A DAY OF SUNSHINE ON A STEM.Byline: Jim Feehan The Register-Guard JUNCTION CITY Junction City, city (1990 pop. 20,604), seat of Geary co., NE Kans., at the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers; inc. 1859. The rail, trade, and processing center of an agricultural and dairy area, it grew as the supply point for nearby Fort Riley, - The annual Long Tom Grange Daffodil daffodil: see amaryllis. daffodil Bulb-forming flowering plant (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), also called common daffodil or trumpet narcissus, native to northern Europe and widely cultivated there and in North America. It grows to about 16 in. Festival was held just in the nick of time this year. A week later and the thousands of bright yellow flowers that adorn the road leading to the grange probably would be as faded and tattered as a forgotten Kerry-Edwards sign in a south Eugene garage. Unseasonably warm and dry weather this winter caused snow to melt, bees to buzz and flowers to bloom early. So early, in fact, that the annual festival that kicks off spring almost missed the party. It didn't take long for Paul Miller The name Paul Miller is shared by a number of people.
"I'm surprised by the early blooming camellias and other flowers. We're a ways behind you, and we're south of here," said Miller, a retired aircraft manufacturing employee who was visiting his daughter in Eugene over the weekend. Unfortunately for festival-goers, those sunny warm days that seemed so endless a week ago ended abruptly a few days earlier. Blustery blus·ter v. blus·tered, blus·ter·ing, blus·ters v.intr. 1. To blow in loud, violent gusts, as the wind during a storm. 2. a. To speak in a loudly arrogant or bullying manner. winds and intermittent rain greeted the hundreds of people who showed up for the first day of the 33rd annual event. In addition to flowers and the festival's famous cinnamon buns, there was live music, horse-drawn wagon rides, arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. booths, well-water testing, quilt displays and an appearance by the Long Tom Grange calendar guys. Hot foods, including hot dogs and Swedish and Italian meatballs, debuted at this year's event. From the community that hosts an annual Scandinavian Festival, it was only fitting that Swedish meatballs outsold out·sold v. Past tense and past participle of outsell. their Italian counterparts by a 2-to-1 margin. "I'm a big meatball fan and I like the flavor of Swedish meatballs," said Ben Henry of Eugene. Cory Gant of Eugene had visited the daffodil festival in Amity am·i·ty n. pl. am·i·ties Peaceful relations, as between nations; friendship. [Middle English amite, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *am , south of McMinnville, where he grew up and wanted to check out the Long Tom event. "This is much bigger than the Amity festival," he said. Several varieties of daffodils - cut and potted - are for sale at the festival, according to Danuta Pfeiffer, a festival organizer. "Even with the inclement in·clem·ent adj. 1. Stormy: inclement weather. 2. Showing no clemency; unmerciful. in·clem weather, the festival is a celebration of flowers and the first hint of spring," she said. Cathy Nelson of Eugene, who had never attended the Long Tom Grange event, decided the festival would be a good activity for her two children - Grace, 4, and Blake, 8. "I'm going to make this an annual event for our family," she said. DAFFODIL DAZE Long Tom Grange Daffodil Festival concludes its two-day run today. When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Ferguson Road and Long Tom Grange north of Junction City (from Highway 99W head west on Ferguson Road); for a printable map, visit www.junctioncity.com How much: Free admission and parking Music: Poodle poodle, popular breed of dog probably originating in Germany but generally associated with France, where it has been raised for centuries. There are three varieties, differing in size only. Creek Pickers 11 a.m. to noon, Richard Crandell 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wiley McKinnon 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CAPTION(S): Danuta Pheiffer helps a customer at the annual Long Tom Grange Daffodil Festival in Junction City on Saturday. The festival continues today. Grace Nelson, 4, holds two varieties of daffodils and sports a shamrock left over from St. Patrick's Day. Her mother, Cathy Nelson of Eugene, said the festival would be a good activity for her two children. Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard blossom at the annual Long Tom Grange Daffodil Festival. Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard Gooey See GUI. cinnamon rolls blossom at the annual Long Tom Grange Daffodil Festival. |
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