Guy Fawkes Night, Nov 5

Seemed like a good excuse for a party with so many people of british origin in the neighborhood, self included. I remember being small, in England, going house to house probably with my older brother, and "the guy" being trundled along in a wheelbarrow or baby carriage. The guy was an effigy of the hapless Guy Fawkes of 1605, made of old clothes stuffed with straw. www.bonfirenight.com has a good brief history of the gunpowder plot which the original Guy Fawkes was hung for.
So the kids all over England would go house to house with their refrain,"pennies for the guy?" collecting change to buy fireworks for bonfire night. The evening of november 5 was looked forward to with great excitement as families lit backyard fires, threw their "guy" into the flames, and shot off enormous amounts of fireworks.

11 year old Chloe and her Dad, most recent Brit immigrants, initiated Jimmy into the how tos of building a guy which they did admirably, and being stuffed with dry leaves he incinerated brilliantly. Lots of people, lots of pot luck food, lots of beer, fireworks and flames, loads of good fun. We must make this a tradition...