The last day of the 2012 Washington State Fair was
Sunday, September 23. For me, this year the fair was all about music and
dancing. It started with a fun band of crazy dancers for a flash mob on opening
day (see previous 9/9/12 blog). That pretty much set the rhythm of the rest
of the fair.
The following Sunday, John and I
had barely put our suitcases down from a five-hour drive home across smoky from
wildfires Washington when a friend offered us free tickets to the Enrique
Iglesias concert at the fair.
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| Enrique Iglesias |
We giddy upped downtown for a concert full of
surprises, and although the audience was definitely younger than us, I knew a
lot of the songs from Zumba. The Spanish/Filipino heart throb, like his father
before him, had the girls swooning. I had eaten breakfast with Sarah and John at
WSU that morning, enjoyed a concert with John that night, and then blew out the
candles on my birthday cake at home after the concert.
My third visit to the fair was
for another concert, the Doobie Brothers. John's cancelled business trip meant we had to scramble for tickets at the last minute, but we got two in row two. Don Felder, a former
Eagle, and his new band kicked off the concert. Hotel California, Already Gone, Life in the Fast Lane, Witchy Woman
and other songs from our younger days spilled over the rockin’ audience in the Grand
Stand.
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| Don Felder, from The Eagles. |
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| The Doobie Brothers! |
Then the Doobie Brothers took
the stage. The audience was up on its feet again as we Listen(ed) to the Music. They played my favorite hits: Black Water, Long Train Running, China
Grove, Takin’ It to the Streets, as we sang out loud and danced. The level
of musicianship of Don Felder’s band and The Doobie Brothers was amazing. I saw the Doobies when I was in college. I feel so lucky that I got to see
them again with John this time.
More music and dancing drew me
through the turnstiles of the Gold Gate for the fourth time on Friday. My
friend Vicki and I lucked out, finding a rare, free parking space on the street. As
we walked toward the fairgrounds, she felt self-conscious wearing a hot pink jacket.
I told her not to worry. People weren’t looking at her pink jacket. My crazy
dancin’ pants were a much bigger distraction.
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| My crazy dancin' pants |
In the VIP tent we met up with 170 other flash mobbing Pitbull fans dressed in pink and ready to dance! There
were a few brave men sprinkled in with our amazing group of women who share an
enthusiastic love of dancing. The “usual” characters: a duck, a couple of chickens,
a small posse of cowboys, and a bevy of daffodil princesses joined us in the rehearsal.
We laughed and clowned around in
the bleachers while we waited for the signal for us to begin. Then we moved
into our positions in the aisles facing the stage. When the guitar started the
opening notes of “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” we turned to face the audience
with our thumbs hooked in our real or imaginary pockets. Click on link for video: Pitbull flash mob Puyallup fair
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| Rosie, Vicki and I ready to flash mob |
As we danced, people beamed
smiles at us and pulled their phones out to record us. A couple near me tried
to ignore us and find their seats. I warned them they’d be better off just
sitting anywhere right then. We’d be done in 30 seconds. They could find their
real seats then. Just like that we were done!
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| The back of our flash mob t-shirts. |
The 253 Crew (253 is Puyallup’s area code) headed back to the bleachers, but not for long. In a few minutes, the lights
blazed, the music hit us, and Mr. 305 (Miami’s area code), Pitbull took the
stage. He brought us all to our feet and we surged up front to dance for the
rest of the concert.
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| Pitbull, Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide! |
An overwhelmed security guard kept us from getting too
close, but he couldn’t put a lid on our Pitbull-mania. At Zumba that morning, our
teachers had warmed us up for the concert with a full hour of Pitbull songs: I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho), Give Me
Everything, Back in Time. Now we were salsa-ing, samba-ing, shimmying and
dancing in the moonlight to Pitbull, Mr. Worldwide, live! What an unforgettable,
wild night shared with my sassy Zumba girlfriends.
My fifth, and last trip to the
fair was to flash mob again on the closing day of the fair. Each time, the mob
changed—different dancers, different schedules, different locations. This
time I disguised myself as just another mild mannered fairgoer by standing in the scone line
and fake texting on my phone. Fellow mobber, Linda, kept an eye out for where
the mob leaders were so we’d be in the right place, at the right time. It was easy
to spot the big characters, especially the duck.
It was really packed, so I was a
little worried about how the crowd would get out of our way when we started
dancing, but it worked. The sea of fairgoers parted and we did our dance. We
“got our happy on” and the impromptu, smiling audience did too. Click on link for video: Closing day flash mob
It was the perfect finishing
touch to wrap up the final flash mob with a rousing chorus of Do the Puyallup:
All the people and the animals
down at the fair,
They do the Puyallup like they didn’t have a care
And it looks like so much fun to do
I think I’m gonna learn how to do it too.
They do the Puyallup like they didn’t have a care
And it looks like so much fun to do
I think I’m gonna learn how to do it too.
Oh you can do it at a trot,
You can do it at a gallop,
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.
Do the Puyallup!
You can do it real slow so your heart won't palpitate.
Just don't be late.
Do the Puyallup!
Laura Keolanui
Stark is finishing up the last of the baker’s dozen of fair scones and recovering. She can be
reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.
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