Memories of Wilder Day, 2012

This post is for all those who missed Wilder Day, 2012 and for all those who attended, for all those who went to see Charlotte Stewart and get autographs from her and Bill Anderson and all those who came, expecting to see a parade and all those who finally ended up at my shop!  Oh, and for me too!  Well, maybe it's more for me than all the rest - I needed to convert my disappointments into "Sweet Memories". 

OK, here's the story: We woke up to rain on Saturday.  The forecast earlier that week was for a clear sky and temperatures in the mid - 70's.  Then, later in the week, they changed that to morning showers and then clearing.  Then the day before, they lowered the boom!  The rain continued all day!  Well, not all day - it stopped after everything was over!

I have been putting off this dismal report and hoping that someone else would do it for me - well, there is nobody else!  I was also hoping that I'd be able to get some photos taken at some of the other activities that took place at the Wilder Home & Museum and at the town square.  But, nobody I knew shared any of those - maybe they were as disappointed and down as I was!

Having my shop in town always keeps me from going around to see, for myself, the other activities.  But I understand that the Wilder Home took all their activities indoors.  I heard that the Little Laura and Farmer Boy look-alike contests were held under the gazeebo in the park. (That certainly would have limited the audience!)  And, of course, the crowds everywhere were very small. (Who'd want to come to an outdoor festival, in the rain?)  I was told that the vendors with booths on the town square, all folded up their tents and left by noon, after finding out that the parade was cancelled.  Along with them, went what was left of the crowds!

So, since my activities were planned for 3 p.m. at my shop, only about a dozen folks were left to attend!  But, as they say, "The show must go on!".  And it did!  Marie Tschopp, who portrayed Laura Ingalls Wilder, told stories from Laura's life.  She made Laura come to life!

In attendance at my shop, were some folks I knew only from my online visits.  Most of them knew each other from their attending the recent LauraPalooza in Minnesota.  So it was a great time to meet each other!
Since I couldn't be everywhere in the shop at the same time, taking pictures, I have gathered these from what I was able to take myself and from others in attendance.  I hope this gives you an idea of what happened there.

Marie & Teresa Lynn

Thanks goes out to Teresa Lynn, Larry from the Mansfield Mirror, Sherry Dieter, and others for these photos. If more are sent to me after this posting is up, I'll try to post them as well.
And, I must say, just looking at these has brought back some good, sweet memories and those poor memories are fading.  I was hoping that the activities of the day would put my sales into a something closer to being in the black, but they didn't - it has been a very poor year for sales in my shop.  I only hope that things get better so that I can open again next year.  Right now, with the tourist season just about over for the year, I have gone to opening the shop only on Saturdays - noon till 5pm. But I'll continue to blog throughout the rest of the time, even after closing the shop for the season (which will probably be mid - October).
Thanks to Marie, all my other friends and new friends and all my customers and visitors and  Laura!

The Old Man in the Bib Overalls