Green Party, etc.

October 22, 2008

Green Party

Lisa Morris

Green Party, etc.

Float Building

Fantasy Fest parties pick up in intensity each day as the island gets more and more crowded and anticipation builds for the big weekend. There are a large number of events each night, more than any one person could possibly attend, though we give it our all and try to do something each day in addition to trying to prepare our float and costumes for the various events.



You may think Tuesday would be a relatively quiet day, but for me it was about as hectic as it gets. In addition to working, I volunteered at the local Barack Obama office calling people on the phone encouraging them to early vote, “Hello this is Michael calling from Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change in Florida….” I’ve never volunteered for a political campaign before and I was duly impressed by the organization and motivation of the crew working for Obama here in Key West. I also managed to work a little on my costume, attend the longish mandatory meeting for float builders put on by Fantasy Fest organizers. What!! We can’t be nude, carry weapons and set off fireworks from our float??






Kathy attended the annual poster signing event and picked up a couple of the official Fantasy Fest posters. The artist this year is the same artist who painted our car, Rick Worth. Rick is well known for his art cars in Key West, but is also has a great talent in more traditional artistic endeavors.

Official Fantasy Fest Poster by Rick Worth

Prissy the Duck as George





Tuesday night, it was back out, to see the 26th annual Headdress Ball at the Southernmost Hotel. One of the biggest costume contests of the week, the Ball features elaborate head gear that is judged by a panel that awards cash prizes to the best. I mostly wanted to see my friend Lisa Morris who had assured me that her entry would be worth checking out. She was right as her “George the Lame Duck” Headdress featuring her live show duck Prissy as part of the costume captured first place.






Next stop was my first visit to the Green Party at Finnegan’s Wake. As the name implies, the Green Party featured plenty of revelers decked out in green costumes and clothing, very appropriate for the Irish pub, though it was sort of hard to distinguish this party from their annual St. Patrick’s Day bash. Not that that is a bad thing as both are excellent parties. As expected there were a ton of locals at the party and it was great fun, I think it may become an annual tradition. Live music was provided by the Stumblebums.

Richard & Bethany

The Stumblebums