I am always amazed at the scope and magnitude of the amount of events and the extent of community outreach to coordinate the great variety of avenues for families to come and just have a good time.{{more}} And the diverse nature of the events and activities is something to behold. The spirit of Orange in its townsfolk is unified and strong –always has been. It is a community that is homegrown, independent, hard-working, sealed in its history, invested in its children. It holds to its past well. And it is a very good place to live.
They all come every year, riding on expectations of something old, something new,
a grand plethora of adventures that offer all alike a fine and inviting potpourri of delights to be savored and carried home. Events born within a mind’s eye whose impetus gives birth to the gathering together of community, of friends and strangers, of family. Grand preparations abound, engineered in the alignment of tables that line up like squadrons of soldiers, in rows of chairs that sit quietly in simple unison waiting,
through the flowing banners and signs that herald previews of great ceremonies approaching, entreating all good neighbors to the friendly knit of common bonds, to the lifting up of our spirits in acclamations of joy, in the nature of good will toward all… seizing the moment, simply having fun.
So come to the Fairs, recline in your easy chair, and enjoy the show.
Take a short walkabout in the color-burst beauty of a floral garden,
Meander through the festival of strawberries; stand awed in the amazing iron rides of imagination that lift and carry children of all ages through a merry-go-round of wonder; stand proudly in the midst of a cattled heritage, that plowed the good earth, giving birth to a cornucopia of sustenance and abundance from seeds of the soil and hands of farmers; dabble in the vast arrays of treasured wares of long ago that once filled a life, but now have been set free of parloured mantles into the sunlight of new worlds landing into the hands of someone so touched as to desire them keepsake as their very own.
Smile at the pumpkins dressed up in silly faces having their day; watch the little ones with ears of rabbits and woven baskets from grandmother, maneuver their way through waves of frenzy in search of colored gems secretly hidden in the grass; give your ear to the singing minstrels who resonate their souls over loud speakers sharing in the common threads of life; and fall victim to feasts incomparable, barrages of culinary temptations set limitlessly before you whose enticing aromas, coupled with siren calls of abandon, pardon you to immersed yourself in pasta delights and pastry madness…
Welcome neighbor to the vast myriad of time-honored events, to pastimes that clearly mirror us for who we really are, to the strength of tradition as solid as rock, to the special community of friends that without reserve give freely for the sake of something beyond themselves, whose gift is simply… that we just enjoy.
John Ulatowski’s books on photography and more can be previewed on Blurb.com.