Today was the Annual Meeting for Joe's Pond Association, the day the special postal cancellation stamp was officially unveiled at the West Danville Post Office, Kids' Day at the JPA Recreation Area, and if that's not enough excitement, tonight we'll have fireworks and luminaries all around the pond! Is this a great Fourth of July weekend or what!?

I've put together a slide show of the photos both Fred and I took today. We started off this morning visiting the post office where Garey and Diane were showing off the cancellation stamp and had a nice coffee bar set up for visitors. From there we went to the pavilion to set up the Ice Out tickets so people could pick up their tickets (we give each JPA member 10 to sell) and some members were getting many more. Those that weren't picked up will be at Hastings Store for a few days - and then Fred and Bill Rossi will try to deliver them to you.

The meeting went well, and I'll have the transcript on the web site for you within a couple of days. Or maybe a little longer since this is a busy weekend. Kids' Day was a big success. Bo Keach and her helpers had lots of games, face painting, contests, dancing, a clown (Archie Prevost!) and lunch for the kids. Everyone, including the grownups, seemed to be having a great time. Fred and I had to leave at about noon, but the party was still in full swing when we left.

We dropped off the remaining tickets at the store and got a picture of Garey in his I-only-wear-this-shirt-once-a-year Fourth of July costume. By the way, in the slide show there's a picture of his granddaughter, Alyssa in her Fourth of July costume, too. The first slides are of the meeting and we had a really good turnout for that; then the rest are of the activities for the kids - although a few grownups got into the spirit of things, too. Archie was trying to get the girls to paint his face and I tried to steal his thunder with a cotton ball nose, and some of those folks doing the hula-hoop routine were pretty darn good at it. Lots of fun. Take a look:
July 3, 2010 at Joe's Pond

Now I have to pack up some of the things I've been working on this past winter ready for tomorrow at the Historical Society museum. We'll be taking boxes in later this afternoon so I won't have to do it all tomorrow. But it looks like I'll be there from about 10 to 1:30 or so. I hope some of you will stop by. There are some new things to see and if you haven't visited us before, or haven't been in for some time, there are lots of wonderful old objects on display. That does NOT include me, thank you very much.

Don't forget to watch the fireworks and light your luminaries. Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, and please be safe.