Vakkotaur

For reasons that can all be traced back to the current economy or lack thereof, I did not go to MFF this year. I did keep a bit busy anyway.

Friday night Fairmont had a parade that supposedly kicks off the Christmas shopping season, as if that hadn't really started a few hours after Halloween if even that late. In years past, the city kept the decorative lights off until the night of the parade. This year the light were on a few days early. Not sure if that was lack of caring about the setup or a ploy to say "start spending already."

I met up with Gerry Busse and his team of Belgian horses (Connie and Lynne were pulling that night) in the Harsco Track Technology (formerly Fairmont Tamper, formerly Fairmont Railway Motors) parking lot rather than the usual lot. He was about set up by the time I got there so I really don't do much of anything there other than supply his always-forgotten throat drops. The trolley had a couple changes. The brake is now a nice lever with a catch, the sound system has a wireless mic., there are lights that indicate the remote-operated steps are down, and the front string of Christmas lights is LED. There are also "ground effects" LEDs under the trolley, casting a reddish glow that reminded me of the looks of some college kids cars in the early 1990s.

The weather was decent, for the time of year in Minnesota, for once. No single digits and strong winds, but high twenties and an almost calm night. Gerry had position 20 in the parade and we found it without any real trouble for the setup. The girls on whatever float was ahead of us all stayed at the rear of the float to watch the team.

If I had gone to MFF, I'd have missed Gerry and the team completely this year. He won't be giving rides in Fairmont the first Friday of December this year. Instead whoever makes that decision had him stay after the parade and go until about 9 PM giving rides. I suspect it's again a matter of economy. It's going to seem quite strange that Friday without him around.

Gerry has a bit of a shtick worked up when things are ready to go. Instead of just going, he introduces the team (sometimes letting people see the names on the front posts... which are for Connie and Buttercup, so they aren't always right), says a bit about them ("They weigh about 2,000 pounds each, and when the trolley is fully loaded with adults, they're pulling about 14,000 pounds.") He then asks how to get the horses to get going and people suggest things.. one of which almost works ("Well, they thought about it.") and since I was up front I could see the gimmick. Before he rings the bell (rather than saying, "Team!" which also works) he quietly releases the brake - no wonder the team only "thought about it" earlier.

The shorter route he was using last year was continued. It lets people wait inside a building rather than out on the street. It also means Gerry has time for two Christmas carols and another short shtick, "How do you suppose we make the horses go faster?" A few suggestions are tried and then Gerry explain, "Horses are like kids... if you really want them to do something for you, you just give them a little kiss..."

I wound up leaving when the last ride was over but didn't stick around for anything else. jmaynard had been putting off supper long enough and we both we hungry. I had expected to be home much earlier, but that was before I knew about the after parade rides going so long. In other years Gerry would give a couple rides if folks were interested and then pack up.

I spent most of the time either up front on the trolley with Gerry, or standing in front of the team when stopped giving them some attention and generally just showing that they were approachable despite their intimidating size.

The city of Fairmont kicks off the holiday shopping season, or at least the decoration illumination, a bit early. Back in Merill, they'd put up street decorations before Thanksgiving, but not light them until Thanksgiving or the next night. Fairmont lights most up the first night they're up. A few items in parks are an exception, they get put up early but not lit up right away.

Tonight they got lit up as part of the Fairmont Glows parade. The parade starts at one park which gets lit up and ends at another which also gets lit up. In the parade was a horse drawn trolley, pulled by a team of Belgian mares. (One of which I had been photographed with last year - that photo was in the local paper). I expected to see them, though not as far up in the parade as they were.

I had supper and went out to watch the parade, looking for this team and trolley. To my surprise they were in the third or fourth spot of the parade. Rather than wait most of the parade to see them for a moment, I wound up walking (on the sidewalk) a good share of the parade route so I could watch them. At the end park those riding in the parade departed the trolley... and I climbed on board. I had bit of a chat with the driver and found that he'd have the trolley and team (well, a team) back in a couple weeks for Fairmont's "Midnight Madness" bit - where I'd met him last year. I rode most of the way back to where I'd parked and figured I'd go home... until I saw him take the trolley in an expected direction. He was giving rides (no charge) for a bit after the parade. So I parked again and rode a bit more. We only made two or three circuits of a few blocks as there weren't many people around - evidently everyone went home or inside right away when the parade ended. I was dropped off, again not far from my car, and drove back to where he had his trailer.

He took care of the team, unhitching the horses and removing the harnesses. I pretty much just stood around for this. When it came time to break down the trolley (lights, sound system, decorations) I could be more helpful. After we had that taken care of, I drove him (I should say his name, Gerry) a couple blocks to Jake's Pizza and we shared a large pizza with mainly meat toppings. Actually, Jerry ate most of it and saved some pieces for breakfast or something. I only had a couple pieces. I was about to pay the bill when it was snatched out of my hands and I was told I wasn't paying it. Seems Gerry figured I saved him at least an hour's work for which he was grateful. (I doubt I sped things up quite that much, myself.)

A few things were mentioned, as the team was being put away and over the late supper. The horses are named May and Buttercup. Gerry said every time he takes the harness off May he wonders if it'll be the last. She's that old, and as he put it, "She should have stopped pulling four years ago." But she just keeps on going. I suspect part of that is that Gerry does have her pull, though only the shorter or lighter jobs, so she stays fit. One benefit of that age, though, is that May is quite experienced and calm. During the parade setup Jerry wasn't told where he was and expected to be in back, so went there. Some kid came up to him and told him was in the third position. Rather than drive the team up there (and quite possibly back if he was misinformed) he asked the kid to stand in front of the team (I assume offside) while he checked. When he got back, the kid was gone. The team hadn't moved - despite the activity which included other horses, various vehicles, some with flashing lights. He said had it not been May, things likely wouldn't have turned out so well.

Also, this summer he said his daughter was going to show her horse at a fair. Unfortunately there was an injury - nothing really really bad, but enough that showing this summer was out. I can only assume this was rather devastating to his daughter. So he suggested she try with May. May wouldn't spook and would be good around people, strange places, and other horses... but wouldn't win anything. "So just relax and enjoy the ride." But it seems nobody told May that was the plan. While she didn't place first in anything, as I recall, by the time things were over, she had placed 2nd and 3rd in a few things. To their surprise, they actually won 9 ribbons. Maybe there's more experience in that horse than they knew about.

After supper I dropped Gerry off back with his team and stayed long enough to be sure he got things fired up. He actually asked I do that, though I'd planned to anyway. The engine seemed to turn over right away and he was on his way - and then I was on mine as well.

I plan to be out late for the "Midnight Madness" bit again. And like last year I'll wear my wool cloak - the one I should have worn tonight. It got a bit chilly out. Tonight, despite that, was quite good. I found it very therapeutic.