Not too long ago I listened to the words of Miranda Lambert's "Famous In a Small Town" and it just plain hits home. I'm from a community of less than 700 people.
Bevier, Missouri is a place of childhood dreams, belonging, and home. I lived here until I graduated from college. After my father passed away it was way to difficult for me to return very often. Even though some of my very best friends still live there, I just didn't return. Not even to one of the biggest small town fairs around, the
Bevier Homecoming. Last spring I started missing some of those people, missing what life used to be, and missing my old self. As I've said in previous posts, I've made some changes this year. I could not wait for Homecoming time even though it rings the bell of summer being close to over.
Back to Famous in a Small Town, many of you are
Facebook followers. The newest trend on
FB is remembrances of your community. I've seen it for my small town, my friend in California, and many more. So when I read a post on Small Town Big Memories of
Bevier, I had to laugh. A friend just named two old ladies who lived in town. Alta and Josephine. Enough said. If you are from
Bevier, you know exactly who I am referring to...sisters who lived 2 houses down from one another on the same street. They did everything together. Seriously, when I read their names on Stacy's post, I had to laugh and think of this song. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows your business. Everyone is there when you need them. It's the best thing.
This is the best part of
Bevier Homecoming for me...my family. The girl you see sitting by my husband is my Aunt Paula. She's not that much older than me and has always called me her little sister. I truly feel like her little sister. She lives in St. Louis, the older I get, the more I miss her. It's the weirdest thing. I told her and everyone else in her family, she needs to move closer...or I need to move to St. Louis.
Kenny Scruffs attended his very first
Bevier Homecoming parade. He liked it until it got too loud.
A flyover just prior to the parade starting. It was beautiful weather. Absolutely beautiful as compared to previous HOT days.
And now it starts. I could not get over all of the emergency vehicles that made an appearance this year. We talked about how we hoped that some of these places did not have some kind of catastrophe or something. And it was great that they were there. These volunteers put in a lot of time for so many activities in their communities.
What is a parade without local queens. My cousins Emily and Abby joined me in attending the queen contest this year. I haven't been to one in years. We had a blast. I can't wait to do it next year. We all picked our top 3, I was off by one.
Floats are some of the best ever. This church always has a great float.
Chickens even...
This is one of my favorite pics, what's a parade without Dorothy? Isn't she lovely...
There were plenty of class reunions too. I'm thinking about getting in touch with my former classmates because our 25
th reunion will be next year. We may be riding in the parade too!
This is small town for you. My friend Paul's son drove this CASE tractor. With difficulty. It wouldn't stay running. He finally had to pull it over. But voila...
In less than 2 minutes help arrived to move him forward. My aunt said in a big parade in the city, it would take 2 hours and a stalled parade before help would arrive. A lot of people will remember Luke and his CASE tractor stalling out. Famous in a Small Town!
This was awesome! These little ball players had a routine while they walked the parade route. Almost like a military drill. Whoever their coaches are, kudos for them making this even more fun!!
And, you always know the end of a parade when the horse trot by... This parade last 45 minutes. That's typical
Bevier style parade time. A St. Louis visitor smartly remarked as we were leaving home to head to the parade that this would only last 5 minutes. I think he may have been a little surprised even.
I have more pics for another post on Saturday evening's activities. But just to put an ending on this I want to tell you about a conversation with my hubby as we were heading home that night. As we were driving out of town, he commented, "I bet the town people are happy when all of this is over." He was referring to the tons and tons of cars parked on the streets, people's driveways and yards in order to attend the evening's entertainment. For some reason I answered in agreement then told him no. It's not like that. The
Bevier Homecoming is something that has taken place ever August for the past 78 years.
Bevier locals look forward to it, prepare energetically and fill with a little sadness once it's over. I cannot explain what it's like unless you experience it yourself. People plan their vacations around it. For some, it's the only time of the year they return home to see family and friends. It's a time of celebration because, well you know, everyone is "Famous in a Small Town"!
I know the inside of the house needed some changes. But come on...the old aunts had it going on...really. Just look at this kitchen. Normally I'm not a fan of white kitchens, but just look...
Honestly Halloween influences me to watch this movie. Maybe it's just the time of year. Maybe it's just a dear ole friend who I know would be kicking it with me in that beautiful kitchen with coconuts and lime. 
Supposedly this house was built on an Indian Burial ground. Set designers could not actually dig into the ground. All of the rooms inside the house were built in L.A. Whoever read the book and created the movie did an incredible job. Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors. I don't read much anymore, but when I pick up one of her books, I seem to be moved to another place and time. 
I took this picture today through the tree in my mom's front yard. It's turning a golden color and is so very beautiful. Picasa could probably spice it up a bit, but I couldn't wait that long to show you. Happy Fall!!
