The wonderful, kindhearted and sober members of the Friends of the Nain Rouge came out Sunday in force to protest the efforts of a bunch of costumed hooligans to drive our beloved dwarf from the straits. It was a much better showing than last year, and if these miscreants continue their unholy campaign in 2012, I am sure the representation of Friends will be even bigger.
My daughter is pretty damn serious about her opposition to the parade. As I wrote last year, I've been telling her stories about the dwarf since we first moved here, and she believes he is kind and misunderstood, not sinister. One of the new members of the Friends of the Nain Rouge told us that her father, too, told her stories about the beloved imp when she was a little girl. This year we put together an elaborate Nain Rouge costume (more on that later) and pulled the dog wagon out for the season. She made her own double-sided protest sign: "I AM NICE." My son didn't want to wear anything but his Robocop costume, and I was pretty sure having Robocop on the side of the Nain Rouge would make the hipsters' heads explode (If our beloved Robocop loves the Nain. . .).
The parade was huge, but I feel we made an impact, shouting, "Ho Ho, Hey Hey, The Nain Rouge Has Got to Stay." Our friend Dessa (the Nain from last year) had her full costume on and glared at the passing crowd.
Thankfully, the march to drive out the dwarf was totally unsuccessful. More on that later.
