Earlier this week I drove past the Alliant Energy Center, and it reminded me of what it looked like leading up to the county fair in the summer. Amusement rides were being assembled, large tents and numerous smaller ones were staked into the ground, with sound stages being erected for what will doubtless be a huge event come Memorial Day Weekend. I am certain that the growing excitement over the ‘The World’s Largest Brat Fest’ will produce huge turnouts of people and lots of money raised for various causes. Willow Island will be alive with smiles and brats!
As I motored along John Nolen Drive, I really wanted to be enthused about the brat-fest idea as much as all those in attendance would be in just a couple of days. It is not that I do not enjoy a brat, as I do love to load them up with raw onion and the fixings like everyone else. But I recall the days when the brat fest was smaller, simpler, and more pleasant to participate in when on the West side of the city.
Many years ago, when I lived on Tree Lane it was a Memorial Day habit of going to each brat fest held at the Sentry Food Store at the corner of Midvale and University. James and I would park the car and grab a couple brats, greet the celebrity on hand who was helping, and sit down to eat. We often ran into someone we knew, chatted for a while, and had a pleasant time. It was a relaxing, easy, and fun thing to do.
Then something happened, and the small event had to be ‘bigger and better’. No longer could the small event be enough, instead there had to be a huge venue, carnival, games, and endless enticements like fireworks to lure folks into buying a brat and spending hours of time and money. When the brat fest ceased to be a parking lot event I stopped going. I am not a curmudgeon, or uneasy in large crowds. Quite the opposite on both counts. But I have a negative reaction to the idea that everything must be bigger to be better.
I always cheer on the groups that work at this event for the proceeds that help non-profits. But the whole idea of BIG IS BEST baffles me. Based on the size of the crowds that attend each year at ‘the coliseum’ I fully understand I am in the minority. (Shocked!) Based on all those who I suspect drove along and viewed the work for the event and recalled the smaller and more pleasant version from days gone by, well, I suspect I am in the mainstream.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 