Do you ever hear old cliches or sayings that drive you up the wall? Probably one that has stuck out with me for the past year is, "my bad". Really? 
My son-in-law, Jason Wright, had an art exhibit last night in Florida. Hearing and seeing stuff like this makes me wish to live closer to Erica and her little family. Jason is quite a talented young man. Very creative both musically and artistically. You can visit his site and even order prints at www.jasonwrightstudios.com. Stop by for a visit!!
This is the best part of Bevier Homecoming for me...my family. The girl you see sitting by my husband is my Aunt Paula. She's not that much older than me and has always called me her little sister. I truly feel like her little sister. She lives in St. Louis, the older I get, the more I miss her. It's the weirdest thing. I told her and everyone else in her family, she needs to move closer...or I need to move to St. Louis.
A flyover just prior to the parade starting. It was beautiful weather. Absolutely beautiful as compared to previous HOT days.
And now it starts. I could not get over all of the emergency vehicles that made an appearance this year. We talked about how we hoped that some of these places did not have some kind of catastrophe or something. And it was great that they were there. These volunteers put in a lot of time for so many activities in their communities.
Chickens even...
And, you always know the end of a parade when the horse trot by... This parade last 45 minutes. That's typical Bevier style parade time. A St. Louis visitor smartly remarked as we were leaving home to head to the parade that this would only last 5 minutes. I think he may have been a little surprised even. 
Erica and I went to the big concert last night in KC. Got there early enough to park in a good spot and get to our seats before Uncle Kracker began. Thank goodness because so many tailgaters were partying long enough, a lot of them missed Uncle Kracker and Billy Currington due to the mayhem getting into the stadium. It was hot but not as nearly as hot as it had been in St. Louis a few days earlier. I was thankful we chose Kansas City instead!
Entering Arrowhead. My very first trip to Arrowhead. Hopefully it won't be my last...
I borrowed a smaller camera in case they wanted to confiscate my larger one...the rules ya know. The SandBar section was around the runway part of the stage. I need to save my dollars for that section next time!!
Uncle Kracker. He was GREAT! 
He sang Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" and put me in the spirit immediately!!
And oh baby, when I found out Billy Currington was in St. Louis I flipped. I thought for sure I made a big mistake by getting tickets in KC. Fortunately they were part of the venue too. Just not advertised when I got my tickets. He was greater...
and oh so cute! Bare feet and all.
Arrowhead filling up before Zac Brown Band. That many people and me in one place at the same time for the same thrilling reason was incredible!
I told Erica I bet ole Zac wears that stocking cap when he mows the grass. She thought maybe his wife does that job now. 
This band was great too. Very entertaining and fun. The girl sitting in front of us said he has the most beautiful eyes. Couldn't see those from where we were sitting but I'll take her word for it!
The weather was hot, thankfully though, there was a breeze blowing. We drank tons of water. Unfortunately this guy drank TONS of Barley Pops. He was feeling no pain somewhere between Billy Currington and Kenny Chesney. I happen to start snapping these of him during the break waiting for Kenny. 
Very Drunk Guy did a number of dances for our entertainment. Thankfully he was fully clothed. I wondered what he did for a living. He didn't have hard working hands. Not really muscular. So I figure a desk job plugging numbers into a computer maybe. Making enough money to spend at the places where he must have learned some of those dance moves...
The nice lady in the cowgirl hat is from Jeff City. Just down the road from me. She claimed she would NEVER spend this kinda money for this kinda entertainment ever again. Too many people and too many nitwits....very drunk guy did not impress her. Neither did her drunk sister. Who happened to find a handsome boyfriend sitting beside her at the concert. My friend watched their relationship progress to dancing, then pouting, then kissing, then possibly taking her to a hotel room if the sis' would let him, then he took her face in his hands and gently broke up with her during one of Kenny Chesney's great songs. He told her she was beautiful and was sure she was a nice girl, but he just couldn't....then he left. To go find the girl he came with to the concert. I'm sorry I missed all that. Sad thing is...that girl was my age...oh dear...her sis in the cowgirl hat says it happens quite frequently...
I only teared up when he sang "Anything But Mine" only a little. I love Kenny!
Kenny sang "She Thinks My Tractor is Sexy" as his encore song. THEN, the rest of the encore belonged to him and the Zac Brown Band. But before they started their first song together, he presented Zac with a huge Martini glass filled with a margarita and also presented him with his birthday cake. The whole crowd got to sing "Happy Birthday" to Zac Brown. It was amazing!! I love Kenny!
They sang several songs together. It was awesome to say the least. It seemed like we waited forever for this concert to get here. Ultimately we were there for 8 hours and it went by way to fast!! Oh to do it again this weekend!! I love Kenny!!! Until next time....
