NormalPalooza - November 10, 2012

Post date: Nov 11, 2012 9:7:0 PM

We were treated to a perfect autumn day in Chattanooga for the 10th annual NormalPalooza outdoor arts and music festival. The organizers contacted us earlier in the fall looking for some way to add a LEGO element to this year's event. Fortunately, we were able to drum up the necessary interest within the club to make this happen. Thanks to the popularity of this event and the ideal conditions, I imagine attendance was easily in the thousands.

Our exhibit was very well received and the "Stay and Play" area was a definite hit. Some energetic kids (and weary parents) stayed nearly the entire day! In addition to having fun with kids and adults alike, the entire staff, from organizers to volunteers, were very gracious and appreciative of our attendance. We even received mention in some pre event advertising!

With support from Jennifer, Matt, Charles, Scott and Brian, Pete, Chris & families hit the road early Saturday morning. We displayed a relatively small, but detailed, 5'x15' town & train layout sporting something of a Halloween/Monster Fighter's theme. Police were deployed en mass in a futile attempt to prevent a full scale Zombiepocalypse. In hindsight, this perhaps was not the best day to plan a jailbreak...

Next door to the layout, we also spread out two tables worth of play bricks and enjoyed watching what became a huge kid magnet over the course of the day. We experienced a steady stream of young engineers and architects seeking our approval of their creations. This was definitely one of our most interactive events ever!

Chris' Spooky Hollow turned out to be the nexus of the local population's problems for the day:

The police converged on the edge of town to take control of the situation...

with little success.

Despite all the commotion keeping our town's finest occupied, the local fire department still had time to address the little emergencies.

It also didn't take long for a theme to be exploited in our play brick bin:

Huntsville's Municipal building and Region's Center made the trip and were recognized by several adults in attendance.

We had several trains on display including the current Maersk kit along with vintage BNSF and Santa Fe's as well as the recently retired Emerald Night. Here, some engines receive maintenance in Matt's newly acquired engine shed.

A thrilled foreman finally receives the missing part he's been looking for...

and Jennifer's fantastic row buildings anchor the far end of town.

Chris also has some fantastic pictures on flickr.