I had no idea what I was going to do
for Mary’s upcoming birthday. In the meanwhile, I went to a Christmas party
held at the home of friends who attend our church. I was mingling and I heard a
conversation about “The Boar’s Head Festival” and I butted in and asked what it
was. Well by the end of the conversation, I had purchased two tickets and
started planning for Mary’s birthday surprise.
Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield
held their first Boar’s Head Festival in January 1984, as an epiphany gift to
the greater Springfield area and has continued to do so. This year is their 31st festival.
And, do they know how to throw one! If you go out to Trinity’s website you can
read about the history of the festival where the boar was the first dish served
at great Roman feasts, nearly two thousand years ago. And, yes folks, there is
a YouTube clip from last year’s event which is worth viewing. But what
intrigued me when I first heard about it was that they have live animals
participating in the festival. And guess what? They have camels, three of them
walking around in the church!
Camels have intrigued me from the
first time I saw one as a young child when my parents took me to see “Lawrence
of Arabia.” I love that loping walk of theirs. And, the cute way they move
their mouths. Have you seen the Gieco commercial with the camel in it? What a
hoot “hump day.” Oops, I digress. Back to the birthday surprise for Mary.
I created a puzzle that consisted of
pictures of the festival and bits of information that I gathered from Trinity’s
webpage. I put each puzzle piece into an envelope. Mary’s birthday fell on a
Sunday and we hosted coffee hour after the church service which worked out
perfectly. I gave out the envelopes to individuals with the instructions to
walk up to Mary when we were singing “Happy Birthday” and give her their
envelope. She ended up with 14 envelopes, one cake and a large package. Inside
the package were two tickets to the festival and one stuffed camel! He’s so
adorable.
Well, today, Sunday, January 12, we
went to our very first and hopefully not our last “Boars Head Festival.” The
talent and logistical efforts involved was just unbelievable. And guess what? After
the camels made their walk down the aisle, each with their own handler, they
went into an alcove right next to our seats! I was no more than ten feet
away from three very adorable but large snorting creatures. When they first
made their appearance, I was jumping up and down and clapping my hands, I was
so excited because all through the performance I had been waiting for that very
moment. I was so thrilled. I can now check off from my "Bucket List"
the desire to see camels close up and in person. And, did I mention that I saw
them walking down the aisle of a church! Oh, by the way, Mary enjoyed her
birthday present as much as I did!
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