A Chester Greenwood Adventure

Saturday was Chester Greenwood Day, a big event here in Farmington. For those who aren’t up on their Farmington history, Chester Greenwood invented earmuffs right here in our cozy town back in 1873 (at the ripe old age of 15!). It became quite the cottage industry here, and they still commemorate him each year with a parade. (Where everyone and everything wears earmuffs. I am not making this up. Daniela noted that one reason I might like Farmington is because it feels a lot like the Punxsutawney portrayed in Groundhog Day. She’s not wrong. Swap out Phil for Earmuffs, and you’ve pretty much got it.)

We commemorated the day with quite the packed schedule. First up was going off to get a tree. We always go to Gooley’s Tree Farm every year. Yes, you could just buy a tree that’s already been cut, but you can do that pretty much anywhere. I like to go pick out a tree that’s still growing, and then kill it personally. It really brings in the Christmas spirit. Also, they have cider and cocoa and cookies. Also also, they hide pickle ornaments in their trees, and if you find one, you win a candy bag. (After going for over a decade, we finally found one. MC did, and she was ecstatic.)

This year we were tight on time, so we had to go to a spot of the farm that was pretty picked over, but I was set on making it work. After combing through the entire area, we found a tree that looked perfect. It was only once we started to saw it down that we realize it might be a bit . . . big. (Seriously. That trunk was probably over 6 inches wide!) It took three of us to get it down to the main store, and by that time, I was pretty sure this wasn’t something I wanted to put on the roof of my Civic. So we phoned a friend with a truck (FWAT), who graciously agreed to drive it home for us later that day. (This is a major reason why I don’t have a truck. Better to call a FWAT than be a FWAT, is what I say.)

With that done, we were off to see the parade. The girls marched with the nordic teams, and Denisa and I just spectated. (Really big parade this year. We were both surprised at how many more people were involved.) We went from there to do the Taste of Farmington. (Always a favorite. You pay $10 and get to go to all the restaurants downtown and get something from each of them. Honestly, you end up eating sooooooo muuuuuuuuuch fooooooood. We went around with a group, which made it even more entertaining. (My favorite was the Beaver Lodge at UMF, which always offers a really good spread, though B&B Bakery was a close second.)

In the middle of that, Daniela had a Fiddler’s concert at the Festival of Trees, so we went off to watch her perform. (She did great, as always.)

You would think that after all of that, we would be more than tired enough to call it a day, but Denisa and I headed off in the evening to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra in Waterville. This was a concert I only heard about at the last minute, when a friend let me know he had extra tickets for sale. I love Glenn Miller, so I was all over that, and I wasn’t disappointed. Two hours of big band, with plenty of great Christmas arrangements thrown in? Great stuff.

So all told, we were going from 9 in the morning until 10 at night. It was a jam packed day, but it was also a really fun one.

I for one, credit the earmuff.