Sugar, Sugar!

When we tell people we live in southwest Florida, they assume we are on the Gulf side of Florida, near Ft. Myers or Naples, living the 'high life' on the beach.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  I could not begin to afford real estate on any beach!  But, we do own our home, bought and paid for, on a canal, on the Caloosahatchee River and the Okeechobee Waterway.  To the east, we have access to the Atlantic Ocean at Stuart, Fl.  To our west is the Gulf of Mexico at Ft. Myers, Fl.  Kantiya sits in fresh water, which is best for her hull, so I feel like we hit the lottery in discovering this hidden gem at Turkey Creek.  These are some of the finest people you ever care to meet.

So no, I am not living in beach country.  I am living in cattle country and in particular, sugar cane country.  We are surrounded by cattle and cane fields, as well as orange groves.  Remember the TV drama called 'Cane'?  It was on about ten years ago.  It starrred Jimmy Smits, and it was about a Cuban-American family that owned and operated a sugar cane and rum business.  THAT's where I live, in Glades County, surrounded by all manner of Latino folk hailing from Mexico, Cuba, Columbia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Honduras and more, all immigrating here (legally and illegally) primarily to work in agriculture.  It was a great television show; but there never was a second season made...I must have been the only one faithfully watching! Anyhow, "Big Sugar" (as the locals affectionately call it) is Big Business here in Glades County.

The United States Sugar Corporation is headquartered in the
little town of Clewiston, FL, which is on the western shores
of Lake Okeechobee.  Len and I teach there two days a week.
For over a month, they have been advertising the "Clewiston
Big Sugar Festival" for Saturday, March 17th.  I couldn't wait to go!

The locals relationship with Big Sugar, is a bit love/hate.  While
it is a tremendous contributor and employer to the local economy
and it's residents, the down side is there are three growing seasons
here. That means, three times a year, for a month or more, the
cane fields are set on fire before the stalks are harvested.  After
living Beijing, I thought I could delete my AQI app on my
phone.  While I never see a pollution index in the 3-400's or
higher, Florida typically has NO AQI.  We are blessed with
gorgeous, sunny, cobalt blue skies for the majority of the
year...except when the cane is burning.  While it smells sweet,
the smoke plumes rise high in the sky, only to be carried by
the wind.  That means your boat, your car, your patio furniture,
your windows, and anything else outside will get covered in ash.
It stains, and it's a royal pain in the ASH. (and the AQI will near 100)

The Clewiston Sugar Festival is an annual event.  Historically, it was based on the original end of the Spring harvest celebration, dating back to the 1930's.  In April, after the last load of cane was ground, and the sugar mill shut down, the mill was cleaned and tables were set up for a company BBQ for the workers and their families.  In the evening, a formal dance would take place and the King and Queen of Sugar were crowned by popular vote.  The festival has grown over the years, and since the 1980's, it has been expanded to a city-wide event.  It is a way for Big Sugar to showcase the Clewiston community to festival-goers, and a way to show their appreciation for the sugar industry and all that it provides to the local economic base. At any rate, when I saw the fliers of all that was taking place, including a free concert, I was intent on going, for sugar!

There was an antique tractor and modern farm equipment exhibit which I found interesting.
It reminded me of being at the Indiana State Fair :)

These local boys took a turn at spinning the
wheel to fire up an old engine- it worked!

Beyond the tractor exhibit in the white building (which is the
Clewiston Historic Inn), they held a sweet taste baking contest.
Nothing but sweet treats to sample and buy- yum!

The city park area was transformed in to an arts and crafts
fair.  There must have been at least 100 vendors, and some
super snazzy motorcycles parked under the trees.

In addition to a car show (complete with souped up cars,
trucks, and swampbuggies), there was a kid's park complete
with amusement rides, games, and a rock climbing wall.
There also is a 'Tent City' erected for the day.  Though the
entire festival is free, you can opt to rent a space for a tent
awning, so you can camp out for the day and enjoy all the
festivities.  It was blazing HOT...and resting under the shade
of a tent while listening to great music and eating delicious
food sounded like an awesome idea to me- for next year :/

This was clearly not these folks first rodeo at
the Sugar Festival.  I almost asked if I could
lay on their blanket for a spell.  I wouldn't be
so bold as to ask to sit on their blow up sofa, lol.

