12 October 2003 / Sunday - I went down the street to Donald's store to see if he had any cream donuts or anything because I was starved -- I hadn't been there in a few weeks. As usual he was on his cell phone -- talking to a pal of his, Tom, who is visiting someone in Arizona -- according to reports, Tom recently got shot in the leg playing something or other out there in the wild and woolly west!
This is the same Tom who was supposed to cut a couple weedy trees down in the small back yard last year but stopped when he got to the biggest one -- and was so careful when the branches fell off the small trees he did cut down that my 3 garages have been without power for almost a year because a branch pulled a wire out of the garage wall, and I'll have to remedy that one of these days -- he then neatly stacked all the freekin logs along the curb right where I park my Festiva, so I couldn't even get into the car! -- but these are other stories that I mentioned before a couple times in my YES pages! I plan on cutting the damn remaining tree down myself when I can get a new chain saw -- my old one didn't work for some reason, and I can't seem to find anyone to help me do the deed, which is about par for the course! Isn't that what friends are for? Dream on!
I did not know that today was his annual street festival -- I knew he had one a couple years ago because I saw the pic of it in his store -- it has apparently been an annual event for many years already, and I quite accidently found out about this one when I went to his store this morning -- I guess you could say I crashed his party!
Boy, was I glad I got myself out of the house for a few hours (from about 13 - 18:30h) just to enjoy myself -- had a couple plates of salads, roast wurst, chips, a couple beers, cola and vodka -- and two absolutely yummy lobster tails! Donald Jr. saved me some cuttings of the beef for the cats, and they munched it up when I went home, two blocks away, to get fresh batteries for my camera and a couple dozen teddy bears to hand out to the kids and whoever else wanted one -- and the biker barbie ornament that I gave to that kewl gal.
** CLICK thumbnails for a larger image, which opens in a new browser window for convenience -- viewers can then grab the photos which interest them and print them
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Donald's shop and surrounding buildings |
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Donald's shop |
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Don on the cell phone, as usual |
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looking across the street at his annual street festival |
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close up of the sign on the van |
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some of the bikes standing along the path beside Don's corner property at this entrance to Trenton |
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more bikes |
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and yet more bikes |
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a kewl Harley |
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another kewl Harley-Davidson |
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yet another Harley bike |
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the live entertainment tent |
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guitar, harmonica and vocals entertained the guests |
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main tent on left, buffet food area in right background |
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closer view of food area |
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the main buffet -- hot dogs, burgers, lobster, salads, beef, drinks, chips |
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view of beef roasting over a charcoal fire |  |
close up of beef roasting |
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beef finally ready for slicing |
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Donald Jr. and his girl friend -- and four more trays full of yummy lobster tails! Anybody for a piece of tail? |
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Halloween theme Harley shirt -- Daytona Beach |
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three kewl Harley dudes |
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adding this years art work to the underside of the main tent -- I even added Sonny, the SunCat on one of the flaps! |
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back at the store Don is serving a tray of fabulous lobster tails -- one of 10 pans full! The others were available across the street |
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Don and some pals beside the shop |
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Butch, with his really kewl Viet Nam Vets MC jacket |
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Butch is NJ State President of that MC |
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This gal had some really kewl tattoos -- should I have asked to take pics of the entire images? |
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and these too! Hey, I bet she has more? I gave her a Hallmark Harley-Davidson Barbie ornament -- mint in box, of course! |
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the commemorative cups -- Capital City NJ Riders Poke R Pig Roast 2003 |
I was too busy taking pics and munching that I didn't have time to take notes on who was who -- some are regulars whom I've seen at his shop, while most of the others I saw for the first time -- sorry about that.
As I finally headed back to the apartment to start processing the pics and doing this story it dawned on me that Donald is sort-of the only person who makes this neighborhood worthwhile and interesting -- it is always fun to stop by his store, usually early in the morning around 6h, for coffee and cream donuts or whatever to munch on after working at the computer all night long, until sunrise, as I usually seem to! He always has stories about his 60 or so years at the same location -- the old time Trenton business people who had family mansions nearby, local politicians over the years, the comings and goings of the local street people, the trips his son frequently makes, his excursions to the casinos in Atlantic City, and anything important that happens in Trenton -- he knows just about everybody and he often has a cynical wit when talking about them -- even the name for his street festival is a good example!
Thanks Donald, Donald Jr., and the others who organized the event -- you made my day! Fun was had by all on a warm and sunny Indian Summer October day!
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