August 12-15 we’re planning a Caribou Cares About Kids party to end all chamber parties and hooplas. On the 12th we’re going to do Xtreme Potato Racing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Downtown. If you missed it in Fort during Potato Blossom, you’ll have a chance to make your potato car right here in Caribou.
For those who made cars and stood out in the sweltering heat with us during Potato Blossom, we’ll have shade, and two tracks to test and race your cars! We have potato gloves and “doorprizes” and Mr. Potato Heads for the winners!
I’ve learned several odd little bits of trivia I feel I need to share. First, Hasbro will only allow you to purchase three Mr. Potato Heads. At the fourth Mr. Potato Head, you’re cut off: indefinitely. Don’t think you can go back a few days later and buy three more. Hasbro is keeping track. So yes, the ladies in the office had to resort to alias to order enough Mr. Potato Heads to give away for each of the category winners: Potato Puffs, Tater Tuffs, Hurried Hashbrowns, Passing by Poutine, Wrinkly Russets, and Best in Show.
I am still trying to come up with good reasons why the limit. I have two little boys. Inevitably if we were Mr. Potato Head enthusiasts, we would need extra eyes or ears, after some were sucked up in the vacuum to great giggling, chewed to a non-sturdy state, or lost under the vast abyss that I used to call the couch. Wouldn’t Hasbro sell me more Mr. Potato Heads without this arbitrary limit? If you think of why this stringent control of Mr. Potato Heads, be sure to drop us a line.
Now, I can’t get into the particulars of Potato Car construction, as I wouldn’t want to give anyone an unfair advantage in their car planning. We do have a rules sheet (the one thing I learned was how many grown men there are who are incredibly interested in the rules of construction, based on their derby car/Cub Scout experiences). Who knew, well now we do, but it was an unexpected lesson in human behaviors. And because we did receive several phone calls before we went to Potato Blossom, the answer is “No, you can’t bring your own potato. You will have to use one of ours provided to you that day.”
Second, how long does Rite dye really stay on your hands if you’re dying unprotected? At least a week without any abrasive accelerations or bleach. Third, how many rubber bands in a tie dye sheet are too many? Roughly 16, after that they become cumbersome and too unwieldy. We’re just sayin’. The day of the tie dying there will not be a rubber band limit on your items!
Fourth, how large is a 48 inch ball really? How many fit in an office with 14-foot ceilings? Seventeen. Floor to ceiling pretty much: this is why the UPS sign hasn’t been on in the last two weeks, we can’t get to it anymore. Bringing me to the next bit of odd trivia I’ve learned: there was a time when we first started doing UPS that everyone in the office, save one person (a male) could have been shipped UPS, as the weight limit is 150 pounds. As we’ve plotted and schemed about hanging the 48-inch balls in the air between the buildings (and it will happen, keep watching) we’ve discovered the largest fishing line weight the locals carry as a matter of course is 90 pounds. Yes, we do have one person in the office we could catch with our newly purchased ball/fishing line. More importantly we could suspend them for the Big Ole Fish TV segment, and then we could ship them UPS anywhere in the continental U.S. for a pretty nominal fee. We wouldn’t even need special brown paper, and yes she’s about the only one left we could ship anywhere. That’s about the extent of the odd trivia items which might come in handy sometime.
On Friday we’re going to tie dye, barbecue, have air brush tattoos, complete with the best psychedelic music and great giveaways for the kids! The Aroostook Republican is going to be putting on a Customer Appreciation Barbecue, as they did last year , and Tattitudes will be here with us too that day. Since last summer we went on a mad hunt through town for T-shirts of any size and any light color, and only came up with about 450 throughout all of Caribou that day. Millers, Quik Print, our basement, you name it, there were no other possible T-shirts to dye that day.
So, since the ladies were planning ahead, I now have 800 white T-shirts in my office: they’re much less cumbersome than the balls. We are planning to not run out, and yes, if you bring some item of your own to dye, you’ll be more than welcome to dye that too.
The parade is going to be Saturday, and no it’s not too late to sign up, though the ladies frown when I say it, do come in, or call and we’ll get you in. Lineup starts at 5 p.m. and the parade begins at 6 p.m. Cary, Kathy and Pines are going to have inflatables and games in the park during the day, and a movie directly following the parade (well, dusk). Sunday afternoon Tess Collins and a group of musicians are going to have a concert at CPAC at 3 p.m. We’re co-sponsoring this event with AMHC, and it’s going to be a fund-raiser for Aroostook Teen Leadership Camp. You don’t want to miss it!
Wendy Landes is executive director of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce & Industry. She can be reached at 498-6156 or via e-mail at wlandes@cariboumaine.net
