The "May The Force Be With You!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Ordinary, but packed full of really neat things I did. Carol and I recently visited our traveling friends, Jerry and Just Sue, who live in State College, PA. We had every intention of going to the State College Art Show during our visit, but ended doing just about everything except that. We arose Saturday morning and had a great breakfast waiting for us, prepared by our hostess Sue. Hey, wait a minute, I'll make this easy for you to visualize by showing you photos as I tell you about our day. Ready? Just follow along ...................

Well, this is Sue's breakfast that she prepared for us. One of my all-time favorite breakfast meals. Finnish pancakes! Sorry I didn't take the photo when she first put the plate on the table, but I was afraid if I took time to take the photo then, the pancakes would be gone before I got any. As it was, as soon as I snapped this shot, Sue ate the last Finnish pancake on the plate.

Mid-morning Jerry, Sue, Carol and I made a decision to visit "The Peoples Choice Festival" instead of walking around the streets of State College looking at all the artwork that is presented there. "The Peoples Choice Festival" is held at the same time as the show in State College, but is located on the Pennsylvania Military Museum ground in Boalsburg, about a 15 minute drive from State College. The grounds were covered with 185 artisans' tents and wares.

An extremely large variety of art work is found in the many tents that line the edge of the art show. The following photos show just a few of the large variety. Miniature carved wooden santas are always one of my favorites.

Ceramic miniature carrots, bananas and pea pods.

Decorated Ukrainain eggs.

One of the working artists at the show, Roy, is finishing a porcelain piece.

Located in the center of the art show are a few tents where they hold concerts and special events during the day. As we finished viewing the artwork we sat in one of the tents to cool off and found we were soon entertained by The Black Cat Belly Dance Troupe from State College. Girls and women of all ages, as well as one young guy, entertained us with Egyptian style dances for about an hour. My eyes were entirely exhausted when they were finished.

Naturally, one of the dancers searched for me after the event so she could have her photo taken with me. Pretty neat top, huh? And her's isn't too bad either!

For an early supper we visited Doan's Bones for barbecued ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. This place is located next to Whipple's Dam State Park where we at times head to sit on the sandy beach and swim in the freezing cold water.

Early evening we traveled to the ball field which is directly next to Penn State's football stadium. Went to watch a single "A" game between the Spikes from Penn State and the Cyclones from Brooklyn, NY. The Spikes are affiliated with the Pirates while the Cyclones are affliated with the Mets. Medlar Field at Lubrano Stadium is a great place to watch a summer baseball game with the mountains in the distance behind the outfield fence.

Part way through the game I caught a foul ball. Gave it to my wife and told her to put it in her pocketbook so I could take it home. As the game progressed, I noticed this young boy with his glove sitting in the empty chairs to my right just waiting for another foul ball. I remembered how neat it was to get a ball when I was a young boy, so I told Carol to give me the ball from her purse. Got the boy's attention and held up the ball, motioning for him to come over to me. He wasn't sure, but he came over and I handed the ball to him. He looked at me and went back to his seat. Half an hour later I felt a tap on my shoulder and here was the young boy, smiling at me. "Thanks, for the ball mister," he said. "Can I take a photo of you with the ball?" I asked him. I know he was excited to get the ball after seeing the big smile on his face. I know I would have quickly forgotten the ball, but I'm sure I will never forget the big smile I got with my camera.

Tonight's game was "Star Wars Night" with special appearances from most of the Star Wars characters. During the inning breaks the characters battled it out on the field in front of us. Here a few of the young boys wait to have their photo taken with a Storm Trooper. When they were done, I naturally had to have my photo taken with the trooper as well as 5 other characters. This was alledgely for my grandson. Check out the next couple of photos.

The "Good Guy", Luke Skywalker. After Carol took the photo, Luke said, "Tell your grandson that I said, 'May The Force Be With You'."

And, naturally Luke's arch-enemy, Darth Vader. Do I look scared?

Finished the day with a visit to DQ. I had the peanut-butter Sundae on the left and my wife had the Blizzard.

Busy day, huh? I was pooped! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.