Tag Archives: Curwood Festival

Wordful Wednesday – Curwood Festival

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Curwood Festival.

For us it’s the unofficial start of summer.

School is out and it’s the first weekend that the kids can stay up late, ride all the rides they want, eat all the treats they can handle, hang out with friends, and enjoy the fun.

For me, and other parents, it’s a time to watch our kids march in the parades. A time to be so proud of how talented they are and incredible they are.

Floats, bands, Ronald McDonald, and old west gun fights are all part of the parade.

curwood

This year all three of my girls were in the parades during Curwood. Lauren marched in the kids parade on Friday evening while Natalie and Caitlin marched in the Heritage parade on Saturday afternoon. All the while Andrew looked on waiting as patiently as a 3 year old could to see his sisters. There is no doubt in my mind that they heard him yelling their names as they marched by.

kids

One of the highlights of the day (aside from getting an elephant ear from my favorite stand) is the performance that the high school marching band puts on after the parade. It’s the last performance that the seniors take part in… this event happens after they’ve graduated too! They all come back to perform and to me that shows pride and dedication to the band that they put so much time and effort into over the past 4 years.

Cait

This year my daughter is front and center as one of the TMB majorettes and I made sure that I was in place early so I could be “that mom” to get the perfect pictures of her performing.

It’s been a while since I linked up with Angie from Seven Clown Circus and Amanda from Dude Mom for Wordful Wednesday so that’s what I’m doing today and because I had some great pictures to share with all of you.

It Marks the Beginning of Summer

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Every year the city I live in celebrates the life and times of James Oliver Curwood with the fun filled Curwood Festival. Now you’re probably wondering who in the world that is, right? He was an author who lived in Owosso and had a Norman chateau replica built on the banks of the Shiawassee river. It was here where he wrote and entertained guests. Now, the castle is a museum of Curwood memorabilia that visitors can check out while visiting Owosso.

Curwood Castle

Curwood Castle

The Curwood Festival is  your typical festival with carnival rides, games, parades, and food. And I love carnival food! I don’t know what it is about it that makes it so good! Elephant ears, fresh made lemonade, and italian sausage with peppers & onions… Mmm! I love the sights, the sounds, and the smells of it as I walk through.

Of course as with anything there is a downside to the three day event… the carnies and all the riff raff that seems to come out of the wood work this time of year. My kids like to say that they all come out from the sewers and then head back down until the next festival starts. I suppose that it’s a good theory since we don’t seem to see them any other time of the year.

Kids in Curwood Parade

The girls after the Kids Parade Friday - Cait shed her uniform immediately!

This year was a particularly busy one for us with Caitlin playing at the opening ceremonies with the freshman band, all three girls were in the parade on Friday night (there are two parades), we wanted to watch the big parade on Saturday & ride the rides (there is never a way out of this other than rain), and Sunday my oldest was playing downtown with the high school jazz band.

OHS Freshmand Band

The Freshman Band at Curwood Opening Ceremonies

We all have a pretty good time I think… except for those few moments (hours) where Natalie lost her cell phone. I am so surprised at how honest some people are because we checked with the carnival office throughout the night and someone finally turned in her phone! The lost phone resulted in us sticking around until 10pm while the girls rode rides and searched for the phone. Which didn’t seem to bother them all that much but their brother was getting pretty tired!

Curwood Festival Rides

The rides!

This year we had some special guests here who came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Main Beverage Company here in Owosso. I know that for years they’ve been trying to get them here and it hasn’t worked out till now and they were a huge hit with everyone young and old.

Budweiser Clydesdale Horses

Budweiser Clydesdale Horses

The Clydesdale horses are beautiful animals. They were so well mannered with all the people hovering around them and the noise of music & carnival rides, but I suppose that it’s something that they’re used to since they travel all around the country to various festivals and events.

I think that fairs, festivals, and carnivals tend to bring out the kid in all of us. They’re fun and can bring us back to a simpler time when we were young and free.

Do you go to the fairs that are in your area?