Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Small Town Celebrations

We are getting close to Independence Day.  Growing up at Aqualand, this signaled the beginning of one of my favorite things- parade season!  We trucked our animals and our friends from small town to small town to ride through the parade, where I have to admit-  we won lots of trophies.  Who could compete with a trailer load of fawns, baby timber wolves, baby bears and the like.  Every now and then we attempted to change things up a bit.  I still remember the year of the bi-centennial, when several others and I dressed up like patriot women stitching the American flag, surrounded by of course, baby animals.  At the end of the parade, I stood up and realized I had stitched my granny dress (remember when we called them that- or Maxi-dresses?!) to the flag during the parade.  Betsy Ross I was not!

It seemed like every year a baby would get nervous and wet on my lap...every year there were cheers as we rode by.

I remember too the fireworks, we watched them either in Boulder Jct or in Sayner- the two towns we made sure to parade in.  Or, when we were younger, our neighbors would host a huge party and they set off their own fireworks display.  My most vivid memory is that of their 33 gallon garbage can filled with the longest sparklers- the 36 inchers....we would light them on road flares set up along the driveway and write our names in the air all night long. 

I have always loved fireworks.  One of my fondest memories is from 1977 when I visited a boy in Eagle River the night of their display and we rowed out into the middle of the lake he lived on, laid back on the bench seats and watched both the fireworks being shot off at the fair grounds and an absolutely fantastic display of northern lights throbbing across the sky behind them.  I am quite sure I will never see something that rare again.

And then there is my spouse. My husband has a reputation.  Just ask my family. He loves fireworks too, almost as much as he loves bonfires.  And he is a retired military man.  The combination led to ordinance displays of unique and interesting effect.  That's all I dare say about that...:)! 

I remember chicken dinners put on by Lions, Firemen and the crazy one day trout pond. When I got older, Independence Day was one of the rare times when we all returned from wherever our adult lives had taken us.  I would anticipate and keep an eye out for old friends and old classmates, delighting when I caught up with someone I had not seen for years or in some cases for years and years.

Independence-  what a word!  It instills in us the belief in our ability to be the master of our own destiny.  It is a pulling away and a stretching word.  It is a word of hope and future.  A strong word, a sometimes lonely word. But it is our word, a truly American word.

I think every small business owner knows the feelings this thought brings forth.  For our country is full of the little guys, the artisans, craftsmen, brewers and chefs who create products and places for us all the come together. 

Happy Independence Day Boulder Jct- thanks for all your support!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Paying Tribute

This week we are honored to play a role in tribute events.  One of our great blessings has been to meet and make new friends in the midst of our endeavors.

The Aqualand Ale House was once known by another name.  It was much loved by the friends of Betty's Deli.  We have heard time and again how wonderful Betty was, how kind and oh what a cook!  Our deepest regret is that we did not know her.  Those who did have only the fondest of memories. We have had the privilege of getting to know her "kids". The adults who gifted us by accepting our offer to purchase just a year and a half ago.  This weekend Betty's family and friends will spend a little time with the place that brought her so much joy, and by default will spend a little time with us.  We are humbled and we are honored.

Tomorrow night we are closing our doors for a private party- a first for us.  For tomorrow night Bill and Sue will celebrate their life and it's milestones, realized together.  A broad group of friends and family will come and raise a glass with them, to them and a next chapter of their life will begin.  We are honored to humbly serve as hosts for this celebration.

Our dream from the beginning was that the Aqualand Ale House be first and foremost a place where friends would gather, where friends would sit awhile, chat a while, raise a glass and laugh together. We have seen strangers become friends and friends drawn closer on our dippy, sinky-seat bar stools. 

And at the Aqualand Ale House, may we celebrate life and the living of it every day.  May we revel in the joy of time, of friendship, of good food, good beer and laughter.  We are honored each time we sense your enjoyment and we are humbled when you call us friend.

God Bless you Betty! Congratulations Bill and Sue!

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Picking up Garbage, Catching Frogs and Peacock Feathers

My earliest Aqualand memories were those of a little girl playing the excelsior packaging beneath the rough, plywood table in the work area of the gift shop warehouse, as mommy and the other ladies unwrapped, priced and prepared items they would sell in the upcoming tourism season of summer.

The Boxes were forts, the excelsior my bedding.  I could spend hours there, no doubt chattering and creating homes for my dolls.

But when I truly dream of my childhood, I remember vividly that time between being too young to ride my bike alone and being old enough to get a social security card so I could be on the payroll. (in those days one did not have to register their children for a social security number, but one was required to draw a paycheck).

These were my years of being an independent contractor.  I tried many entrepreneurial ventures, but those that paid the best were those of picking up garbage, catching frogs and finding peacock feathers. 

All of these were tasks my grandfather, known to most as Uncle Pat, paid me in coins: quarters, nickels and dimes- enough for a soda pop or cotton candy or on an especially profitable day, a new beaded necklace from the Aqualand gift shop.

Riding my little blue bike from my childhood home to the parking lot at Aqualand was quick business.  I needed to be done collecting garbage before the doors opened for the day, and they opened at 9 am.  So by 8 am I was picking up a trash bucket, and walking first through the parking lot where any number of ridiculous items were cast off by less than tidy visitors from the day before.  Most common were the wrappers and pop bottles, cigarette butts and dirty diapers-  the things that no one wanted to keep in their car for the ride back home.  In the late sixties, while Mad Men wrote their ads, people did not concern themselves with disposing of trash carefully.  The crying Indian Warrior, the first and most enduringly powerful "Anti-Littering" National Campaign was still a few years away.

Once the parking lot was done, I would move in one of two directions, the animals side or the ponds side of the park.  The ponds side was kind of mysterious to me, an imaginative little blondie.  I was slightly afraid of the spirit of the turtles, who lay deep in the muck of a morning before the sun warmed enough to draw them to the surface.  Next to the main turtle pond was the pond for the alligator snappers, three foot long horny shelled monsters who lived beneath the water in their enclosure. I knew they were humongous and had vicious snapping jaws, and I also knew that there was no one else about to bear witness if they somehow grabbed and ate me.  If I managed to survive them, I moved on to the spookiest place of all, the back musky pond.  This was where my father and grandfather told visitors that "Old Mose" lived.  Old Mose was the fabled gigantic musky.  That trophy that everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of.  As I dragged my fearful steps around the pond, scooping plastic bags from the water with my net and picking up the other trash, I looked in vain for his bulk in the murky water. 

It was really a Miracle I lived to tell the tale. Between the danger of my mission and my wild imagination, I would have thought I should have surely expired...

Once the trash was collected, there was a walk through the grounds to retrieve peacock feathers.  more prevalent in late July and August, it was my job to gather dropped tail feathers daily, sometimes twice a day.  The feathers had value and were sold in the gift shop.  But visitors who found them frequently missed the signage throughout the park explaining that such feathers were the property of Aqualand.  Confiscating them was never pleasant, so we endeavored to gather them ourselves to avoid the conflict.

My final money making opportunity was to catch leopard frogs, which I could sell to Aqualand for feeding the muskies.  On a good day I would catch a dozen or so in the little creek across the road from Aqualand.  It was truly only a couple of years ago that I realized the culvert from the musky pond must have been the source of the frogs in the creek.  So in essence, I was merely re-catching the frogs my grandfather had already sold to visitors once.  These were the smart frogs who evaded the muskies to live another day.  I wonder how many of them I caught again and again.

Business was good for a budding business woman in the 1960's especially when one grew up in a magical kingdom of frogs, muskies and peacocks; deer, bear and timber wolves.  Narnia didn't have anything on Aqualand, and Aqualand was real.