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Saturday, December 4, 2010
Holiday on 44th
4:15 PM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Holiday on 44th
On Friday, December 3rd, the Victory neighborhood had its annual Holiday on 44th festival. Never having attended this particular event in the past, I accepted an invitation to attend and went to see things for myself. Please note; the pictures you will see below are very grainy. That’s a visual effect of continuous snow fall.
This particular evening was a beautiful and snowy one. A driving nightmare to be sure, but definitely something that had a striking authenticity which reminds one of stories like A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.
First stop, Steamworks Coffee on the corner of 44th and Penn. The ceremonious lighting of the Christmas tree took place at 6pm sharp. To beat the cold, me and my compatriots made a quick pit-stop in the GMHC office across the street from Steamworks for a cup of hot chocolate. What could be better when the weather outside is frightful? A few short moments after; began what seemed to be a never ending stream of hay rides. Horse drawn carriages—or mules or something, I’m no equestrian, sorry—passed by. The event was graced with smiling parents and laughing children moving about all over the place in a manner that was reminiscent of the State Fair.
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| The Christmas tree goes on at 6pm. |
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| There must have been 3 or 4 of these going back and forth all night long. |
Moving on I saw what appeared to be…. Yes! Chestnuts were literally roasting over an open fire. I’ve heard those Christmas music lyrics all my life and to date and never eaten a chestnut. These nice folks were giving away free roasted chestnuts. Apparently, you have to peel the shell off it. It’s not like an orange; the nut, even though it’s roasted, will not part with its shell easily. I found that experience to be a pain in the ass. A chestnut tastes kind of like a potato. It’s dry, starchy, and that’s about it. No wonder why we eat cinnamon roasted pecans and almonds these days. Anyway, it was new and interesting, and I learned something. Bonus.
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| Chestnuts roasting over an open fire. |
A marching band walked by. They were playing the usual array of Christmas songs we hear every year. I have to give these kids credit. Blowing a brass instrument that’s half frozen while marching, with snow flying into your instrument and on to your face, all while holding a tune, has got to be a challenge to say the least.
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| Two thumbs up for the marching band. |
Time to move on; a short walk down 44th street lead us to Patrick Henry High School. I was happy to get in out of the cold, but I wasn’t expecting to see the place bustling with the activity they had there. Arts and crafts were for sale, food, silent auctions; you name it they had it going on. While I was there, I purchased a few tasty eggrolls. They were hotter than Hades, but that’s okay because a little fire in the belly is nice when you’re headed back out into the glorious Minnesota—ok not so much—winter wonderland.
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| Greeting travelers, Welcome to Patrick Henry High. |
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| Inside the gymnasium... |
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| New expression: Selling like egg rolls! Screw hot cakes. |
On the way back to the main drag I saw these fire jugglers. Not for the faint of heart, they were fun to watch, although not quite professional. They dropped a number of whatever those things were that were on fire. In all fairness to those guys, I wouldn’t even bother trying to do something like that myself, lest I wind up at North Memorial with 2nd degree burns.
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| A little playing with fire. |
Before leaving, all were encouraged to enter a drawing to win this beautiful ice sculpture. Somebody put a lot of time and effort into creating this pristine beauty. I declined to enter the competition myself. What if I had actually won? What would I do with an ice sculpture?
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| You can win an ice sculpture of your very own. |
I will definitely be back again next year.
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4 comments:
Ya think maybe JACC or HNC could have a nice community event like this?
Oh wait, you guys only want certain people to enjoy the holidays or have access to your meetings.
God bless the Victory and Camden neighborhoods who believe in serving the whole community.
Anon 1:17,
Silly blog troll, this isn't the kind of event a neighborhood council puts on anyway. Only wanting "certain people to enjoy the holidays"... What's the basis of that statement? And finally, last time I checked JACC and HNC meetings are open to the public.
It was indeed fun again this year. I didn't get to do much beyond singing with my daughter's girl scout troop because I was pretty busy at the craft fair in the PHHS gym. Wow! People were really interested in buying locally made gifts! I wish I could have done it all at once, but my daughter had a great time anyway. And those were some seriously good (SERIOUSLY HOT) eggrolls. Mmmmmmmm.......eggrolls.......
You don't have to have a community event like this in every neighborhood. Why not come out and support this one and not have to do all the hard work that goes into putting something like this together?!? Geesh, what's with all the boundaries in NOMI? Can't we all just get along?!?
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