Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween Hilarity

Every other Saturday, Charlie and Deborah go all out to make sure their friends have a good time at Bluegrass pickin’ sessions in their Coker Creek Saloon -- and all without the help of alcoholic lubricants.

How they manage to provide food and fun so many days of the year is beyond me. Charlie seems to never stop building and restoring his property. This, in addition to their very active involvement in the Antique Automobile Club of America in which Charlie is a Grand National winner and judge would make the average couple too pooped to pop. It all energizes Charlie and Deborah; they redefine country hospitality and work ethic. They play hard and work even harder.

Musicians, young and old, come from miles around just for the love of playing, and play their hearts out for three hours. We pay them in food cooked by the attendees, but most musicians also contribute what they’ve cooked. It’s like what we used to call a fais do-do on the bayou, just good clean family fun. The youngest musician is fifteen; I don’t even want to hazard a guess as to the age of Charlie Harper, named “Mr. Bluegrass” by the governor of Tennessee because of his many years’ commitment to the art of Tennessee Bluegrass.

This is the third Bluegrass Halloween that we’ve attended at Deborah and Charlie’s Saloon. Now, I know that some people have religious objections to celebrating October 31, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for that date, as my son, Scott, was born on what he called “Hadoweenda.” I never could resist the temptation to make my life easier by having “trick or treating” as Scott’s birthday party activity. And the loot the kids got substituted for favors – cheap and easy. Why resist?

It’s always a challenge to find the right costume when you’re as cheap as I am. One year, I dressed Scott in pajamas to which I sewed a tail l and a towel tummy, and called him “The Diggingest Dog.” For Richard’s costume this year, I found a Gepetto outfit on deep discount because it was missing the Pinocchio companion costume. Costuming me on the cheap presents special challenges because I don’t have an “off-the-rack” body, but also on deep discount was a partial puppet costume with the marionette string rigging. We tied the strings to my arms and legs, and let Richard pretend -- just for one night -- that he was controlling me by pulling any strings other than my heart strings.

Deborah decked herself out as a darling angel and Charlie was Sheriff Schnoz. Connie came as Berl Ives’ “Most Wonderful Toy,” while Nancy arrived as an enhanced version of her favorite self, an elegantly outfitted horsewoman. Move over Big Valley’s Audra! Harriet was hilarious describing how she turned her one-dollar strawberry costume from the thrift store into the ladybug costume that she had on. Her husband masqueraded as a gorilla that walked around sticking a banana up his nose.

The music was marvelous. The crowd was happy. The food was fantastic. Richard must have been feeling somewhat Jewish when he chose the dessert he’d make. Everyone raved about his apricot kugel. He then traded his yarmulke for a sombrero to make the main dish which combined dairy and meat in a complex-flavored topping for tortilla chips.

We ate; we posed; the musicians played; and we all returned to our childhoods – for just one night of food, fantasy, and fun.