Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Raining On Their Parade" Story

Prelude: I'm a little sad today. Baseball has ended for me, since the Phittin' Phils lost 1-0 last night to the Cardinals. Good game, but you can't win if you don't score any runs, and the Phils haven't been doing that lately. Good season, but not a World Series Ring. Maybe next year. Can hardly wait!

It was an ordinary day. Seems that lately ordinary means that it is either cloudy, raining or overcast with a light mist falling. So today must be ordinary. But, I still can hear the music. Right over the hill from me, about maybe 500 yards away from my front door, are 35,000 people braving the crummy weather. Listening to their favorite country musicians at the annual FallFest which is held at Overlook Community Park. Yesterday they went around our neighborhood and placed signs along the street stating that there was NO PARKING on Sunday, the day of the concert. And, nobody parked in our neighborhood. I must admit that for the last few years, during FallFest, the crowd is extremely well behaved and courteous of the neighbors who border the park. This year's lineup of performers included Bradley Gaskin, Rodney Atkins, Lauren Alaina, Steel Magnolia and Randy Houser. I enjoy listening to some country music, but am not a huge fan. Tell you the truth, I only ever heard of Steel Magnolia and Lauren Alaina. The latter I heard of because she came in second this year on American Idol, and I enjoy watching that show. Last night I read in the paper that Joshua Scott Jones, one of the two performers in the group Steel Magnolia, had just entered a treatment center for drug and alcohol abuse. His girlfriend, Meghan Linsey, the other half of the duo, performed by herself today and received a nice reception when introduced. At least that is what I read. No way was I heading down to sit in the rain just for a couple of hours to hear artists I had never heard of before. The park opened at 8:00 AM so that you could place your chairs and blankets near the stage. Concert started at noon and about 6:00 PM I no longer heard and felt the beat of the large bass speakers. Long day to be sitting in the drizzle and cold weather. Local radio station WIOV-FM sponsored the event which was free to anyone who enjoys country music. Now if they could only get Jimmy Buffett to sing a few of his country songs, I would be one of the first in line at 8:00 AM to get a good seat. Even in the crummy weather. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos that follow were taken by Lancaster Newspapers Justin David Graybill

View from over the hill in front of my house of the 35,000 people who came to Overlook Park for FallFest.