Pasty Fest parade

I love this photo -- the beautiful sky that day, Cooper's readiness for adventure, a beloved fire engine and the red sandstone building.

A Fifth Street storefront before the parade

One of the reasons we visited Calumet when we did was because of Pasty Fest -- a celebration of the Thomas family favorite entree. How could we miss that?!

Saturday morning's festivities began with a parade down Fifth Street. This was a true small-town parade, with a fire engine, some folks walking, a guy and his dog, some kids on bicycles, some Red Hat ladies on a flat-bed truck, a small brass band (also on a flat-bed truck), a few people tossing pieces of hard candy at scrambling kids.

Toivo, the walking/talking pasty (we actually didn't hear him speak)

There was even Toivo, the walking/talking pasty! The young man wearing the homemade costume was clearly not the original Toivo, as the fabric pasty was ill-fitting, forcing him to hunch over a bit. And the hem was held together in places by duct tape. This was the festival's fourth year and, we guess, the costume's fourth wearing.

We sat next to a friendly mom (who took the photo above after watching us struggle to take a family photo by ourselves), her two children and her mom from a nearby town. They gave us some good advice on which route to drive to see Lake Superior. Cooper and Katie shared their parade spoils with the kids, who were eager but not near as fast as Cooper at scooping up free stuff.

This is the VFW Ladies float: "Patriotism is Not Gender Specific."

I don't know what this chicken was doing or advertising, but he makes me laugh. (He also reminds me a bit of the Chicken Express chicken, who is on signs across Texas, looking as if he's flying to his certain death.)