Playing chicken: Laying out the facts for Butter and Egg Days

It really doesn’t matter which came first, the chicken or the egg, because this weekend, they’ll both be equally in vogue, as Petaluma once again throws its annual Butter and Egg Days celebration, complete with a festival and parade on Saturday, and a massive outdoor antique faire on Sunday (see sidebar for the full schedule). To mark this egg-centric local event, here are an even half-dozen interesting facts and important details about Butter and Egg Days past and present. Oh, and in answer to the other age-old question of why the chicken crossed the road, the answer is obvious: To get a better seat for the parade.

1. The theme this year is ‘A Parade is Hatched,’ marking the hundred year anniversary of National Egg Day, first declared in 1918, and the original inspiration for what eventually became Butter and Egg Days.

2. The earliest Egg Day celebrations included egg-themed games at the fairgrounds, with an “egg shelling” demonstration - in which sharpshooters blew up hundreds of eggs - and (for some reason) a “fat man” race, in which large males sprinted with egg-crazed abandon. Later on (geting a bit classier), there was the gala Egg Queen dance at Petaluma High School, with attendees dressed in elaborate egg-inspired outfits. We don’t do the Egg Queen dance anymore, sadly. But as you will see, we definitely still do the costumes.

3. Free bus rides will be given this year. On Butter/Egg weekend, Petaluma Transit will be providing rides, gratis, promising to bring celebrants to within a six-minute walk of the parade route. “Transit Ambassadors” will be posted at designated points around the city, to assist travelers in finding the right bus. For the full schedule, visit Transit.cityofpetaluma.net/butter-eggs-parade

4. This year’s parade Grand Marshals are Steve and Judy Mahrt of Petaluma Farms. You will see them in the parade, waving. It’s polite to wave back.

5. This year’s official ‘Good Egg,’ also riding in the parade, is Tom Gaffey, manager of the iconic Phoenix Theater. Ask anyone who grew up attending shows and afterschool events at the Phoenix - Gaffey is as good an egg as Good Eggs get.

6. This is the 37th annual ‘Butter & Egg Days’ weekend, beginning from when the beloved historical event was reinstated and reinvented, and “Butter” was added to “Egg,” making the weekend a true salute to Petaluma’s chicken-and-dairy roots.