Magical County Fair - Day 5 - Week 2 (Mark Day School)

A magical county fair doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over the course of five days. When we start on Monday, we never know what the final builds will look like. That’s up to the tinkerers. But seeing the “$$ Cash Cash Money $$” ball toss game with laser-engraved tokens, stuffed animal prizes and vinyl-cut iron-on decorations next to an incredible, world-record (okay, maybe it’s just a Mark Day School record but still…) 66-foot long wooden roller coaster complete with Nimbus 3000 broomstick, LED lighting, and a fog machine ushering the riders through a cave… well, the magic is more than evident!

Friday is always a push. We feel the pressure of time counting down but we remind ourselves to continue to collaborate, to take our time when working with tools and carrying wood to the chop saw room, and to make decisions as a group. As the afternoon presses on, we talk about rules for the ride and the game and we select tinkerers to talk to the families that have gathered to Play/Test/Appreciate our builds. It’s a short-lived, high-energy, joyful moment that we savor.

And then, after the last rider has coasted through the cave and walked the cart back up the track, it’s time to deconstruct everything. This impermanence is practical — we need the 2x3s, screws, washers, bolts and wheels for the next week of camp — as well as symbolic — we can’t really hold on to these giant builds other than viscerally in our bodies as we tossed the ball and descended the track and mentally as when Cam Jansen, a kid detective in a book my children always loved hearing me read, says “Click!” and takes a mental picture of a moment she really wants to remember later.

Here are videos from our day…