June 24, 2004
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Brick House Party
Does your hometown have a summer party? I'm trying to remember whether I've noticed this trend happening outside the region I grew up in. I know that Louisville has the Kentucky Derby Festival, but somehow that doesn't really count. It's just a little too polished and professional. The parties that Little Rock, Hot Springs, Hope, Tulsa, and OKC throw every year are raucous sprawling events with a lot of laughter and amateur fun. They have names like Riverfest or Watermelon Festival and shine the spotlight on local talent, interests, and products.
You may never have heard of my home town. It's just a small dot on a map, the place you exit Interstate I-30 if you're traveling to Hot Springs National Park. But you've seen the product Malvern, Arkansas is famous for. We make bricks. The Acme brick company makes more brick than any other plant in the world. We supply bricks to every state of the Union. If you are living in a brick house, that brick probably came from my backyard.
So when it became popular a couple decades ago for towns and cities to plan an annual party, Malvern had little choice. The obvious theme here is ... bricks. Ever try to build a party around a brick? There are the contests (dog that looks most like a brick) and the art (dress up a brick to resemble a famous person - I understand that this year's contestants have entered a great many sculptures of President Bush with the brick playing the part of his head.) My favorite part of the weekend is the music which is performed continually on the courthouse lawn. Just bring your lawn chair and settle back for live bluegrass, country, rock - you name it there's a band out there playing it. I have a special fondness for the down-home garage band flavor of the music at the brickfest. 23 years ago, I was in high school when the first Brickfest took place. And I had my own garage band. We called ourselves "Stardust." The strengths of our group lay in the tight harmony my sister and I could do at the drop of a downbeat, and the guitar playing of D J Horton who is still one of the more amazing instrumentalists I've ever had the privilege of performing with.
I don't sing much these days. I'm one of the people in lawn chairs saying, "no, no, stop that" to kids running around the grass. But when I look at that stage, I see the ghosts of kids from that first brick house party. The Brickfest begins today and will have events through Sunday.
Comments (19)
sounds fun! I don't have anything interesting that goes on in my town or the surrounding areas..actually they are cities..not towns..there is a difference..I wish I could survive out in the "country" in a town..attent strawberry festivals,watermelon festivals..etc..
You were a rock star? Damn the man! I guess that makes me a 'groupie'.... But wait I have never seen your show! That's it, next year you have to get back up on stage and the whole Crew will converge upon the BrickFest!
HA!
Sail on... sail on!!!
We have Lucky Days here...the theme of it appears to be getting as drunk as possible (beer garden is the first thing that sets up) for two and a half days, altho we do have bed races (those people are mostly drunk, as are the spectators), a parade (partial sobriety there, because the kids love it), a mediallion hunt with clues (a kid wins it every year because everyone else is too drunk to figure out the clues), street dance (mixture of crazy teenagers who are sober and old people who aren't)...
Best thing about it is it's over my birthday, so the Lucky Days thing is just a ruse. It's all about ME! lol
Seriously, though...I'd never seen that until we moved up here. Every single little town has one here. Frederic Family Days was last weekend. This coming weekend is the Milltown Fishermans Party. Don't have to travel far on any weekend to go to one. It's a neat thing, bringing the town together like that.
Do they open the festival with "She's a Brick... House... "???
We have something called Canoe Carnival. It's a parade... on canoes. Loads of fun.
Haven't been here in a while- site looks great! We don't have an annual party, but we do have Pot-luck suppers every Saturday year round. Brickfest does sound like fun. Blessings Abound
Sounds like so much fun! We have lots of festivals around here - usually centered around ethnic groups: The Welsh, the Irish, the Italian and the Polish. Lots of good food!
Yeah... I grew up in Eau Claire, WI and they have several festivals and such
Please tell me that they have a drunken, wet t-shirt contest called the Brick House Pageant! How could they resist? Of course they may want to wait until the wee hours for that one.
