Greenbelt Labor Day Parade and the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival, September 7, 2015

Last year I participated in the annual Greenbelt Labor Day Parade for the first time and I still remembered that it was a very hot and humid day. I did it on behalf of the Greenbelt Cooperative Initiative, which is trying to start a few worker-owned cooperatives. (At the time I was tasked with potentially starting a thrift store. When I had problems with finding affordable space, the group suggested that I try running a flea market instead. I not only found difficulty with finding an open space that people can easily access by car or bike or walking, but I would’ve had to deal with two layers of bureaucracy–mainly filling out tons of paperwork on both the local and county levels. I was working on my own to begin with and starting a weekly flea market was way too daunting a task to do alone. Plus I’m dealing with other issues in my life so I decided to resign.)

So this year I didn’t have any parade-related responsibilities. There were a few groups who invited me to march with them but I ended up declining because the memories of the high heat and high humidity were still too fresh in my mind. So this year I brought a folding chair to the parade route and set it up in a shaded area. It wasn’t too bad in the shade at first but, by the end of the parade, the heat had shot up (it ultimately climbed to the high 80’s) so I was very happy that I didn’t participate this year.

The parade consisted of different types of participants. There’s, Solange Hess, who was named as this year’s Greenbelt’s Outstanding Citizen.

There are the police, firefighters, and military units (including ROTC). Some of them march carrying flags, some march playing musical instruments (like bagpipes), and some ride in the latest vehicles.

Then there were the beauty pageant winners. Not only were there people from the Miss Greenbelt pageant but there were also others from another pageant that took place in nearby College Park.

Then there are the various local businesses and community groups, such as the Greenbelt Elementary School PTA.

Greenbelt chapter of the Toastmasters.

Greenbelt Animal Control.

Local Girl Scouts troop.

Local Cub Scouts troop.

Greenbelt Boys and Girls Club.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club.

The Greenbelt Interfaith Leaders Association.

The Mishkan Torah congregation.

Radio Communications.

The New Deal Cafe, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The Greenbelt Theater and the Greenbelt Museum marched together.

The Greenbelt Food Bank.

The Greenbelt Arts Center

Wells Ice Rink, located in nearby College Park.

Members of the Greenbelt Climate Action Network (GCAN) and the Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society (CHEARS) dressed up as butterflies and bees in order to raise awareness on the importance of pollinators. Other participants held signs announcing the various programs that GCAN and CHEARS run on a regular basis, such as the Greenbelt Time Bank, the Reel and Meal movie series, and various recycling programs.

There were even a fleet of electric cars in the parade, who were there to demonstrate green transportation.

There was a robot demonstration by members of the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Robotics Club.

Makerspace 125 had a float shaped like a steam engine in order to show its commitment to the STEAM movement.

St. George’s Episcopal Church of Glenn Dale, Maryland marched in the parade.

There was an anti-abortion group.

The local anti-poverty activist group RESULTS participated.

The Communication Workers of America made a statement about its ongoing negotiations with Verizon.

The National Park Service participated.

Even the local Sunoco gas station participated.

The local realtors, Town Center Realty & Associates, Inc.

Then there were the various performers who were intent on putting on a good show all along the parade route.

Since next year is an election year, the candidates running for public office were out in full force. There was Donna Edwards, who is running for Senator.

There was Chris Van Hollen, who is also running for Senator.

There was Paul Pinsky’s re-election campaign as Maryland State Senator.

There’s Brian Frosh, who’s running for Maryland State Attorney General.

There’s U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer, who’s running for re-election.

There’s Congressman Hoyer’s rival, Kristin Beck, who hopes to unseat him in the Democratic Primaries next year.

There’s Maryland House Delegate Anne Healey, who’s running for re-election.

There’s Maryland House Delegate Alonzo T. Washington, who’s also running for re-election.

There’s Sydney J. Harrison, who’s running for re-election to the Prince George’s County’s Clerk of the Circuit Court.

There’s Angela Alsobrooks, who’s running for re-election as State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County.

There’s Todd M. Turner, who’s running for re-election to the Prince George’s County Council.

This trio of cars signified the end of the Greenbelt Labor Day Parade.

