Tumwater, WA, Fourth of July, 2009, 9:30 AM
Bubble~Trouble
Jusby, heading toward parade route, calls Bubble~Trouble.
“Hi, Jusby. What are you doing? I’m having tea, and then I’m going to get ready.”
“I’m on my way. We’re supposed to be there for the judging.”
“Oh, where should I park?”
“On Linderson, behind the high school. I have no idea. I’m getting dropped off. You need to get over here by the parade area to figure that out.”
Then I stand by the shuttle area for a few minutes and chit-chat with the girl and boy scouts also waiting for a ride. I notice a convertible Corvette checking in, so I walk in front of him and stick out my thumb, hitching a ride.
He lets me in and drives me down toward our spot, #75. On the way he mentions that there’s a clown in his group, a Ringling Brothers Graduate. OF COURSE THERE IS! Her name is Sprout, and her husband has a Corvette that she keeps promising he’ll let us use, but he never does.
How nice that I pull up in a Corvette and see Sprout and Bug standing there!
Later, another Corvette passes us pulling a miniature Corvette on a trailer. Sprout says, “That’s the Corvette we’re going to buy, and paint it to match Steve’s.” Oh, I see how you are! Got yr clown car all picked out, eh?
Across from us a political candidate has convinced a guy to ride a unicycle alongside him. I ask Sprout if she still has her unicycle. She does. I ask if she’s learned how to ride it yet. She hasn’t. I ask if she’s willing to sell it. She isn’t. OMG! I guess I’ve got to build my own clown bike or car or stilts… or WALK!
So, there we were. Three clowns representing an alley of ten. The judges drive past and we smile. Then a shuttle arrives with Stormy and Buzzy. Some time later my phone rings. It’s Bubble~Trouble. She’s parked by the Dollar Store by Trosper and Capital. It’s blocks away from the official parade start and we’re entry number SEVENTY-FIVE! It’s the better part of a mile, but she’s a fast walker, and we’re all reunited before we need to start moving.
We’ve been trying to get our act together for months now so that we could compete in the Paradability Category at the Northwest Festival of Clowns. With some last-minute coaching we agree that Buzzy will yell “Red Nose Brigade” and we’ll respond “Dot Com!” Hoping to drive traffic to the site http://rednosebridge.com And any clown at any time will be encourage to yell “Camera!” and we’ll all go over and pose for the people… maybe encouraging them to put their kid in the shot too.
A very clever strategy for team building, if I do say so myself.
It’ll work on several levels. Firstly , it’ll get us in close proximity of each other on repeated occasions. Secondly, people will more likely take a picture when there are 3 – 6 clowns in the shot than just one. Thirdly, people are extremely likely to keep and share a picture of their kid surrounded by 3- 6 clowns.
It definitely drew people’s attention when we were interested in them. I’ve yet to see any of those pics, but I have faith that they will appear. It absolutely set a precedent that continued through the weekend until late Tuesday night.
Between 11 AM on the 4th of July and 11 PM on the 7th of July, probably more than 50 photographers shot more than 500 frames featuring Jusby.
The parade was a mere pre-amble to what followed.
Professor Buzzy at the DQ, treating us to soft-serve.
“Burgerville Gift Cards: Makes people happier than clowns”, Service with Love from Burgerville, Centralia.
I ordered a 1/2 Pound Colossal Cheeseburger, with chipotle mayo, and a Mocha Perk shake.
We arrived safely in West Linn and the scramble began to find an appropriate venue and companions to watch fireworks. No one was interested in joining us. None of my 500 fcbk’ing friends nor any of the extended family, so we had a vote and chose to go to nearby Lake Oswego, anticipating a moderate sized crowd watching an elegant upper-middle class suburbian display. Parking was easy. We spread out a blanket and began waiting for the sun to go down. The show was scheduled to begin at 9:45 PM. By 10:10 the realization spread through the crowd that we were all
IN THE WRONG PLACE!
We tried to chase down a location for a few minutes but settled on buying our own miniature display.
sparklers… wheee!
