I love Oshkosh. As of today, July 28th, to Sunday August 3rd, aeronautical aficionados are swarming over Oshkosh. The annual Experimental Aircraft Association Convention in Oshkosh brings out all the planeomaniacs. The town turns into a city and the sky is full of every type of aero-vehicle imaginable. Harrison Ford and John Travolta will be flying in for the action. Our kids are there right now and I wish I could be, too.
This Oshkosh EAA gathering is the world's largest general aviation get-together. 700,000 annual attendees, more than 10,000 airplanes (including 2,500 showplanes).
Forums and workshops and over 700 exhibitors keep visitors busy, as well as the daily afternoon air shows. Events start at 8:00 a.m. Folks who fly in often set up a tent alongside their plane or curl up under a wing at bedtime. Must be fun to find your way back to your plane - one of 10,000 - after visiting one of the batteries of potties in the middle of the night!
Our son-in-law's cheeks must be tired from all the grinning - he's a private pilot who rebuilt his one-man airplane from the sparkplugs up. I'm betting he gets invited to sleep under a spare wing before midnight tomorrow!
To see a video: http://www.airventure.org/2008/about/spirit_video.html
For those of us who prefer broomstick rides, we unfortunately missed last year's Oshkosh celebration of the publication of the last Harry Potter book, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Backed by the local library, book store, mayor, and merchants, the excitement began early wit
h announced plans to turn Main Street into Diagon Alley. Businesses converted their signs to Potter-related establishments. Costumed children frolicked at library events and Potter-related projects, soon to be joined by their robe-wearing parents.Pottermania took over the outlying communities as the Oshkosh library provided free bus transportation to three rural towns so they
could join in the fun. Families lined up to be sorted into their proper Hogwarts house. The sorting hat (to the right) appointed my son to HufflePuff, he having arrived too late to claim a chair at the Gryffindor table.Costumed actors - including a dastardly Snape - traipsed through Oshkosh, never stepping out of character. THE DAILY PROPHET was distributed, full of news events not known by the muggles amongst us. On the last day, at the magic hour of midnight, Harry Potter's books flew out of the cases so quickly they nearly collided with Dumbledore.
Oshkosh is an amazing place.
Sometimes it's not the landscape of a community, it's the magic it brews and the wonders that come in on the breeze that keep our hearts happy. That's why we're glad our son settled down in Oshkosh, even though it's a long way from our Long Island home.
Thanks to our pal Travis Erwin for instigating this exchange of world-views.
(Apologies for the blurry photos - figured it's better with them than without. I'll work on clarity of images one of these days!)
Write On!
Nan
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14 comments:
Just say Oshgosh is fun.
Neat, Nan! Love the photos- even blurry. What I desperately need is to get sorted!
Hi Nan,
I never knew! I thought Oshkosh was a small factory whrere they made Oshkosh B'Gosh clothes for kids!
Terrie
Attention! Attention!
Our very own pal, Reb,is making her first foray on to the MY town Monday scene. She has a great post about festivals in Edmonton, Albert Canada. http://sibupegasuspower.blogspot.com/
Stop over and see it. the pics are great, too. Reb is known for her great pictures. I think it's a family trait. ;)
Terrie
What a great time to be in Oshkosh! Kudos to your son-in-law for building his own plane. How cool.
My town, the Village of Peninsula, Ohio, also had a Harry Potter Fest last summer. What an amazing event.
Thanks for sharing.
Cool! I knew Oshkosh was cool (home to those excellent overalls has to be) but I never knew all that about it!
This reminds me of the Albuquerque, NM balloon festival, where many hundreds of hot air balloons in every shape imaginable rise daily, over a period of a week or so. I had no idea Oshkosh was so interesting!
I'd have loved to hit that Harry Potter festival. I was with Terrie the name Oshkosh only conjured the thought of kid's clothes.
Nan, that sounds like a wonderful town. I love planes and have a couple of friends that are pilots. Alas bad vision has kept me grounded. The Harry Potter event sounds like it was fun. I love it when the town gets involved in something like that.
Terrie, thanks so much for the link and the kind words. *blush*
I would have LOVED to have been there for the HP party. My kids would have shat themselves walking down "Diagon Alley" and I would have provided the toilet paper to clean themselves with. :D
Never been to Oshgosh but have been to the Dells. We love visiting.
I guess those overalls have become an ambassador for Oshkosh! I didn't know much more about it either.
It is great fun to expand our world each Monday!
Would you believe they don't make Oshkosh clothing in Oshkosh any more? You can go to an outlet mall and buy some Oskosh togs, but the community is reinventing itself since the loss of the Oshkosh clothing factory.
Sometimes disasters lead to far more interesting options. Gotta love towns that come back stronger than ever.
Write ON!
Nan
The air show is wonderful and I would like the Harry Potter festival too!
Yep you are right...fun way to travel! Thanks for sharing with us!
Hugs,
Robyn
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