This party goes way back, originally an annual Pool Party at Tommy and Tara Phelps' beautiful home in South Haven. This is the third year that the party is an "Up North" affair, at the Phelps cabin in the woods just a few miles southeast of Irons. The main event is Tommy's birthday celebration, but the party is a good excuse to invite family and friends up for a weekend of camping, canoeing, hiking, tubing, 4-wheeling, eating, drinking, and singing around the campfire.
This year we enjoyed the culinary talents of our friend Steve Miller, who is not a rockstar, but who is a very excellent chef from the South Haven area. Along with Steve's goodies, there were treats and dishes-to-pass galore! Chicken wings, bar-b-q ribs, baked potatoes, campfire-cooked corn and beans, fruits and veggies, and a fantastic birthday carrot cake (I managed to bring a couple left-over pieces of cake home). The main thing left-over was bunches of baked potatoes, so on Sunday morning we had a huge campfire-cooked breakfast of fried potatoes, bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs. Yummy!!
Friday evening we were afraid of getting rained out on Saturday, so we had a little pre-party. Bunches of burgers and hotdogs and a couple sets of Rick & Krys music. About 15 people drinking and lounging around the fire. Tommy made his arrival just when we thought we were almost going to end the pre-party and rest up for Saturday's activities. Tommy brought the mother-lode of booze, so we all had to do shots of Jack, and we sat around and sang a bit more.
On Saturday, we had more arrivals, and about 20 people went tubing on the Manistee River. Then everybody got back to change into their campfire clothes and start cooking up the feast. There was constant action on the two ATV's tearing up the trails on Tommy's 40 acres.
By the time all that eating was well in progress, we had the Rick & Krys show in motion. Rick's buddies Linda and Kim showed up with a bunch of party people ready to dance around the campfire until past midnight. I wasn't keeping track, but I think we played and sang music from about 8pm until almost 1am, with 40 to 50 people and 4 dogs hanging out around the fire. Everyone said it was the "Best Ever".
Thanks so much to Tommy and Tara for being the greatest hosts. We love ya, man. Thanks to everyone who worked on the food, especially Steve Miller. And thanks to my friends, Linda and Kim for bringing all the dancers. Thanks to our friend Roger who sold some Tricks T-shirts and helped take a lot of pictures. See y'all next year, same time, same place.
Tricks Band Website
 | Currently listening:
Dogman
By King's X
Release date: 1994-01-18 |
|