Published: May 19, 2008 12:26 am         

Estate occupants enjoy one incredible weekend

This has been a most incredible weekend for the occupants of the Kellar Estate.

It started with music, ended with crossing a bridge and in the middle there were a time travel trip and a lot of loud explosions.

Everything got underway Friday evening, as we attended the first night of the Band and Flash Floor Show at Greenville High School. It was going to be our 18-year-old senior percussionist son Nick’s final high school concert, but there was some concern on our part when he came home from school Friday with a 103-degree fever.

Well, the theme of this event was “The Show Must Go On”, so after a trip to the ER and some appropriately administered medications, Nick was feeling well enough to participate.

Not only was the music provided by the band and the dancing provided by the Flaming Flashes excellent as always, but Nick got his chance to dance with his mom, Vida, and pass his drumsticks on to the band member set to take his place next year.

There were a mountain of photos taken, a few held-back tears and a lot of fun.

Early Saturday morning, all of the members of the Kellar Estate loaded up and headed south to Waxahachie for the annual excursion to the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival. Anyone who has read this column for any length of time understands our devotion to this event borders on the fanatical.

I take full responsibility for recruiting Vida back when we were still dating. She took things from there and annually makes sure as many of our friends as possible go with us. The torch has been passed to the next generation, as this year Nick took his friend L. J., as well as his infant daughter (and our granddaughter) Lauryn, and Lauryn’s mom Aundrea along, while we of course also brought our almost 9-year-old daughter Jaylynn, our 18-month-old son Jason, Jaylynn’s 6-year-old friend Madison, her parents Marcus and Amy and three more children, as well as our friends Sheila and Kim.

Believe it or not, since Vida took over the invitation responsibilities, this was one of our smaller groups, but we still filled three SUVs.

We have made this trip so often over the years that we pretty much know where all of our favorite places and shows are inside the festival . This year, the objective was to concentrate primarily on the food, and we succeeded. We consumed turkey legs, beef ribs, fried mushrooms, salmon cakes, fried macaroni and cheese on a stick, pineapple, watermelon and fried ice cream, among other delicacies.

There is something about just wandering around the grounds in Saturday’s perfect weather, with no particular goal, smelling all of the above items and more being cooked, which really increases one’s appetite. Jason seemed to have the largest appetite. Never much of a picky eater to begin with, Jason insisted on samples of whatever anybody was eating and he loved each and every bite.

Unlike all of our previous visits, we didn’t go overboard with shopping. Not that there isn’t a gazillion wonderful items to purchase at Scarborough Faire, we just wanted to keep things conservative this time around. Vida had promised to buy Jaylynn a belly dancer outfit, as our child has become hypnotized watching the dancers at the Faire ever since we first brought her to the event right about the time she turned 1-year-old.

It was the final item on our list Saturday and, as Madison also got to buy one, the performers invited the two girls on stage and gave them a brief belly dancing lesson for free.

So, we left Scarborough Faire Saturday just as we always do; tired, full and with a lifetime of wonderful memories.

Nick made it back in time to get dressed and be a part of Saturday’s performance of the Band and Flash Floor Show, where he got to dance with his grandma Reba.

We returned to Greenville Saturday evening just in time for Amy and Marcus to invite us to a free show being presented by the Texas Pyrotechnics Guild near Caddo Mills. As we understand it, it is an annual sort-of demonstration/marketing tool to show off the latest in commercial fireworks to the area’s retailers in advance of the July 4 buying season.

Wow! More fireworks were probably shot off during the 20-minute show than I’ve probably seen in the past 10 years combined, at least it seemed that way. All of the adults and children loved the effects until one giant — and I mean giant — artillery shell firework went off right above our heads during the finale, scaring the leftover turkey legs out of both the adults and kids.

As I write this Sunday morning, Jaylynn and the other members of Girl Scout Troop 565 were scheduled to attend a “Bridging Ceremony” at the National Guard Armory this afternoon, during which those Brownie Scouts who are old enough are formally advanced to Girl Scout status.

It is another sign how we all move along in our lives, from one stage to the next. But the Kellar Family long ago realized that as long as we have friends and each other to come along, we will always have a great time along the way.

Just a thought ...



Kellar is a Herald-Banner staff writer