Freeman Party Recap

I think I can say that the Freeman Party was a large success yet again. I have three people that I owe a large debt of gratitude to. They would be my three brothers. Dan for cooking the brats and burgers. Jon and Jeff for coming out early and putting up the tarps. I would have been screwed without you guys, so thanks. I would also like to thank Deb for running to get the propane for me. Thank you to Annie, Doug and my mom for the birthday presents. My mom will get a separate post later this week. Finally, I want to thank everyone who came out for the party. After all it is the people that make the party, I just try to get everyone there.
The day of the party I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and couldn't sleep anymore. I was really stressing out about the weather. Now I know how my Uncle Dave feels when it rains on the 4th of July. While it was unfortunate that the weather was so poor, it turned out it wasn't really that big of a deal. I checked and the low temperature for the day was 46 degrees. At one point during the day you could see your breath. Pretty ridiculous for June....46 degrees.
As far as the games go, we started with the 3 legged race for the kids. Ethan and Kaden won. But I realized that it wasn't that great of a game, and probably won't be back. So that is out for next year. The kids Balloon Pop Stomp was next. Zack won that, and I do have a trophy getting made for you Zack, so I will get it to you the next time I see you. Next was the kids Water Balloon Toss. That was won by Kaden and Carson. The adult Water Balloon Toss was won by Julie and Brian (Green Hat) and their titanium balloon that I believe hit the pavement three times and didn't break. Of course as always, I made this event co-ed, and I was rather surprised that the girls didn't insist on only being the throwers. In the past they would say they didn't want to be the catcher out of fear of getting wet. But if the girls can brave the water balloon toss in that weather, then I think I shouldn't hear any complaining in the years to come. It was probably unnecessary to refrigerate the balloons right up until game time, but I didn't want to break tradition. The people who got the worst of the water balloons were Jody, Suzanne, Doug and Jake (Tom Brady). I decided to skip the Senior Division of the water balloon toss. It didn't appear that I would get a lot of participants. The Rock Paper Scissors Tournament was a big hit with everyone and will be a staple of the Freeman Party Games from now on. In the semi finals Jon and Andrea had each won one game in the best two out of three. In their final game they tied 7 times before Jon won. The championship was eventually won by Timmy. On to the Musical Chairs, in the finals it was a rematch from the last Freeman Party in 2007, Lindsey vs. Nick. And Lindsey went on to win and retain her title as Musical Chair Champion. The female winner was Suzanne despite the fact that her pants we still soaked from the water balloon toss. The men's musical chair was almost over before it started for Steve Jende, who I had considered to be the No. 1 seed going in. He got hip checked by Tom Brady and was out in the first round. The final was a rematch of the final round of the Rock Paper Scissors Tournament with Jon vs. Timmy. This time, Jon, who seemed to become more and more determined to win as the rounds increased and the number participants dwindled, took home the final trophy of the day.
Later in the evening in the basement a fairly large game of Speed Quarters broke out at the bar. We had somewhere around 10 people playing. Probably the most that I can recall playing, at least at my house.
Also later in the evening a game of lifesize Jenga broke out in the garage. But we played it with only the strobe lights on. It definitely puts a different twist on things.
I would like to apologize, because I didn't take a single picture all day. I really wish I had some pictures of the tarp shelters we made, because I hope we never have to put them up again. So if anyone has some good pictures from the day, I would appreciate it if you could email them to me.
Again, I would like to thank everyone that showed up. Thank you to everyone who brought food to share, I think we had 5 or 6 pasta salads. I am a bit disappointed in quite a few people who said they would show up, but were no shows. Other than that I think it was a good party and everyone had a good time. I think everyone was happy that the party was back.
Last year there was some talk of moving the party to someone else's house while I had my house rented out. But I don't think the party could be held anywhere else. I think one of the unique things about the party are the games and that the games are played in the street. It is almost like a stage, especially when games like the water balloon toss or the finals of the Rock Paper Scissors take place and all of the losers are off to the side in my front yard watching.
Jon mentioned to me the follow day that I should paint lines in the street for 4 square for the kids to play. I thought that was a great idea. If anyone has any other ideas to make the party better I would love to hear them.