© jan albers | all rights reserved
Geneva, Ohio
Some 1,500 acres of grapes are grown in the Geneva area. Conditions are ideal in the narrow stretch from the Lake Erie shore to about 10 miles inland, since the lake protects vines from damaging frosts on either end of the growing season.
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Geneva Ohio
The Geneva (Ohio) Grape Jamboree celebrates all things grape. Held the last weekend of September, it features wine tasting, various competitions (including waitresses balancing glasses of wine while racing down Route 20) grape stomping, and two parades, as well as the crowning of Miss Grapette.
© karen e. titus | all rights reserved
Waterloo, New York
© karen e. titus | all rights reserved
Waterloo, New York
Waterloo, N.Y., takes Memorial Day seriously, staking its claim as this holiday’s birthplace. In the summer of 1865, local druggist Henry C. Welles suggested honoring the Civil War’s dead by placing flowers on their graves. The following May, the village held its first official celebration, draping evergreens with black, flying flags to half mast, and parading to the three village cemeteries to decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers.
One resident was moved by a more pragmatic patriotism. Speaking from the diner she owns on Main Street, which was filled with American flags, she watched through the window as other town residents worked in a frenzy to prepare for the parade. “They’re expecting 30,000 people. Where’re they gonna put them? 20,000 people. No room. 10,000 people. Where’re they gonna put 10,000 people? They’re making a big mistake.”
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Burns, Oregon
Route 20 is closed to traffic during the Country Music Jamboree, allowing the music and dancing to continue late into the night in this high desert community.
The Accidental Highway 