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Published: June 29th 2007
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As luck would have it, our last full weekend in Germany was also the weekend that our village was hosting Rheinland Pfalz Tag, a three-day county fair and entertainment spectacular. We started walking downtown at about 3 p.m. The weather was on the cold side, and there was a light, off-and-on rain. We walked past the big SWR TV stage that was filming and broadcasting the live entertainment. We headed for the “Sport and Games” festival which seemed like it would be the funnest area for a 4-year-old. Katherine was just thrilled because we were traveling towards the giant ferris wheel which had been set up for a couple of days, and was visible from our hilltop neighborhood, but had not been running until today.
Katherine really wanted to ride, but it the wheel looked so big, and she looked so small, that I did my best to convince her that riding wasn’t worth it. I think I used the poor weather as an excuse.
I was happy, because the sport and games area had a nut stand, and the warm, sugar-coated almonds were delicious. David and Katherine had fresh crepes from an adjacent stand, and we all know that
crepes make wonderful ferris wheel distractions.
Not many sports or games were set up on the field. (We would find out why later.) But there was a soccer goal game that kids (and some adults) were lining up to play.
We passed by the RPR1 (a radio station) stage and headed to the stage and activity area for firefighters and police. They had a cute (and free) police motorcycle ride set up, but Katherine didn’t want to ride. (Sure, safe rides that stay on the ground don’t interest her, but giant ferris wheels do?) We looked at some of the exhibits and police vehicles on display.
Then we headed back to the Sport and Games field just as planes were dropping skydivers. That’s the reason why the field was cleared! They were waiting for skydivers/parachutists to land during the official opening ceremony at 6 p.m.! I was a little worried about the jumpers. The weather was windy, and David told us a story about some kind of parachutists in the States who got so off course they couldn’t even land in the correct base. But all of the jumpers landed in the field. None of them crashed into the audience,
although a couple of times I thought they were headed straight toward me.
We left the opening ceremony and walked through a street of community information booths. Almost all were giving out balloons and/or candy. Because of the bad weather, not many people were out, so the people at the stalls were delighted to see Katherine, and gave her lots of goodies.
We went out to dinner at a nice warm, indoor restaurant, where Katherine ordered snail soup and loved it (so much so that she didn’t have room for her tortellini.)
We considered going home afterwards, but after a filling, warm meal, we felt good enough to brave the weather again, and we returned to the police and firefighters stage to see the Elvis Impersonator. He was great. I wouldn’t have known he was German, except that he spoke German between songs. The audience had a great time, even though we had to huddle together under a tent for warmth.
I know that when I was a kid, I used to make fun of Elvis, and I thought Graceland was lame. But now, as an adult, I have to give Elvis, Graceland, and my hometown credit. Elvis music really
is great music, and it’s loved throughout the world. And yes, Graceland is tacky, but it’s the kind of nostalgic tackiness I love. I mean, any over-indulgent ridiculously opulent house can be featured on MTV Cribs, but Graceland has a special charm. When I see it, I get the feeling that Elvis was happy there. He didn’t need tons of land, tons of room, and tons of money to make himself happy, he just needed a jungle room, and a blue and yellow room (where everything is blue and yellow.)
And Memphis is a great city full of great music and a great history. I think that the greatest things to happen to music over the last 100 years can be traced back to Memphis or the delta region in general. (The Beatles were pretty big, and they weren’t from Memphis, but without Elvis, there wouldn’t have been any Beatles, and without Memphis Blues, there wouldn’t have been an Elvis.)
Anyway, I’m proud of Memphis, and I felt especially proud to be a Memphian while I was sitting in the audience listening to the German Elvis impersonator. It was funny to hear him do a song perfectly, and then end it with “Danke schon, thank you very much.” And I liked the way he explained the songs and lyrics in German before he sang them. Good times.
After the show, we headed home. A steep climb for someone pregnant, but no worries, my husband had carried a folding stool for me, so I could sit and rest along the way.
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