Friday morning was going to be a rush. I had
previously reserved tables and chairs from a rental place in Paris TN, near
Kentucky Lake, so rather than forgo the deposit and rent locally I decided that
I would make the 1 hour drive to pick them up when they opened at 9AM. My wife
Karen had bought what she thought was a great deal... a new LP gas turkey fryer
for $35 from under the sales tent at the local WalMart. Unfortunately it didn't
come with a basket, so it was of little use for the fish frying needs of the
party. Paris had a 24hr Super WalMart, so I was off to look for the accessory
basket before I went to the rental place. Baskets came with the pots, and pots
cost as much as a whole cooker with everything we needed. So I picked up a
complete cooker, along with fresh buns for the BBQ on Saturday. Then it was off
to the rental place to pay the rest of the costs while they loaded the tables
and chairs.
Once back Karen and I unloaded the pickup.
For some strange reason the weather had turned from low 80s to mid 90s. I sweat
just thinking about work, and now I was getting drenched. I made another quick
trip in the pickup to the UT Warehouse to grab up a couple of pop-up tents plus
an LCD projector and movie screen for the night's entertainment. I found a spare
ice chest and Igloo water cooler and nabbed them.
Karen had called the portajohn place the day
before and they were supposed to deliver between 2 and 5PM. I hoped for
earlier... I suspected folks would be arriving soon and drinking would ensue.
She had called the T-shirt printers, they were ready and when I returned she
was off in her car to pick them up.
When we bought our land, it was because my
parents still lived in the old country store on the main road. Our back yards
connected, but our house was far enough away to keep Karen happy but still
close enough to keep an eye on the folks. After their passing I inherited the
old store. After checking Memorial Day weekend to see if the old chest type
freezer still worked (it was empty but had remained plugged in), Tuesday I
called the ice company in Murray KY Dad used to buy from to see if they would
sell a quantity of bags to me. The guy remembered the place and said he'd call
when the truck was in town. Wednesday there was no call. So I called back. The
guy I had talked to had gone to St. Louis to get a part... the Murray machine
was broken and the trucks were having to load at the other plant in Charleston
MO. I was to call back Thursday. So I did. And I talked to the guy and said I
NEED ICE BY FRIDAY MORNING! I gave him directions and the phone number. Shortly
thereafter there was a call back, but this time it wasn't the guy in charge, it
was the gal that knew what was going on. She told me that Martin was on their
route for Friday and she'd call when they were on their way. She asked what was
going on and I told her about MAMBM. Turns out she's part of a group that was
sponsoring a poker run in Kentucky that weekend. All that aside, it was now
Friday and I was still waiting on ice. And toilets.
I connected the utility trailer to my lawn
mower and started moving trash cans, citronella torches, my stereo and other
supplies I had stashed in the store's garage up to the house. Mike (Casper)
rode in while I was struggling with an EZ-Up (ha!) shelter I had borrowed from
UT. We both tried to figure it out, and eventually it became the cover over the
stereo system. During one of the remaining 4 trips back and forth to the
garage, Kurt Bigalke showed up.
I had around 4 cases of beer in the old
refrigerator in the store that luckily still worked too. Kurt seemed mortified
that that was all the beer supply consisted of.
Note to self: Priority One: Beer run.
Additional thoughts: Where are the johns? Where is the ice?
(Photo credit: Kurt J. Bigalke)