That sounds really wonderful. It's kinda hard to get people to pay attention to something like that in a big city suburb, but our town hall tries real hard. Banners come up every year around the 4th. It's kinda sad that I don't even remember the name of the festival. Though I suppose it would have to be Independence day festival...which certainly doesn't count as a watermelon festival. I do listen to the Watermelon crawl song though...does that count? =P
Ohhh...it sounds like so much fun! I wish I was there....I would love that. Southern tradition has always facinated me...since I'm a western girl, and have never traveled out of the northwest..( except to LA and South Dakota..where my mom lives..)
In Medford, the town I grew up in, we had the Pear Blossom Festival. Harry and David are located there..so I guess that's the big thing...it was always pretty fun..but bigger than I think a small town festival should be. Maybe it's the whole 'grass is always greener' thing..I don't know..
I hope you and the boys have a wonderful time!
Much love to you.
xoxo
me
Vero Beach is the perfect size for it, but I don't think we have any such thing here. However, there IS a Froglegs Festival in Fellsmere that's a lot of fun.
You know, you just left an area where you weren't far from a number of these festivals. I recall going to a multitude of them as a child. The Honey Festival in Lebanon, YUM! All those sweet delictibles just calling my name, from funnel cakes to biscuits with honey butter. And the lady or guy in the bee tent letting bees swarm all over as they make a beard out of them! eeeeeewwwwwwww, scared me
In Centerville there was the Pumpkin Festival and at Ceasar's Creek they have the Renaissance Festival (this is in Waynesville not far from Lebanon) and some place close was the Pork Festival. The Strawberry Fest was near too, and I remember going to a number of Classic Car shows around the area. Not sure what's happened to me that I rarely attend any of these anymore. I like the roasted seeds at the Pumkin Fest and all the goodies made from the strawberries were wonderful. At most all of these there are a number of those bands playng the different types of music.
Also, in Franklin there is River Days every year, they block off the streets and have bands and games and booths. Then right next to it in Carlisle is Railroad Days and they do the same, with bands, music and a lot of yummies.
Yeah, I love the things that small towns do. I think Dread's idea is a good one though, you get that band together for next year so we can all come see the Wet T-shirt Brick House Pageant (which I will NOT be in
) and listen to you sing. 
Glad you're enjoying being 'home', even if only for a while.
hugs and love,
Deb
I remember that first Brickfest. Lots of fun! And, remember the ride through downtown, hauling the drumset, with DJ riding in the back of the truck drumming all the way from mom's house to the courthouse? What a trip that was!
OH, do take pics and show. I enjoy small town festivities like that. I am in a big-ish city so we dont have things like that, only within each little community.
Your mom was asking me today if I'd been to the festival.
Have fun.
Did ya sing "She's a briiick... haaawwz.."? Because, that's all I think of everytime I come across the title of this blog.
Terri's Brick House?
o_O
actually, our house's bricks came from south of the border (the builders here use cheaper Mexican bricks, dang it).
Well I have just returned from the Brickfest.. I had the pleasure or pain of judging the Baby Brickfest pageant. It was neat sitting on the courthouse lawn thinking of all the memories of the past. I was sad that I had to leave and didn't get to stay and listen to all the talent. You left out that Rick Dial who has been in SLING BLADE.... Generals Daughter.... and several other big hollywood movies is a local Malvernite that performs in his local rock group on Saturday night. Hope yall are having a good time... I remembered that I sang in the talent contest back in 88 but was beat out by a one STACY KELLY.....
What is brick made from? Its one of those things that just are, you know I have no idea. Ground up rock I suppose.
I suppose a Brickfest is very different from, say, a flower festival where delicate flowers decorate everything, or garlic, where everything you eat is flavoured with it. Perhaps closer to a Scottish caber tossing contest where people hurl lampposts and tree trunks around. Oh I'm rambling.
Sorry 
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