sunday surprise!

Yesterday we discovered a summer treasure... the Pear Fair in Courtland, California. Courtland is a tiny town along an area of the Delta that is known for it's fabulous pears. So on this mild Sunday morning, we decided to check out the 39th annual Pear Fair.

After turning off the the levee River Road we descended into what seemed like a movie set... a tiny little town that consisted of a volunteer fire department, a school, a town hall, a church and a few blocks of charming old homes. There was the usual fair-type children's games, classic car show, vendors and a way-too-loud band playing under the enormous white tent. And also to our delight, there was the food!

We decided we could only eat food that had some sort of pear in it. So, let'er rip! We had prickly pear smoothies, fuzzy pear smoothies, pear sausage, pear pie, and finally, nachos with pear salsa.

Yum. Yummy, yum, yum...

But, I have to say, the food was not the best part of the day... The best part of this summer Sunday was the Pear Fair Parade.

We were witness to one of the most endearing parades I have ever seen. Led by the Pear Fair royal court, pretty high school girls being driven in classic cars, the short parade passed between the church and the town hall, circling the square one time. There were old tractors that had been cleaned up for the day, make-shift floats celebrating generations of river family farms, the high school cheerleaders and an assortment of young boys on quads.

And as each floats passed by, they were greeted by the Fair Pear Queen, Miss Sarah Simpson, a Courtland classic lady dressed in her pear suit and holding her staff and basket - a tradition we guessed. You could hear shouts of "Hello" and "Hey there" coming from the parade participants as they passed by.

With the giant trees that lined the streets shading the parade, small kids on their daddy's shoulders waved and clapped while some grown-ups chose to watch from the wine tasting tents or from their lawn chairs along the route.

As the parade came to an end, the new Pear Fair Queen was crowned as her Pear Blossoms, tiny future queens, surrounded her. 1940s music was keyed up over the loudspeakers and the crowd dispersed to resume eating, visiting or just relaxing in the shade.

After all, they needed their strength for the Pear Pie Eating Contest at 2:30...