"I
saw Live Camels in a Church Today" was one of my first postings and got
buried among the many other postings I've written. So I thought, what the heck,
a repeat camel story - just what all my reader's are craving for.
----------------------------------------------
Back on
December 20th I had no idea what I was going to do for Mary’s
upcoming birthday. That night 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 off of 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment