[Shotimes] (OT) Some social events for the next couple of weekends

[Ron Porter]

June 27-28
Call it the greatest show unearth. Each summer gearheads in Emerson,
Arkansas, turn their hardworking rototillers into souped up racing
machines & test their metal on a 200-foot track at the World
Championship
Rotary Tiller Race. It's the hands-down highlight of the Purple Hull
Pea Festival, a paean to the locals' favorite legume. This year the man
to beat is world (!) record holder Donny Cole, the Earnhardt of Emerson.
(www.purplehull.com)

July 4
If you think small-town Conneticut isn't ghetto fabulous, then you've 
never seen Willimatic's annual boom box parade. The event was born in
1986, when budget cuts left the local high school without a marching
band.
In true D.I.Y. spirit, residents simply tune their radios to AM station
WILI (which obliged by playing Sousa-style tunes) and hit the streets.
The tradition continues, and anyone can join in, but don't be late.
The parade begins at 11a.m. and lasts about 75 minutes, barley long
Enough for your batteries to die. (http://www.wili.com/am/parade.html)


Ron Porter