1982 Theme Song:
Like all great traditions, McCarty Party* was born of that grandest of American desires, to make a complete fool of oneself in the summertime. We took 100 or so of our closest friends, added some music and uniquely silly games, mixed it all together with several kegs of beer… and a legend was born. But perhaps a few details are in order (for those of you with nothing better to do than read quasi-historical articles on your cell phone).
It was the summer of ’82 and, through a combination of coincidence and devious trickery, we (the Brothers McCarty) contrived to get everyone in the family except ourselves off the farm and out of the state for a week. But what had sounded good in principle became (after a couple of days) sheer boring loneliness. And that’s when it occurred to us that a party might be a good idea. Not just any party though, a party that would be truly monstrous in its scope and range of perversity. Although the concept of “party sponsors” (as our heroes our known today) did not exist in the beginning, the function was fulfilled by the original party creatures whose names are now legend (all together now, in no particular order: Chris Millice, Keith Rittenhouse, Charlie Zeilman, and the Brothers McCarty). We invited practically everyone we knew (or at least thought we could get lucky with) and we welcomed many people never seen before or since to party with us at the farm on the second Saturday of August.
For those of you who attended that first party, we need not remind you of the outrageous excesses that took place. There was continuous drinking, music, and mirth for nearly 24 hours, including some amusing fisticuffs and a motorcycle accident. All in all it was one hell of a party, and it left my brother and I feeling more than a little cocky… which is how McCarty Party ’83 came about.
* Okay, so we didn’t actually have a logo this year. And maybe, since we invented time travel in 2015, we went back and created a logo after the fact. Give us a break. How could we have foreseen what would happen? How were we to know McCarty Party would become an American tradition? The first year we were just glad people showed up and drank our beer. Damn, were we naive or what?
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