JULY fun and hot times

..JULY is a great month in Iowa and in Coralville! NOT many students around, the trees and FULL of leaves and waving in the breeze, and it is HOT.. SO WHAT. IT is JULY in Iowa....Not sure we need THIS kind of heat, but think back to last February when we had 18" of snow, high winds, ice,...terrible NEVER complain about the heat...............................man it's hot.........
The Johnson County Fair is just around the corner, and that makes me think of.............lemonade shakes, (water and sugar and lemons) the Johnson County Pork or Beef Producers depending on the nite, and lots of people! FUN at the Fair....But it hasn't always been 'fun' for me at the Fair..You see my Dad ALWAYS had a booth at the Fair....The Muscatine County Fair, the Johnson County Fair, the Cedar County Fair, and once in awhile the Scott County Fair.. You see, in his 'mind', EVERYBODY needs a vacuum cleaner, and they might as well buy it from HIM. SO, he got a 'booth', set up a table, had a couple vacuums in the booth for people to try.. usually women..........He had a registration form that asked for Name, Ph #, (in case you won his drawing for a new vacuum) address, and best time of day to 'call'..........The people filled them out in droves......Oh yes,, he always had a fun thing in his booth....One year in the back of the booth he had an old barrel with a large piece of chicken wire over it,, a sign that said, "IMPORTED RED BATS", and a little 2 step in case kids wanted to see them.................Adult men and women would inch over, lean in, then roll their eyes,..........kids would slowly walk up go UP the step,,,, or get lifted up by Mom or Dad,...............................what were they? Where did he get them....?....Let me know IF you are totally in need of knowing.. It is fun. People had a good time, as it was the FAIR. Good innocent fun................BUT old Dad was smart. He would have HUNDREDS of names, numbers and addresses, and during the next year, he would 'call on them' and give them a 'demonstration' (demo as he called it) on the vacumms,, and he sold ZILLIONS of them.. A door to door vacuum cleaner salesman! He LOVED it, he was good at it, he had EXCELLENT products, he was honest, and he 'took care of his customers'....Customer Service!!.....My brother and I often got 'stuck' working at the Fair.. we always ditched out and got a lemon shake, played those stupid games where you crank around a crane, trying to get the crane to pick up a prize!! We got robbed.........................The IMPORTED RED BATS...??...........................bright red plastic wiffle ball bats,,,,,,,,,,,,,,made in Japan...................thus, IMPORTED RED BATS.... GO have some FUN at the Fair.

MId Summer's Day Dreams

Ah yes,, it is almost the MIDDLE of Summer in Iowa. I have alwayss considered JULY 15 to be the middle of Summer. When I was a kid, school was out roughly June 1, and we went back roughly September 1, so the middle would be JULY 15.....The other reason is that JULY 15 is my birthday. It is always hot on my birthday. Back in the day my buddies and I ALWAYS went swimming on July 15.. The river, (sorry Mom) OR we rode our bikes to the Iowa City pool. Such great fun!..We were absolutely in fear of drowning from the cramps, and our Red Cross swimming lessons had taught us to wait ONE HOUR after eating to swim..Believe me, we did....The pool opened at 1, but the line could be long.., and we had to ride our bikes...so we either ate at 11:30 ish, rode to the pool, got in line, and usually into the pool at 1:15 or so..If we cut in close, I can remember standing on the side of the pool watching the clock above the 'basket room' as the second hand made it to 12, thus signalling that 1 hour had officially past since I took my last bite of lunch...NOW I hear that the 1 hour thing is only a guideline and not a real 'set in stone' thing.........Damn!! We had discipline! The bike ride TO the pool was fun. We were instructed by our Moms that we could NOT get on the 'highway' (Strip) and that we HAD to ride along the northside on our way to the Pool.. Thus we rode down 5th street, south on the sidewalk in front of Coral Lanes, Briskey Cabinet etc, across Clear Creek, TO the Superior 400 gas station, THEN we crossed unbusy (in those days) 1st avenue, and rode in back of the Carousel Restaurant, into the BIG half moon driveway of the Hawkeye Lodge, across the front of the Hudson gas station, Henry's hamburgers, Dog N Suds, UNDER the canopy of the Alamo Motel, in front of the Zesto Ice Cream stand, cut a 45 degree angle thru the lot of Kobes Motel, UNDER the CRANDIC trestle, and along Rocky Shore Drive..It was NOT as nice as it is today. It was gravel, some chip and seal, but not real busy....around the corner and, and, and, UP the big hill.. Weenies had to get off and push, and 'studs' could hack it up the hill. Depended on the day, temperature etc....,, on to the pool, paid our fee (.25c) and into the open air lockerroom, took a QUICK shower, tried to jump across the little pool that has stuff in it to sanitize your feet against Athlete's Foot, dropped off our basket with clothes, and beelined it to the water...WHAT FUN!!
............Did we ever get home? How long did we swim?, did we go 'off' the high dive?......Hmm, next time......................Enjoy the 2nd half of Summer!!

POST July 4th Celebration

Great time in Coralville over the July 4th weekend! Fun times on Friday nite trying to beat the record heat! 97deg AND 75 points on the humidity scale! NICE...!!....OFF to Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday in the family 1970 Pontiac GTO 'JUDGE" muscle car, then still had Sunday and Monday left!! BIG concert on Sunday nite in the park.. Grass Roots, (did you know NONE of the guys on stage were with the Roots in the 60's!!??)..They were really good, BUT then we were entertained by Peter Noone and his Hermans Hermits!.. I have seen them in concert previously, and knew what to expect. HE is a true showman..! They have a LOT of memorable hits, and they played them all, closing with a truly fun rendition of "Henry the VIII) which was a #1 hit back in the day. People are still talking about Peter Noone and the Hermits today, July 5.. BIG July 4th Parade weaved thru town with 130 entries, including fire trucks, church groups, candy-tossing walkers, Scouts, big as in BIG trucks, military units, and lots of kids! It was a LOT of fun. We did our annual 'live taping' of the Parade, and it will be on Coralvision Channel 5 in a few days. I did my best as the 'color analyst' again this year.. Pay is low, and I know why!!...My broadcast buddy Brent Balbinot is the pro and I am local yokel who figures out the local 'angle'.. WE have fun doing it, hope you see it!
The fireworks were HUGE, LOUD, and long.. 235 years of freedom can't be celebrated without a BIG LOUD fireworks show!, and we do it right ,, right here in Coralville, IOWA!
We used to go to City Park in Iowa City to see fireworks, but the best show is in Coralville these days! ..................rightfully so! .See you in Coralville!