As Stephen's extraordinary (so what else is new?) photos will attest, a good time was had by all at our second Ice Cream Social of the year. While the numbers were down slightly from July(190 vs 230), I was struck by how many of our visitors this time actually "got" it. We strove to put on an old-fashioned, low tech, family oriented event that would not require a second mortgage to enjoy and we NAILED it.
I recall one family (husband, wife, 5 kids ( the youngest was six months old), in-laws & friends) that stayed for four hours. They brought snacks, played lawn games, flew kites (or tried to), blew bubbles and relaxed among dozens of their (now) closest friends. I ran into the dad from this group at the Alna General Store on Monday and he was still raving about the good time he and his family had and while I consider this entirely beside the point, he was more than generous in the donation box, as well.
Whether they were local folks who consider us a community asset or first time visitors who only discovered us that day, the thanks expressed to the Museum crew for putting on this event was gratifying, to say the least. I don't know what these people have come to expect when they go out to spend their hard-earned recreation dollar but the word used most often when referring to our organization was "welcoming".
I can live with that.