Yesterday was a day of celebration in Farmington, ME: Chester P. Greenwood Day, celebrated yearly on the first Saturday of December. This year, C.P.G. Day also happens to fall on Chester's birthday (born in December 4, 1858).Chester famously invented earmuffs while breaking in a new pair of ice skates. He got sick of his ears freezing in the bitter wind, and after little success with wrapping a scarf around his head he had his grandmother sew some wool to ear-sized wire loops.
Greenwood's Champion Ear Protectors were worn by U.S. soldiers in World War I, making them Chester's most famous invention, but he also patented a whistling tea kettle, a steel-toothed leaf rake, an advertising matchbox, and a machine for making wooden thread spools.
The most important aspect of the Chester Greenwood Day celebrations is always the parade. Everyone wears earmuffs, what could be better? A few highlights from this year's parade, in order of appearance:
