What I Learned From Autumn Leaf Festival

 So  today  we’re going to Clarion for Autumn Leaf Festival. It is the only event I know of where Clarion University and Clarion the town work together to cooperate.  The whole town goes all out for a week. A carnival moves into the middle of town. When I was a kid I thought that was amazing.  I always rode the Ferris Wheel and the merry go round, ate cotton candy. And all I had to do was walk up town.  

The merry go round is in the same place it was when I was a kid. The park across from the court house has the kiddy rides and the parking lot and convince store have the big kid rides set up all around them.

Tomorrow, Friday, the whole town from 2^nd Avenue to 8^th Avenue is shut down for a HUGE craft show. I start Christmas shopping tomorrow. Yeah!

For as far back as I can remember this has been my favorite holiday. Being outside for two days in the brisk weather is a big part of it.  Visiting with the Kroh side of my family is a big part too. 

Watching the Autumn Leaf Festival Parade is a big part too.  It is two hours and lots of floats and bands and Zem-Zems.  Lots of candy and really fun.  Last year Josh proposed to my niece Erin right in the middle of the parade in front of hundreds of people up on Main Street. 

This year they are riding in the parade as Mr. And Mrs. Josh and Erin Frederick! 

But this year is different too. This is the first ALF where my parents are both gone. I am the old lady now. Is this how my mother felt about ALF? Should I be happy I get to go? Should I be sad so many from my mother’s generation are gone? 

I think I will be both. Happy that I still get to go to ALF. Still get to see Erin and Josh, my niece and nephew-in-law.  I still get to see my brother and Tina. My nephew Danny, and Sheryl and Little Jack, my great nephew. There are some old friends in Clarion that I run into and my cousin and his family still live there. 

All the growing up memories are there too. Bike riding and swimming at the town pool.  Editing the high school newspaper. Bringing Roger home to the ALF and bringing the kids. So much fun and so many memories. They gather around me in Clarion. And make me sad that time is marching on. And happy that I have all that to remember, and I get to go to the parade one more year.