Escapees Fun Days 98

Updated on July 8, 1998.

We visited Great Falls, Montana, from July 2 to 5 for the Escapees Fun Days, a celebration of the 20th birthday for Escapees and the 222th birthday of the independence of our nation. It was a great rally.

We arrived Thursday morning, July 2, from Belt, about 25 miles to the southeast on US87. We drove in along Central Avenue (Business I-15), crossed the Missouri River, and headed up 6th Street to the fairgrounds. The Parking Team Wranglers quickly routed us into the fairgrounds, and within 20 minutes we were efficiently parked along side the rigs of the other 639 members attending the rally.

After parking the leveling the rig, the first order of business was registration, then volunteering. We picked up our ribbons and goody packs, and then we volunteered: I chose bingo and Alice chose security. Then it was time to walk around through the market area and the chapter row. It was a fight to keep from buying up everything in sight, but I saw to it that Alice resisted. Along the way we saw several people we thought we knew from Victorville Escapade. Luckily, most everyone wears a name badge, so it was possible to fake a good memory, even when it was someone we had never met before. We did get a few hugs and handshakes, just to stay in shape.

There were no planned activities Thursday until the opening ceremonies 3pm in the Town Hall building. Unfortunately, the sound system and the building were not designed for each other, and there was a continual problem with garbled sound from the stage. But, we made it through it all, and the first of the door prizes were distributed.

Thursday evening supper was planned to be a hobo stew. We offered some of our great home-made stew, but they wanted cans only, so we ate at home. My back was acting up, so Alice represented us at the evening ceremonies.

Friday morning we made it down for the pancake breakfast in the "Central Park" area. It was pleasant eating out at the picnic tables, and I resisted going back a second time. Alice headed off to her security responsibilities, and I roamed the midway. We met back at the rig around noon and then headed back to the activities without lunch. I was scheduled for bingo at 1pm and Alice was to give blood. When we arrived, we found them tearing down the blood drive apparatus to make room for the bingo. Alice kept her blood, and I helped call the bingo games.

Bill Mallott was in charge of bingo; I called the first seven games, and Mac McLaughlin was the other caller. We had a good time until during blackout, Mac called B6 when the ball read B9. He quickly admitted his error to the players, and the natives got restless. As luck would have it, B6 came up as the winning number at the end of the game. It was interesting to say the least.

At 4pm we joined most of the attendees for the Friendship Hour in the Town Hall. After announcements and door prize drawings, we adjourned to supper (pitchfork fondue) in the Trade Building. Excellent food!!

It was starting to cloud up as we gathered for the evening's Ho Down in the Four Seasons Arena. Alice and I went back to close up the trailer, and then the weather hit. It hailed (what a sound hail makes on our rubber roof) and there was tremendous lightening and thunder. Misty was somewhat upset, but she seems to be getting used to the noise. Weather radio reported that a tornado had been on the ground just to the north of Great Falls and there was a severe storm warning for the area. There were flash flood warnings all round.

When the rained sort of stopped, Alice and I walked up to the Ho Down to watch the action. It was a lot of fun -- but it seemed to be culturally centered on upper midwest Swedes, a flavor Garrison Keeler would appreciate. Then we heard the thunder starting up again. Since I still felt troubled in my back, we headed back to the rig for the night. The foul weather continued until we fell asleep (and some amount of time after that I suppose).

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. We arrived late for the coffee and donuts and then stuck around to see if there was any need for us help with bingo. Not enough people showed up, so it was cancelled. We thought of going to the parade to see the Escapees float, but we are not parade-type of people. There were a lot of others who did go, and they said it was great.

I took the opportunity to rewire my sound system in the trailer, and now it is finally putting out the right sounds in the right places. Then at four in the afternoon we went back for the Friendship hour and door prizes. The entire group of attendees went to Central Park for hotdogs and then adjourned to the Trade Building for cake and icecream. The weather started looking bad again, but never got going, so everyone was able to go to the Gong Show that evening without getting very wet.

Performances at the Gong Show ranged from pretty awful to pretty good; it was definitely amateur talent. But it was a lot of fun. Scott Bonus gave his rendition of the old vet facing down a flag-burning kid which set the mood for appreciating our country and the freedoms we have, and then we all went off to the Grandstand to watch the fireworks.

Fireworks in Great Falls is interesting. For over an hour, from shortly after 9 to almost 10:30 there were cannons shooting great displays into the sky above the Missouri River. From the grandstand area, you could look from the north to the south and see fireworks all across the city. It was quite a specticle to see that widespread a display.

Then at 10:30 the mainstream fireworks came online, and there was a continuous bombardment of spectacular cannon shots and exploding shells in the sky for almost 40 minutes. At the end they spent what one person told me was an extra thousand dollars in one minute of continuous barrage of light, explosions, flashes and smoke in the sky above us. It was a great display, more than I ever expected to see from a Montana city of 70,000.

As we went back to the rig, with shadows of fireworks still imprinted on our eyes, we felt fully satisfied with our Independence Day celebration -- it had been one to remember. Misty was happy to see us return, and we all cuddled together in bed as the sound of distant fireworks continued to drift in with the breeze.

Sunday morning, we awoke to cloudy skies. We drifted down to the coffee and donuts and visited with friends. At 10am everyone retired to the Town Hall for the kangaroo court, handled by the sheriff John Brower and judge Scott Bonus. Those that were convicted (at least 90% of the arrestees) either took part in the mellerdrama or in an ancient Mayan ritual of hacking their socks to ribbons with machetes. It was all great fun.

Chili and salad were served in Central Park as everyone started saying their goodbyes and wishing good luck to all their fellow travelers. As it turned out, over 200 rigs, including ours, were staying yet another night, so not all goodbyes were desparate and complete.

And now the parking lot is quiet, and the city streets have mellowed. Some distant cannon fire can be heard from time to time, but there is no lightening, thunder, or sound of generators. It is Sunday night, and the Fun Days have ended. They will occur again next year in June at a place to be determined. We hope to be there -- it was a great crowd of people that attended this rally, and we expect most of them will be back next year.