Over the past week or so, I have been working on a column about death, but given that one of our most well-known Grizzly Flats citizens has passed this week, I think I'll leave that one until another time.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Joan Gillespie and her family as they begin the journey of finding their way without Bob physically in their world.

It was quite a fourth of July!  When we (GFORCE:  The Grizzly Flats Organization for Reuniting Community and Education) plan out these events, we do so as though we've never done one in one respect and that is that we never really know if anyone is going to come.  It doesn't matter if we had a thousand people show up at the last event, at the next one, we're always wondering if anyone is going to show. 

I'm not completely sure who first mentioned the idea of a July 4th parade and potluck or when it actually came up.  It just seems like it was always there.  Although together, we all combined have about 200 or so years' experience in event planning and parenting group administration and school doin's and such things, the group itself has been in existence for a little bit less than a year.  Over that year, we've had a successful Founder's Day celebration (despite the cold and the rain), supported the annual Halloween party put on by the Tyler family (we worked the event and built the haunted house), had a Christmas Parade and ornament making party, started having monthly Bingo nights and now have started what I'm sure will be a yearly event, which is this super fun parade and pot luck for July 4th.  I mean we all just had a ball and I can't begin to tell you how much we are all looking forward to going into this next school year of events.

I'll be doing a full write up of the July 4th parade and party, but suffice it to say, if you missed it, you missed a lot.  We were all so surprised to see so many people coming up to decorate their vehicles, kids decorating their bikes and yes...

...even their puppy dawgs!

It was beginning to look like the whole town was actually going to be IN the parade, which would have been just fine as well, but as we started down our parade route, there were people standing everywhere!  How fun!  TammyTerrey said, "Oh my GAWD, they took us SERIOUSLY!"  We started wishing we'd brought more candy to throw!

We'd talked about taking the parade on over to the other side to Blue Mountain, but we had little kids on bicycles and we knew they'd start to fall out from heat stroke if we tried it.  We'd heard that our much loved Red Hat ladies were having a big ol' bash over there and we wanted roll by and say hi, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

We were all laughing and crying at the same time that so many people had shown up to have fun with us. The way we work it is that we plan out a party where we know WE are going to have fun and just kind of hope some other people will show up as well.  If they don't, more for us!  If they do, more people to share the fun!  So we win either way.

As it turned out, there were probably a couple hundred people who came to our party this time and brought some really, really tasty food! 

The day cleared out super fast.  We had planned on the possibility of going until 5pm or so, then we were going to do a mass kick out of everyone and start cleaning like fiends.  As it turned out, everyone showed up, paraded, laughed, talked, ate, listened to some great music, had fun and then drifted away by 2:30pm or so.  GFORCE and their husbands flew into action and got the area all cleaned up and then went home and put our barkin' dogs up onto the ottoman and had a drink. 

It was a good day and once again, we were shown fully well how much we love this town and how proud we are to live in it.

Now, the world grows still and quiet as we scurry underground to our Queens' Headquarters to continue planning Founder's Day, when we take over the world, or at least this part of it.  I realize it seems like the days will be dark and grim without us, sort of like when Demeter, in her grief, turns her face away from The World while her daughter Persephone serves out her time in the Underworld for eating those pesky pomegranate seeds.  It scary without our glow and laughter permeating the town.  Just remember that we will be coming up from the bunkers to help out with Burger Night every Friday and then Bingo Night is Wednesday, July 18th, so just hang in there and we'll be around now and then to quench your thirst for the Queens.  Just when life seems that it's at the darkest hour, you'll see a beam of light and in it, you'll catch the gleam of a tiara, the flash of a sequin, the fluff of an escaped marabou feather and you'll sigh with relief, knowing we're there to keep things fun.

The Queens

Left to Right:  TammyTerrey, Dan Dandy (official escort to the Queens), TammyJo, TammyMarcia, Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother), Lance Romance (official consort to the Queens), TammyJackieLou, TammyKatrina and TammyAndie.  Grizzly Flats circa 2007

Be particular,