There was not a cloud in the sky all day (the
sugar mill was shut down, and no one was
working in the fields!) but did I say it was
BLAZING HOT?!  I sweat so much; I did not
feel the least bit guilty about sucking down
a lemon shake up AND a giant sweet tea!

There was a cornhole tournament, horseshoes
tournament, a pickleball tournament (what the
heck is that?!) and a bass fishing tournament
on Lake Okeechobee.  Them good ol' country
boys were out in full force- Wranglers, boots,
cowboy hats and all- eye candy, I tell you!
(not these kids, btw)

I loved this banner quote from George Washington.  I think
it should hang in the FFA Building at the Indiana State Fair :)

Did you know that the state of Florida is the largest producers of citrus in the United States at 56%? California is second in citrus production for the US at 44%.  To give you an idea of how prominent agriculture is in the Sunshine State, "In 2015, Florida had 47,300 commercial farms and ranches, using a total of 9.45 million acres; Florida ranked second in the U.S. for value of vegetable production; first in production value for oranges, fresh market tomatoes, watermelons, grapefruit, sugarcane, fresh market snap beans and fresh market cucumbers; second in the production of greenhouse and nursery products, bell peppers, strawberries, fresh market sweet corn, spring potatoes, peanuts, tangerines and avocados; and 10th in beef cows. Florida ranked seventh in the U.S. for agricultural exports, with over $4 billion of agriculture commodities shipped in 2015." (taken from the Florida Department of Agriculture)

The US Sugar Corp set up their own exhibition hall, and it
was very popular for all of the freebies...sunglasses, beads,
a stress ball (shaped like an orange) sugar rock candy, sticks
of raw cane, samples of cane juice, and HR was even set up
to recruit additional employees- everything from engineers
to truck drivers, to managers, to fork lift operators, diesel
mechanics, office workers, laborers and more- WOW.

I found a shady spot in a rocking chair just
outside the exhibition hall where I could do
some seriously entertaining people watching!
Out of respect for most, I tried to not snap
photos of people's faces..this was one of the
more 'mild' St. Patrick's Day get ups.  US Sugar
had cattle troughs of iced down water bottles-
free for the taking, too.  

One observation that happened repeatedly has me curious... When did it become acceptable manner of dress for teenage girls and young adult women to publicly dress in no bra, very tight crop tops, and short-shorts with their a$$ cheeks hanging out?!  (No, literally, A$$ cheeks out...worse than any bikini on a beach...which is certainly more acceptable for the setting) I was appalled, outraged, and embarrassed to see young ladies (I use that term 'loosely') to be dressed like a hooker at a fun, family oriented festival. To me, it was neither the time or the place to wear such outfits. Seriously, I found it very disturbing to have their sexuality so 'on display'.  It made ME feel uncomfortable, and believe me, I was not the only one 'noticing'.  Just an observation, from a conservative ol' country gal, though I am equally curious about your thoughts on the matter.

In spite of all the freebies, the food, the competitions, vendors
and such, the real reason I couldn't wait to go to the Sugar Festival
was because I wanted to see this guy- Easton Corbin- a Florida
home grown country boy, singing up close and personal for FREE!!!

I'm a little more country than that :)

There was music all day long... the Cody Williams Band, Doug Stone, Brooke
Eden, Easton Corbin and Big and Rich...all for FREE!!!

So baby, we'll roll with it!

As if the day couldn't get any better, I ran in to
one of my students who was toting around a
five week old puppy- just a wee little baby!

He nuzzled himself in to my hot, sweaty self, but I
couldn't have been any happier...

...holding this precious little pup,

...and being serenaded by this guy!  Unlike so many artists
today who have their voices and music digitally engineered
 and altered, Easton Corbin has true talent.  He sounds just as
 good singing live, and he looks good holding a guitar, too!

Why yes, I'll be your love song! 😍

"All Over the Road"

I opted to not stay for the last concert to see Big and Rich.
  Instead, I bought some delicious Smokin R's BBQ and took it
home to my honey.  I had a 'hillbilly bowl' which was incredible.
It was a bowl of cheesy, smoky, mac and cheese, topped with pulled
pork with sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. I know what I am having to eat
at next year's festival!  I could have eaten two hillbilly bowls!

I never was a huge Big and Rich fan, though I was
tempted to buy one of their Tshirts :)

I certainly saw my fair share of cowboys today- sweet!

The Sugar Festival is all sweetness and even MORE 😜

G'nite, y'all!