Operation Blue Moon

Today we were up before dawn....and Stella was not quite awake, but was standing!  Out the door by 5:45 was the goal and we drove away from the garage at 5:43!

good morning sunshine!

Off to Cub to get the muffins I ordered and then to Starbucks to pick up the barrista boxes of coffee. At one point Stella said, "Mom, no sane people are up at this hour"  I looked at her and told her Grandpa was probably up!  She smiled.  We got to Mary's a little earlier than I thought, but she and Sarah were ready to go!  We dropped everything off at the gate with our wagons, and headed to the bench!

We got the table and chairs up and starting assembling the muffins and berries on stick and people started to gather with us!    The people from the Blue moon were really excited to share in the surprise with us!  The manager of Andy's Grille across the street....not so much.


She was very upset that it looked like we were set up to sell something and we did not have a permit. I tried to explain that this was simply a family gathering and we were not selling anything, but she would not be convinced.  We tried not to let her negative energy ruin the day.  Truly, nothing could I was so excited!  Sarah Knoblauch made fans on a stick with the invitation image on one side and this years State fair commemorative art on the other...little did we know that was against the fair rules.

As we were setting up a guy came up with cameras around his neck and asked what was happening, He was from the Pioneer Press  and as we explained the story of Mom & Dad, he made the comment that this whole story was "Very St. Paul!"  I agreed! He stuck around took a bunch of photos! These are his photos and captions from Twincities.com. This photo also graced the front page of the Local section of the Pioneer Press Sunday morning!

Carol Kelsey, joined by her husband, Don, could not contain her surprise at seeing dozens of family and friends gathered for the couple's Golden Anniversary surprise celebration at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights Saturday morning, August 25, 2012. The couple, married on August 25th, 1962, sat on a bench purchased in their honor along Carnes Avenue, ate some food, and visited with dozens of family and friends for several hours. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Don and Carol Kelsey of St. Paul celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 25, 2012 with a surprise get-together at the Minnesota State Fair, which included these muffins on a stick, a bench in their honor, and lots of family and friends. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takush

More and more people gathered (I think in total we had about 50-60) and we were all awaiting word from Mark that they were on their way!  The plan was Mark invited them to breakfast for their anniversary and he was taking them to the Blue Moon.  I got a text that they were near the corn booth.  Even strangers eating at the Blue Moon got excited to join in the celebration!

We saw Mom & Dad coming down the street and all of a sudden you could see understanding dawn on dad's face!  He said he noticed a girl that looked like Stella....  Rick started us all off in a round of "Happy Anniversary to you"  and all the surrounding people joined in!

They were very surprised...to say the least.  The morning was a fun gathering of an eclectic bunch of family and friends!  Mark opened the package that he was carrying with him (the one for his imaginary client that he was meeting) and it contained two t-shirts that he made.  One for "Bench Warmer Carol" and "Bench Warmer Don" with the number "50" on the back!

******I will create a blog post called "Bench Warmers"*****

If you visit the fair, please go sit on the bench or stand behind it and get a picture, email it to me hqbear@gmail.com and I will add it to that page!

Everyone that came was special to Mom & Dad in one way or another!  Children, sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, grandnephews, and many many friends.  Once special surprise of the day were some friends of mom's from the U Of MN School of Nursing with whom she does the jewelry sale.  One contacted me about the party and spread the word to others (without Mom knowing!)  (L to R) Florence, Sandra and Gigi all came to the bench!  It is rumored that Florence does not like to get moving before 9 or so, but for this occasion she would do what it took to be there! Sandra graciously helped her get all the way to the fair and on the grounds to share in this special day!  It meant the world to Mom!

Some of the wonderful kids I teach were out at the fair too!  I got to fill them up with strawberries and muffins! Our Center Director, Tina and her husband Craig stopped by too! They will have to go back and take a picture with the kids so they can be on the "Bench Warmer" blog post!
Here are a few candids of the people who shared the morning with us!
( I don't know why blogger loads photos the way it does, the random placement makes me crazy, so I apologize if it bugs you too!)

One funny side note on the morning, the crabby pants from across the street made a few phone calls and a state fair licensing guy came to visit...twice!  The first time he just wanted to check out what we were doing.  We explained it all and he let us be, once he was assured we were not selling anything.  She must have put the pressure on the poor guy, because he came back and explained the situation was a problem because we were set up on the boulevard and the perception is we are selling something. He looked at the fans and told us that everything at the fair ( like the fans) are licensed... I asked him if it would solve the problem if just took the table down and served our wares out of the wagon and he said yes!  So we DiD!

I stressed that we were not trying to take away business from anyone, in fact we brought people to the fairgrounds that would not have been there at all that day, if not for our request and we were encouraging people to eat at the Blue Moon..to which he responded, shaking his head sadly.." yeah, that is whole different violation, that I am going to pretend I didn't hear!  Who knew we were breaking all the rules!   

Luckily for all involved this was a once in a lifetime event!

Mom and Dad and gang finally got to eat their Blue Moon waffles around 11:00am!

Mark helped me load up and haul the wagons and all our gear back out. Stella had left earlier with Lisa and was napping back at her house.  On our way out of the fairgrounds, I remembered I needed to stop by the U of MN booth and see if they had the Goldie Gopher mouth fans for my friend Gayle.  I guess every day is a different Minnesota University fan...Bulldogs, Raptors, etc.  I would not get there Sunday on U of MN day at the fair, so I was lucky!

Once out of the grounds, I did not go back.  I had to get moving on Kelsey Anniversary 2.0 headed to pick up cakes, get flowers from my niece Kate at Linden Hills Florist!  (she made the corsages and boutonniere and got all the flowers for table decorations for me!)

My dear friend Mary fed me some food and came to church with me to help iron tablecloths, make floral arrangements and decorate tables,  her company was a blessing as I was close to hitting the wall!  A few more errands to run and then home to try and sleep a little before Sunday!  The "real" party!

I made sure that Mom & Dad knew the party Sunday was NOT a ruse, there really was a second event!

Day Three STATS:
Walking: I only walked a mile according to the pedometer...however the pedometer rode in the wagon most of the day because I forgot to put it on.  I think it is not an accurate picture of how much I moved that day!  LOL
Free Stuff: muffins, strawberries and coffee for guests! Carol & Don fans! PRESS!
Consumed: Blue Moon Waffles, and that's it!
Calf count: I have NO idea!