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Strollling of the Heifers
Jun. 4th, 2007 07:46 amThis weekend, I took my two hellions to Brattleboro VT. Yes, this is where my parents (doting grandparents of my children) now live, but this weekend's attraction was the Strolling of the Heifers.
The city of 12,000 (or so) people practically triples in population for this event.
The parade started with the heifers themselves; every local 4-H club had their heifers to stroll (many of them actually yearlings). Mostly holsteins, but the occasional guernsey or jersey.
This was followed by a few scholastic marching bands, the local antique tractor preservation club, some "small horses", a Wells-Fargo wagon drawn by a pair of white heavy horses, New Hampshire's world-champion baton twirlers, a few parading family farms, the local circus school, the local school for the deaf (wave your hands in the air!), a synchronized unicycle team (all teenage girls), a clown in a tiny car, Senator Bernie Sanders, another wagon pulled by a pair of Percherons, giant cow floats from Turkey Hill (event sponsors) and a local creamery, and concluded by a hay-bale furnished wagon with a bluegrass band and the local drag queen dancing in a red sequined outfit.
The rest of the day was spent at the fairground, where we got to pet some of the heifers, see some papier-mache sculptures of cows, eat free dairy products, waste money trying to throw a ball at a target to dunk the guy in the cow suit, bounce in a moon-walk, demonstrate Senator Sanders's inability to milk a cow (much laughter, but props for trying), and see what happens when an old agricultural community is invaded by three generations of hippies.
Sunday was spent visiting actual farms, where we pet sheep, got lanolin on our hands, saw 53 head of holsteins in a free-standing stall (I may have just botched that technical term), and bought two leaves of maple candy for the kids to vibrate all the way home.
Worth doing. May do again.
The city of 12,000 (or so) people practically triples in population for this event.
The parade started with the heifers themselves; every local 4-H club had their heifers to stroll (many of them actually yearlings). Mostly holsteins, but the occasional guernsey or jersey.
This was followed by a few scholastic marching bands, the local antique tractor preservation club, some "small horses", a Wells-Fargo wagon drawn by a pair of white heavy horses, New Hampshire's world-champion baton twirlers, a few parading family farms, the local circus school, the local school for the deaf (wave your hands in the air!), a synchronized unicycle team (all teenage girls), a clown in a tiny car, Senator Bernie Sanders, another wagon pulled by a pair of Percherons, giant cow floats from Turkey Hill (event sponsors) and a local creamery, and concluded by a hay-bale furnished wagon with a bluegrass band and the local drag queen dancing in a red sequined outfit.
The rest of the day was spent at the fairground, where we got to pet some of the heifers, see some papier-mache sculptures of cows, eat free dairy products, waste money trying to throw a ball at a target to dunk the guy in the cow suit, bounce in a moon-walk, demonstrate Senator Sanders's inability to milk a cow (much laughter, but props for trying), and see what happens when an old agricultural community is invaded by three generations of hippies.
Sunday was spent visiting actual farms, where we pet sheep, got lanolin on our hands, saw 53 head of holsteins in a free-standing stall (I may have just botched that technical term), and bought two leaves of maple candy for the kids to vibrate all the way home.
Worth doing. May do again.