Once the parade ended at noon, the last day of the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival started. I hung around the festival grounds after the parade ended because I needed to pick up my watercolor that I submitted to the Art Show but I had to wait until that show formally ended at 4 p.m. So I basically ate lunch, did some web surfing with the laptop that I brought with me, and uploaded a bunch of photos on my various social media account. A craft show was held on that final day so I browsed that as well while I took these photos.

Check This Out

Alyson M. Olander is a quilter who does nice work.
http://www.hastyquilter.net
http://wonderlandquilts.etsy.com

Designs By Shoshana specializes in making all kinds of items from fused dichronic glass including jewelry, wall panels, sculptures, and Shabbat challah plates.

leveldevil makes some really cool looking doll sized wigs, outfits, and jewelry.

The Guestroom Closet specializes in making unique embroidered applique t-shirts.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Much of Asia is celebrating the New Year today. According to the Asian zodiac, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. In honor of that occasion, I’m going to post a few approproate images, starting with this photo of a ball-jointed rabbit doll made from resin that I purchased from a doll website that was having a half-price sale. He is a Goodreau Dolls Scrappy the Rabbit and he is sitting on a snow pile that is currently a lingering result of last week’s snowstorm.

Next is this small acrylic painting of a bunny rabbit that I once did. (You can learn more about that painting in the March 23, 2010 blog entry titled Bunny Rabbit.)

The next few photos feature my Volks Dollfie Dream, an Asian ball-jointed doll that was manufactured in Japan. First up are some photos of my Volks Dollfie Dream modeling a doll-sized Easter necklace I made from polymer clay that featured bunny-shaped beads. (I originally made it for an online doll swap that was held through a Yahoo! mailing list that I participated in. For more details about that swap, please see the March 22, 2010 entry titled 1/3 Scale Doll-Sized Easter Necklace.)

Here are some additional photos of my Volks Dollfie Dream modeling an outfit that I called "Easter Bunny Lover" because of its Easter Bunny fabric pattern and a tiny decorative button that featured a drawing from Beatrix Potter’s classic children’s story Peter Rabbit. In some photos she can be seen hugging a Ty Beanie Baby bunny that I found in a local gift shop. In other photos, she’s clutching a tiny rabbit-shaped purse that I found in a local Target for only $1. (For more information about how I made that outfit, please see the March 22, 2010 entry titled Easter Bunny Lover.)

1/3 Scale Doll-Sized Easter Necklace

Since spring has officially arrived and, with it, the Easter holiday season, I think I’ll highlight a special Easter-themed item I’ve made in the past. In April, 2006 I took part in an Easter doll swap that one of the online doll groups was sponsoring. After I got a name of the person, I quickly churned out this 1/3 scale doll-sized Easter necklace using polymer clay, wire, and spacer beads. (It took about 30 minutes to make the polymer clay beads, 20 minutes to bake in the oven, 20 minutes for the beads to cool off, and 10 minutes to string the whole necklace together.) I rolled balls of pastel-colored clay for the Easter egg-shaped beads and I used tiny clay molds with white clay to make the small bunny-shaped beads. (I used different colored ink pens to color in some of the details on the bunny beads after baking, a process that took no more than 1 minute per bunny bead.)

When my swap partner got the necklace in the mail, she posted to the doll mailing list about how she had gotten this charming Easter bracelet from me. When I made a post telling her that it’s really a doll necklace, the woman made another post saying that she disagreed with my assertion that it’s a doll necklace and she kept on stating that it’s a bracelet because she thought that the beads on the item is out of scale for the doll. (I tried to keep the beads as small as possible while I was making them.) Well, I’ve posted photos of my Volks Dollfie Dream modeling the necklace while wearing different types of outfits and wigs before I sent it off, so I’ll let you be the judge as to whether it’s a doll necklace, a human bracelet, or both.

By the way, I never received anything from the person I sent the bracelet to in this swap, despite the fact that both partners were required to send items to each other. I was pretty disappointed that she didn’t bother to reciprocate since I did try to put some effort into creating my own Easter item then sending it off so it would arrive before Easter so she and her doll could enjoy it at the appopriate time. This is why I haven’t participated in another online doll swap of any kind since then.