Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Sugarplum Elves


The Haulin’ Colin is now, in addition to being the world’s best-loved bicycle trailer, also the world’s proudest.

Having had the opportunity to “do sound” for Seattle’s Sugarplum Elves in this year’s Fremont Solstice Parade, it blushes brighter than its own original fire-engine red at having been honored with such an important task.

Tiddlefitz even said that the Elves wouldn’t have been possible without it.

Nice thought, and one certainly to be emphasized in the marketing plan, but it weren’t the trailers, nice as they are.

What it was was commitment to a project: showing up and doing it, whatever that was.

Including, therefore, the chicken.

But mainly Seattle’s Sugarplum Elves, who never stopped, not once, really, the entire length of the parade route. I’ll bet I heard “Singing in the Rain” thirty-seven times.

And yet every single time, they did the routine, sold it to the crowd, made authentic connections, even art.

The Haulin’ Colin carried the sound system strapped to some upside-down plastic buckets; it was loud enough, but for next year, I’d like to see how loud and clear you could install; way more weight could easily have been carried.

It turns out the Fremont Solstice Parade is a different kind of fun when you do it than when you watch it. For one thing, you’re trapped, an experience there’s probably all too little of these days.

But more to the point, you’re on the inside looking out, and from the trailer’s perspective, it was a blooming of Elves all around—pretty spectacular on numerous occasions and always meriting great applause.

I enjoyed the role of teamster and saw great promise in the prospect of expanding bike trailer support for events like this.

Mainly, though, it were the trailers themselves done most proud. What wouldn’t absolutely burst with it for an opportunity like this: the sounds on your back, lifting umbrellas aloft, in the middle of Sugarplum Elves doing antics and the crowd going wild?

1 comment:

  1. I have a question. What is the weight capacity of this trailer?

    ReplyDelete