It was spring time in Muskogee, Oklahoma this past weekend where visitors and residents celebrated their annual Azalea Festival. My weekend started a bit early with guest speaking at Dr. David Jones’ rotary group on Thursday afternoon. I did my best to entertain the group and as always, I enjoyed a round of fun unique questions after my presentation. Thank you to Dr. Jones as well as Kathy Roth, videographer for providing me a short clip from the pageant as a visual aid. It was my second trip to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame where the rotary group is located but thankfully this trip was accompanied by sunshine instead of pouring rain like a few weeks ago! Thank you to the Rotarians of Muskogee for allowing me to speak and a wonderful meal to boot!
Friday brought dark heavy rain clouds that seemed to hover over our area but regardless, I ventured Northeast back to the town of Muskogee to officially begin my festival celebration. I was thrilled to be able to tour the Honor Heights city park with a very knowledgeable tour guide, Dr. Jones! While I was told the azaleas had reached their peak the previous weekend, it seemed as if the rain was bringing out the brightest and boldest colors of the season. It was truly beautiful and put me in spring fever!
That evening, I attended the Jones’ annual azalea party along with many of their closest friends. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and mingle with their friends but I must say the highlight was the dynamic food of Dr. Jones’ wife, Debra. I migrated to the food table more than a few times to sample the fruit and chocolate dip, chips and salsa, carrot cake, deviled eggs and more. Great food and good people made for a delightful evening at the Jones’. A big thank you to them for opening their home to me for the night and treating me so extremely well…Especially Debra for her heavenly vanilla lattes early in the morning!
It wasn’t long before I was out the door Saturday morning and heading to downtown Muskogee for the big parade. Many of the parades I’ve participated in the past have been full of rodeo royalty, whereas this parade featured only one cowboy hat…and it happened to be white with a tiara on top. The crowd seemed to truly enjoy the event and I was delighted to see them in return! My experience wouldn’t have been complete without the help of John Griffin of Griffin Food Company as my very capable chauffer in his green convertible. There were a few moments I thought I might fly out the back during some stops and starts but what else to you expect when you have the mile long entries of Shriners ahead of you riding anything from go-carts to horses!
After the parade I spent some time signing autographs and taste-testing chili at the Griffin Food Company booth at the chili cook-off. There many have been dozens of types of chili but by far the best was that of Griffin’s, which I smelled while signing tear sheets for a couple hours and resisted the urge to chow down! My theory - You start spelling your name wrong and you are due in for some delicious food! I was thrilled to be apart of the festivities and meet many of the people who call Muskogee home as well as the great people of Griffin Foods.
Thank you to the Jones’ and John Griffin for their hospitality and generosity. I had a wonderful weekend in Muskogee and you can see for yourself in the April photo album. Thank you Dr. Jones for the great photos you caught throughout the day! I should be hiring you to just follow me around this year! I better wrap this up and get to work on packing my suitcase. Tomorrow brings a 10am flight to Evans, Georgia and the beginning of a week of hard work and great fun! I can’t wait and I’ll be sharing it with you all as soon as I can! Until next time, take care and God Bless!
Jamie, darlin'! It was so good to see you at the high school rodeo! Your blog entries are great. We enjoy reading about all your wonderful adventures. I found some more white jeans for you; been passing them on to your mom (and last night, to your Dad, at Posse turnout). Dakota and Halia were the most recent donors to your "dying" cause--enjoy! Love you, Cheryl :-)
Posted by: Roy & Cheryl | April 22, 2009 at 02:36 PM