Pun and games in downtown Petaluma this weekend
The old warning about being careful what you ask for could end up applying to this weekend’s Butter and Egg Parade. Bearing the theme “It’s Always Punny in Petaluma,” this year’s parade gives linguistic carte blanche (as in blanched eggs) to every single parade participant, encouraging all comers to pour on the puns as thick as waffle-batter while dreaming up their various floats, banners, signs and other butter/egg/chicken/cow related entries.
If rumors prove true, this year’s Butter & Egg Day parade could be one of the funniest (and punniest) events in the history of the beloved annual springtime tradition. According to Noel Matthias, secretary for the Redwood Dwarf Car Association, the club’s own float is to be titled “PetaZOOMa - 68 Years of EGGcelent Racing.” On the float will be “all things racing,” including actual dwarf cars that race at the Petaluma Speedway, an array of Speedway memorabilia, a number of dwarf car drivers and their crews, and what Matthias describes as “other punny decorations and costumes.”
Word is that the Petaluma Arts Center’s entry will feature an appearance by “Vincent Van Goat,” possibly riding in one of local artist David Best’s famously ornate “art cars.”
Sounds like a combination that can’t be, um, bleat.
Saturday’s big parade, of course - per tradition rolling through the downtown area beginning at noon - is only part of the big weekend’s festivities, which extend into Sunday with a massive annual Petaluma Antique Fair. Featuring over 200 antique dealers hawking their weird and wonderful wares from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the massive downtown market will once again kick off with the simultaneous pancake breakfast at the Masonic Hall (9 Western Ave.) from 8-11 a.m.
But that’s Sunday.
To help you prepare for Saturday’s day-long string of activities and events, here are some things you should know, some resources and tips to help you navigate through the happy madness, and a few not-so-well-known secrets that will allow you to make the most (or is that the moo-st) out of your 2019 Butter & Egg Day weekend.
FREE BUSES
It’s true, and it’s awesome. All weekend long (Saturday and Sunday, from approximately 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.), Petaluma Transit is offering free bus rides to help you get into the downtown area without having to worry about closed roads and over-filled parking garages. And for those of you planning to take advantage of the area’s many bars, and the open-air Butter & Egg Day Beer Garden, it’ll be a great way to get around without risking a DUI or, as Obi Wan Kenobi once put it, “any imperial entanglements.” With the proper planning and transfer strategies, you can get from almost anywhere in town to within a ten minute walk of downtown Petaluma. Check the schedule at Transit.CityofPetaluma.net.
STORMTROOPER SIGHTINGS
Speaking of “Imperial entanglements,” be on the lookout for battalions of stormtroopers and other “Star Wars” themed characters (including a few Jedi, and a fair number of “rebel scum”) as members of the Golden Gate Garrison and Star Wars Rebel Legion (an organization of costumes “Star Wars” reenactors) provide pre-parade entertainment and photo-ops beginning around 11:15 a.m.
CLO THE COW SIGHTINGS
This is, of course, the 50th birthday of Clover’s ever-grinning Clo the Cow, who will be the parade’s Grand Marshall. In Fact, the whole “Punny in Petaluma” parade theme is inspired by Clover Sonoma’s ever-popular, pun-packed bill-boards. There is even a new exhibit of Clo memorabilia and historical artifacts on display at the Petaluma Historical Museum (“Moo-seum” for now) at 20 Fourth St. That’s a good place to find Clo, for sure, but it won’t be hard to spot her downtown, as she’ll be sure to be moo-ving around a lot on Butter and Egg Day.
LIONS CLUB BREAKFAST
There’s just nothing like eating scrambled eggs and pancakes in the morning, especially when you can do it out-of-doors, in a downtown Petaluma parking lot, in the shade of 100-year-old buildings, perched between the Petaluma River and Petaluma Blvd. (at Water St., right across from Putnam Plaza). It’s a major annual Butter & Egg Day custom, and yes, people do get there early to be the first in line. Breakfast is served from 8-11 a.m.
COWCHIP THROWING CONTEST
On Butter & Egg Day in Petaluma, you can bet that when the chips are down, it’ll only be a few seconds till another goes sailing through the air. A major annual tradition, the colorful competition takes place at 10 a.m. in front of McNear’s and the Mystic Theatre. If you’ve never seen this in action, you owe yourself the unique pleasure of watching grown humans compete to see who can throw a spray-painted cow patty farther than anyone else. And unless you want to be known as a party pooper, you might even consider trying a hand at chip-chucking yourself.
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