One of my longtime beliefs about parenting is that there are very few things on the parenting journey that actually live up to what you imagined. So many things are built up, so many expectations in place. It is easy to feel let down as you experience things with your kids. Then there are the things that exceed the expectations. There are precious few of them, so enjoy every moment.
For me, Strawberry Festival is one of those things. It’s like all of the best of parenting and family and craziness and tradition and joy and fun — squeezed into two days.
I know some people find it a bit much. They only go Saturday and come back exhausted. Some people (gasp!) skip it or go on vacation.
Not I. Festival was a marvelous annual rite of passage with our kids in those early years. And now, as you read this and the cleaning has been done, the booths dissembled, I want to offer my thoughts on the five ultimate festival traditions our family had when our kids were small.
1. The bracelet. My gosh, I loved the bracelet years. You would pick up the ride bracelets and just let your kids spin and spin and spin to their hearts’ desire with their friends. Of course, now we don’t even have the carnival. And I am shocked by how much I miss those cigarette-smoking, grumpy-and-hot-in-the -sun, super-tanned-from-being-out-all-day, wiry guys (usually named Spike or something) loading my kids up for another spin.
2. Marching in the parade. This was, to be honest, always my favorite. Our Camp Fire group had a float for a few years. We would decorate it up; the kids wore their Camp Fire garb, and they offered candy to those in the crowd. I even made my husband drive the float. It was the most exciting thing to watch how excited the kids would get.
3. Music. Over the years, I have loved the music, often singing at festival myself. I always loved the Portage Fill. In fact, one year I even got to sing with them. When I was not singing, I always circled all of my favorite groups and sat in the park with my family, enjoying the music. I remember sitting in the park every year, listening to music, watching the kids run around and laugh with their friends. It was the kind of time when parenting is everything you expected — and more.
4. Booths. Football dunk tanks, selling raffle tickets, auctioning baskets, handing out fliers — you name it, most of the parents on Vashon have done it. But it was all part of the tradition. It always felt like if you took a shift at one of the booths and helped out a bit, you deserved the time that followed and the endless circling. And there are some who have done it for many more years than I have, keeping the Land Trust running, auctioning the quilt at Vashon Center for the Arts, hosting the show on Voice of Vashon. Kudos to all of those I see out there volunteering year after year.
5. The memories. Whether it is Bill Burby or pancakes or the car show or the parade or the music, I love the traditions and the memories that surround them. I love the memories of storms hitting suddenly and leaving you soaked to the skin and laughing. I love the memories of the hot days when you felt like you would keel over from the heat.
I understand that some people don’t love the walking around in the heat or the fattening food or cheap tie-dye or the noise (though that last part sounds a little like the Grinch). My theory is you can build a bit of a life metaphor around Strawberry Festival. Some people like the noise. Some people like the ruckus, the fuss, the crazy.
It always reminded me of this great scene in the movie Parenthood. Steve Martin says he feels like their life is a roller coaster, and it is exhausting him. His wife says, “I like the roller coaster.”
Maybe festival isn’t relaxing or calm. It is certainly a departure from our usual slow island pace we live the rest of the year. But for that one weekend, year after year, we have crazy times, and we build memories and tradition on them. We build memories of the roller coaster.
I like the roller coaster. And now, as my kids are growing into adulthood, I profoundly find myself missing walking in a parade, listening to music in the park with them, eating bad food, getting caught in storms. I even miss the ride bracelets and the guys in green at the carnival.
If your kids are young and you are still on the roller coaster, I hope you enjoyed festival with them.
Every exhausting, crazy moment.
— Lauri Hennessey used to write a column for The Beachcomber when her kids were younger (they are now 22, 19 and 16).
