To all my loyal and snickering readers, I thank you for your patience. Raising all thing young uns', even in as nice a place as Lawton, is a full time job.
But, every so often I just have to speak my mind. And apparently that's done some good, 'cause I noticed that the City Council is re-thinking the trash pickup rules, and those permanent arches make for a clear entrance to the park and should help get folks tuned in to where they are supposed to go by the time the next Holiday in the Park rolls around.
Which is good because it's going to be in use before next season. The International Festival Committee has announced that it's moving from downtown Library Plaza to Elmer Thomas Park this year. That will be on last weekend in September, if memory serves me.
All those Boy Scouts last summer who camped on top of the prairie dog holes did a wonderful job cleaning up after themselves. The park was neater when they left than when they arrived. Now let's just see if the festival-goers and city crews do as well as those 7,000 12-year-olds.
The International Festival also has those evening street dances (Will they now be call hillside dances?), so there will be nighttime activities, as well as all day. Early word about the schedule is that the activities will be very much the same.
What won't be the same is that downtown, the festival has had high visibility, the shade of all the plaza trees, that closed-in feeling of the downtown buildings, and easy street parking. It was also handy to the library and Central Mall, when you needed to get out of the rain or the heat, as it were.
None of that will be the case in the middle of Prairie Dog Central. But, ET Park seems to be where things are headed. If the International Festival goes over well at the new site, look of the Arts For All Festival to follow suit next year.
For this year, Arts For All Festival is set to be in its usual spot in Shepler Square, in semi-downtown.
The big question remains like the elephant (or in this case the two-ton rodent) in the room: Can mankind co-exist with prairie dog-kind in the same biosphere?
Just watch where you stick those tent poles, Buster, or I'll tell you where to stick 'em!
Like they say on the Channel 7 News each evening: "What do you think? Will ET Park be a better place for the International Festival? Remember this is not a scientific poll, and we would like to thank our viewers for participating."
Squeak at me!