This was the last day of Danville Fair. The weather held off pretty well - it was a beautiful evening Friday for the start of the festivities and everyone had a wonderful time at the dance. Things went very well all day - progressive clouds and very little sun, but the showers held off.

We made plans to go to the evening concert to hear the BelAires. Middle son, Bob, plays with them sometimes, especially for the Danville Fair because he gets a hoot out of seeing lots of friends. Bill and Diane Rossi were going with us - Bill said he really, really wanted a hotdog; Diane said she wanted to get to ride on the ferris wheel. That was Saturday morning we made plans and decided we'd head out around 5:30 or 6 because the band started at 7 o'clock.

At 5:30, thunder rolled, the rain came down in sheets, and Diane called to say they had decided not to go. We hesitated for perhaps 10 minutes, and then decided to just go and see what happened. We figured if it was raining too hard there wouldn't be any crowd and they'd call off the concert but at least we'd see Bob and Theresa for a few minutes. We were able to park near the bandstand. The band was setting up and the rain had stopped. Everything was wet, and we'd forgotten to bring our folding chairs, but we found a garbage bag in the trunk and spread it on one of the wooden benches. Promptly at 7, the BelAires began to play. Things looked good. Oldest son, Bill and Monika came from St. Johnsbury and joined us - they remembered to bring chairs! The crowd grew as the music continued, and in no time there was an enthusiastic group of people clapping and dancing. No rain.

Fred got a hamburger and I got a hotdog and some onion rings - traditional at the fair, right? By the way, if you're reading this, Bill (Rossi), the hotdog was very good and we really missed you and Diane! We saw lots of friends, some from Joe's Pond, others from Danville, Walden and St. Johnsbury.

After the drawing of raffle tickets (we didn't even come close to winning anything) we settled in for the rest of the concert, but at about 9:40, the rain started. By then I was a bit chilly, and with the rain coming down a little harder every minute, we decided to head home. On the way home it rained very hard, so I imagine that emptied the fair grounds. Everyone was happy the rain held off as long as it did, though, I'm sure. Having had the kind of summer we've experienced so far here in the Kingdom, it didn't seem very likely the weather would remain relatively rain free for as long as it did. Another successful and fun Danville Fair. Next year the fair will be on August 7th and 8th, we were told tonight. See you all then!

For those of you who weren't at the concert tonight, here is a slide show: slides