It was like a Norman Rockwell 4th of July came early on Sunday at the NMC BBQ. Enough people to
populate a small city came onto the college campus for the grub and good times.
The mood was inspired by the fair weather and amazing planning that kept the
lines moving and friendly greetings hailing. Honestly, had there been a square
dance and a barber shop quartet all bedecked in seersucker, they wouldn't have
been a bit out of place. There were games for the kids tumbling out of the
moon-bounce with cotton candy in their hair and fake tattoos on every limb.
There were exhibits of robotics and renewable energy alongside LARPers and
inflato-gladiators. This was some four-star people-watching!
Grandparents watched their grand kids making new friends,
young couples sat in the grass under the trees listening to local musicians
like Billy Strings and Blake Elliot. Every so often a loud “toot toot” came
from the boiler room counting off how many thousands of people had come out to
be a part of this down-home tradition. While NMC seemed pretty proud of
counting up those thousands, you could still see the identity of a small
Michigan town on the faces of the stompy-footy kids being dragged away from the
cake-walk, the grandparents sitting in the shade ready with the Benadryl and
band-aids, the brother holding his little sister’s hand and the parents who
look forward to washing the dust and sugar off of these exhausted little feet
and hands and knowing there won’t be a fight about sleeping tonight.
But the BBQ isn't just for families. Those of us who are all
grown up, with or without kids of our own, got a full day out of our $6 tickets
too. We got to remember traditions, smile back at the strangers and feel like
we finally opened the windows and got the winter out! This fabulous tradition
is just the starting shot for our fun-run through a summer up north.
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| Sara Hartley |
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