The weather has changed. The nights are cooler and the days are warm and pleasant. On days like this my mind drifts towards the good old days. You see, Every October I would begin the preparations for one of the strangest and most anticipated events of the year.
ChuckieFest
My birthday is the end of March. Every year Wifey asks me what I want. I can’t ever think of anything that I need. I am happiest when surrounded by my friends. So we would throw a huge party in the woods and everyone would get together.
Huge sometimes isn’t the word for it. At the largest party we had there were more than 300 guests with over 100 spending the weekend camping. We have had friends come in for the party from California, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia and of course, all across Florida. The whole back end of Hanna Park would be filled up with my friends and sometimes even people I didn’t know. We would incinerate a huge 200+lb hog for 24 hours on a spit and just have a great time camping out. After eating till we couldn’t move, the movies would begin. I have an old 16mm projector and I would rent movies to show on a 16’ square screen. We have featured movies such as the 1960s classic “The Corpse Grinders” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” A full, exhausting weekend was assured.
Bryan and his 40lb cast iron skillet cooking two dozen eggs at once, Pedro and his world famous hobo pies, Finn dodging trees in his tent, Billy calling the police on me for an “Alleged” cooler full of beer. George’s pride and joy Monte Carlo getting backed into. Dad getting cornered and hit on in the RV by the pretty little redneck blonde. The bikers at one end of the campsite complaining that the family with 6 kids was making to much noise, Joe explaining the meaning of life to Pedro till all hours. Gabe, Paige and all of the other kids running wild as we had the whole end of the campground to ourselves. Erk and his telescope giving free rides through the cosmos to all takers.
Yup It was fun. Over all the seven Chuckiefests we did cost a little over ten thousand dollars to pull off. And this doesn’t even begin to cover the “Chuckiefests at Sea” I never regretted any of it for a single minute. Well, Maybe during that huge monsoon we had one year!
And I’ll be dammed if I don’t want to do it again.
Stay tuned…………..
1 comment:
..and i agree. Despite the endless chords of firewood, enough cinder blocks to build a fallout shelter, having my hands swell up to the size of two inflated latex-glove baloons, from moving said wood and blocks... I would be front and center to do it all again in a heartbeat if given the chance.
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