not quite christmas, not quite 4th o july

on 29 december of this year (and hopefully every year after) arkville, ny celebrates "arkville holiday". this is an event that runs 4pm to 7pm but around 2 the loud booming starts. sounds like a shotgun in a megaphone. the first time is terrifying, but you get used to it. arkville sits at the northern edge of the catskills and has about 700 people (if the internet can be trusted). the catskill mountain news ran an article on the holiday promising bbq chicken dinner at the firehouse, santa on a train or truck and fireworks at the depot. you never think you'll get this lucky, but sometimes it happens.

here's the way to go about it. the fire department is on the main street, right next to a catskills gallery and info center. spend a while at the gallery and the bonfire outside. there was no mention of the bonfire in the newspaper so it's an extra bit of candy. there's no snow right now, so the snowshoeing exhibition is a little less powerful than it could have been.

stroll over to the fire department and get in line for the dinner. if you lolligag too much at the bonfire you'll miss the eight dollar dinner and will have to suffer with a five dollar half a chicken and no sides. i didn't even miss them. you can eat in the fire station if you want to but it's not much different than a school cafeteria or church basement, so skip it if you've been either of these places. take your sack of chicken outside. be sure to get raffle tickets. the six for five bucks deal is your best bet. you fill out the top one and they'll fill out the other five. the fire department needs a new roof.

head down the street to the local cafe, casey joe's. santa is outside, getting ready to get on the fire truck and head over to the depot. plenty of coffee, tea, snacks and sullen teens scattered about casey joe's. one boy on stage with a guitar backed by mabye his dad on bass is playing pink floyd. then clapton. not a bad voice. he doesn't make the sorts of mistakes most teenagers make, trying to sing too hard or somewhere his voice won't go. the coffee/tea/cocoa will keep you warm as you stroll back to the bonfire. if you've never seen a real fireworks display, this is it. if you have seen one only in nyc, you may at first be confused by the lack of crappy music. no sousa. no floyd. no boston pops or any other pops. just explosions. you see them, hear them, feel the percussive crack in your spine. the mountains do a fine job amplifying what already sounds like a thunderstorm in a war zone.

with any luck, there will be some sort of bbq/explosion festival near every holiday. the town just over has a cauliflower festival, so there's no telling.