One of the more familiar, annual rites of passage in the European Theater was being a part of and of course ATTENDING the Spouse Clubs Annual Christmas Bazaars. Most USAF installations had a bazaar of some size that would make many state-side county fairs blush with envy. Truly, the planning for the annual Bazaar continued throughout the year, beginning at the conclusion of the most recent event. Owning the aircraft maintenance hangars in which the bazaars were held, always nudged me into being more involved with the Spouses Club on this venture than most others ... let's call it self preservation. Ah yes, the Bazaars to end all Bazaars -- Ramstein AB Germany. The things we brought home and the riches we share in our home now - like Andi's post on Buried Treasures, each one has a story and will snap back your mind years in time, remembering when we bought each of the treasures. Alas, after a few years overseas, The Boss and I returned to CONUS, to find out that some things were a wee bit different.
! GADZOOKS! There weren't any plans for a bazaar at our local base .. "Oh, you must have just returned from overseas, right?" Which was followed by the "we don't do that here because no one's interested." WHAT?? How can you NOT be interested? I mean, hundreds of smiling, friendly vendors, selling every imaginable thing, most handmade? And so it was, no Spouses Bazaar at our CONUS base. Though I haven't been able to make it back to a civilized o'seas installation in a while, the smells, the sounds, and the Technicolor of lights inside the dreary aircraft hangars, live a vivid life in my mind each time I see some of our not-so buried treasures. O&O, Toad
(PS ... Andi -- it was the watercolor painting of the castle at Viaden, Luxembourg)
