OzStravaganza Weekend

Chittenango is the birth place of L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. When your only claim to fame is to be the former hometown of a guy who wrote a book 108 years ago, obviously the best way to bring people into your town for festivities is to have a weekend festival in honor of said author. Thus, OzStravaganza came to be.

Festivities kicked off on Friday with a local fireworks show. Christine had fun going to the fireworks with some of the other girls from the neighborhood...followed by an evening of wine and spirits on our deck until two o'clock in the morning.

The following day was the parade that included local floats, 4 of the 5 "still alive" munchkins from the The Wizard of Oz, and a bassett hound brigade (they called the waddle walk). In the center of town were a variety of carnival games and activities as well as a petting zoo.

Granted, OzStravaganza may be a ridiculously cheesy and easily mocked concept, but it is really cool for the kids, and Austin genuinely enjoyed himself...especially at the petting zoo and the "bounce house".