52 weeks of memories: Week 5

Let it snow! At least artificially. Each year Lake City hosts an annual event called Snow Day. It features 30 tons of artificial snow so children can experience the cold sensation. There are snow slides, snow piles, bounce houses, food, entertainment, pictures with Santa and more. In the past I’ve had to cover Snow Day for the paper. I got to actually participate in this year’s event on Saturday. My roommate’s church was in charge of volunteers, and I joined in the fun.

For a couple of hours I worked at one of the bounce slides making sure the children didn’t kill themselves. Aside from the fact the inside of the slide smelled like dog poo and I had to climb to the top, it wasn’t too bad of a job. I got to sit in a corner at the top of the contraption and watch the children slide down. A few asked my name or other random questions, but mainly they smiled, ignored me or asked if they could slide yet. Later a helper took over my spot and I relieved another volunteer of count off duties. Only so many can climb up at a time, but if you don’t regulate them, they will try to get on 50 deep. That’s an accident waiting to happen. Most of them don’t like to listen when you say wait. One annoying child kept asking, “Can I go now?” I am proud to say I didn’t snap and merely ignored him.

Toward the end of the event I watched one of the snow piles to make sure no one injured themselves. By 3 p.m. it was more like a pile of slush, but the children loved it. Snow Day came to an end at 4 p.m. but the fun continued. My roommate, some friends and I went to grab a bite to eat before the annual Christmas parade. This was my first year seeing it. I went to the Hartwell Christmas Parade every year (due to work) but somehow lucked out of covering the one in Lake City. It was a nice parade. I got these super cool 3D glasses that turned lights into snowflakes. The only downside was only a few floats actually followed the theme, “Christmas on the Ichetucknee.” Next year I’m entering and float and going to follow the theme and win top honors. Think of the memories that will bring.