forget to get your entries in for the Ashfield Film Festival by August 12th! There are several prizes (up to $500!) and great, great fun in the festival itself! Get your final instructions at www.ashfieldfilmfest.org!
Rob’s Grocery Talk with Rob
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in my book a good graphic can have the same effect. Especially if you have to write a column every week. So I have created a couple of line graphs (my favorite kind) to express just what we had to deal with last weekend. (not pictured).
OK class, the first curve indicates exactly the period of time and the severity of precipitation during the three day period of August 1-3, 2008. Note that, with the exception of a severe spike in precipitation sometime on Day Two, the three day period was absolutely dry.
The second curve represents the level of inconvenience said precipitation would have on hosting a large-scale outdoor event that takes place sometime during the same period.
You will notice the graphs look exactly the same! Astonishing!
However, the rain stopped just in time for the festivities, and the food got served and the beer got poured and the music got played and I can’t thank you all enough for keeping the faith and showing up even when the weather looked doubtful. We truly have some great folks around here and I can’t wait to do it again!
Grocery Talk
Due to it being the morning of my birthday, I am giving myself a break so there will be no grocery talk this week. Sorry, but I’m feeling a little selfish and I think that’s okay.
Happy birthday to me!
Rob
Unfortunately Rob, I’m sending this out on August 6th. Your birthday was yesterday. SO GET BACK TO WORK!
Due to the temporary disappearance of Little Donna Elwell, I don’t have the Farm Report this week! (She’s not gone in a scary way, I just don’t know where she is right now.)
So I’m just going to send this out now. I hope you like it.
Love,
Big E
