Good weekend…

This was a pretty darn good weekend. I left early Wednesday morning on a train to Washington, DC. I was there for a workshop and to present at the workshop, which I did on Friday morning. I’m told that the presentation went well, so yay for that.

Friday afternoon I boarded the Capitol Limited to home. We ran into a few delays due to heat right outside of Union Station in DC, but were then able to make up half of the 40 minutes or so that we were behind. The train arrived only about 15-20 minutes late into Pittsburgh. Jenny was waiting for me with some fresh iced tea, which is always a treat. She likes to do that when she picks me up from the train. It’s always exactly what I need when I get home.

While on the train on Friday coming home, I was listening to some music as we rolled along the C&O Canal (now a bike trail). The music seemed to fit well with the trip, and made me want to produce a travelogue on a few non-professional cyclists who ride from DC to Pittsburgh on the Great Allegheny Passage. Now all we need is a benefactor and some time, and we can do it.

This weekend was New Kensington Community Days, which is a weekend-long fundraiser for the New Kensington Fire Department. It’s similar to fireman’s carnivals all over the place, but with a few twists. First, this event is entirely family-oriented. There is no alcohol served anywhere. There are lots of activities for all ages, from little kids all the way through older adults. The community park where the event is held is set up with crafters and other exhibitors along the walkway that circles through the park. There is music all day on Saturday. Instead of the typical long line of carnival food vendors, there is a long line of local churches and groups selling local favorites. Yes, there are a few of the carnival food booths, but the locals seem to win hands-down for providing great food. Admission is either $1 or $2, depending on the day.

Jenny and I have volunteered to help them in the past. I think we did it two years ago, and helped at the food ticket booth. Last year, I was in Vancouver, BC while it was occurring, so I couldn’t do anything. This year, as a member of the department, I was eager to help whenever and wherever I could. I was unable to be around for most of the setup due to my travel during the week, so I told them that they’d have me for all of Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, Jenny said that she’d come out with me to help. They put us on for two shifts at the gates. They have two remote lots and the main gate for walk-ins and people with handicapped parking tags. We worked one shift at one lot, and one shift at the other lot. They were easy shifts, collecting the $2 admission fees from everyone 12 and older. From the lots, the people got on buses that transported them to the park for no charge. We had a break between shifts, which we used to eat and walk around the booths. It was a great day.

Sunday, Jenny stayed home and I went for the day to help where I could and stay around for clean-up. I wasn’t on the schedule for any specific duty, so I wandered around for a bit until I found someone who needed help. That ended up being the food ticket booth, where I helped doing whatever I could for most of the remainder of the day. I took a short break to get some lunch. By the time I came back, things were starting to wind down. We had a little bit of rain come through, and after I finished eating we started to get some more. This had people moving out of the park and headed home. We were scheduled to stay open until 5PM, but with things as they were, we started to shut-down at around 4:45PM.

Clean-up entailed getting all of the department-owned stuff into trailers and trucks, cleaning up the fry and funnel cake tent that the department runs, and getting everything packed-away and generally cleaned-up. We were done sometime around 6PM.

As I was on my way out, I was invited down to the station for a drink later in the evening, and also got my Company #1 work shirt. It looks awesome and has my name on it and everything. It’s a little warm to wear it now, but as we eventually head into Fall, it is sure to get a lot of use. Right now, it’s sitting on a chair so that I can look over at it and say, “Wow, that’s cool,” every so often. 🙂

All in all, this was a great weekend. Yes, I’m tired, but it’s that good kind of tired where I know I’m going to really enjoy my shower, and then enjoy even more falling asleep. It’s that good kind of tired where one knows that one did something potentially good for the community.

Now I’m tired, it is late, and I’m in need of sleep. ‘night.

jonathan