Set at the top of Chalet Hill, the ubiquitous barrel, filled with firewood, "exploded" (we will never forget) into a high-rising fire at the touch of an equally ubiquitous tiki torch.
The torch began its journey from atop Level 2. If you wanted to be a torch bearer, you signed up. Just before the ceremony began, names were drawn to determine who would be the bearers along the final leg of the journey and the lighters of the flame. Here, the two finalists (their names had been written together on the same piece of paper) with the tiki torch between them, take the final steps up the hill. They are accompanied by the other torch bearers who have passed it off to others along the way.
The next morning it was time to let the "games" begin. Claire Hoffman assumes a threatening pre-game stance. Why the broom? The "event" was Broom Ball.
Broom Ball may be explained as being much like soccer or hockey...at least the object is to get the ball into a "goal" at either end of the "field." In this case, the field is the snow-covered road, the ball is quite large and orange, and the "sticks" are actually brooms, thus the name. (It is reported that nearly all the brooms in the village were "swept" into service for game day.)
A black and white striped referee's vest, a nod at least to officiating, was used in Broom Ball, the only event, I believe, in which such a gesture to fair play was made. Here Cailan Carpenter "sweeps" down the street toward the goal under the watchful eye of her father, Chuck, in the referee vest.
There were Broom Ball games for adult teams and Broom Ball games for the younger members of the village. Kristopher Vass shows his intensity as he makes his way through defenders.
Following Broom Ball, there was an event called "The Human Dog Sled" which I (unfortunately) missed. But later, just after coffee break, we were treated to The Coffee Relay. Here members of three different teams take their first step across the start-and-the-finish line. And yes, you would be right in assuming that the brown line over which they are stepping is a line of coffee poured in the snow.
The rules for the relay were so complex that basically the winners were the ones who could remember all parts of the relay and the order in which they were to do them. A guest seems to be remember correctly the step that required her to make her way down the street carrying a full cup of coffee AND return with the coffee plus an inkle loom and a large spool of mop cord.
Winners high-five each other and receive a round of applause. Later, they would receive medals for their efforts.
Holden's special affection for the unusual made its way into the Games under the guise of an event called "Drag and Carry." For starters, to be a competitor, you must be dressed in drag. Paul Hinderlie, for example, entered dressed as Julia Child...and was speaking Julia Child-ese. Fluently, I might add.
The "Carry" part of the event stipulates that the object carried be a child. The child is placed in a large garbage can lined (thankfully) with a heavy duty plastic bag. The competitor drags (a play on words) the child inside the garbage can down a special chute carved out of the snow (think of it as a crude luge course) from the top of the hill on the west end of the dining hall down to the street level. Here Steph Carpenter dressed as a Paul Bunyan figure (complete with pine cones tangled in the massive black beard) reassures young Meheret Vasquez-Suomala that this is the way we have fun at Holden!
At the bottom of the hill, the garbage can and its contents must be lifted and placed aboard a special sled made of four skis braced together. (This device is actually one of the ones used when we haul cans of garbage from the truck to the compost bins.) All the children emerged from the inside of the cans clean, but all reported the offensive odor. Young Olaf Coffey is still smiling after his trip down the hill.
Olaf's mom, Dawn, nears the end of the chute and the beginning of the lift-and-carry part of the exercise. All contestants had to lift the can, place it on the sled, and drag it down the road to the garbage truck and lift it again and place it on the forklift of the truck.
Melissa Johnson, dressed as a carpenter, got special points for running in style with her gazelle-like leaps down the road toward the finish line. Elli Vegdahl-Crowell peers over the edge of the garbage can.
The Drag and Carry Event was timed, but special points were awarded (meaning seconds were deducted from the final time) based on style and the "accessorizing" of a contestant's costume. Judges of this aspect of the event were Tom Aylstrom (incognito as Pastor Buegge) and Noah Nierman.
And the winner is...Chris Tou, performing in high heels and a sun bonnet with a stuffed bear on a strap for a purse. Abandoning the garbage can from its final position, Dowit Vasquez-Suomala sets a new record for exit time.
Just after lunch, the village flocked to Chalet Hill for the Sledding Events...Singles, Doubles, and Limited Contact (aka "Bumper Car") events. The hill was steep, the course was fast, and the contestants were fearless. And there were no serious injuries.
A young guest, intensity writ large, plummets down the course. (As might be guessed from the angle at which the photograph was taken, she came within just a few centimeters of taking me down the hill with her.)
While the sledding events continued to play out on the "big hill," the cross country skiers (on terrain having less of an incline) take off for either the short course or the long course. Never looking over his shoulder, the leader at the start was the leader at the finish.
The next morning it was time to let the "games" begin. Claire Hoffman assumes a threatening pre-game stance. Why the broom? The "event" was Broom Ball.
Broom Ball may be explained as being much like soccer or hockey...at least the object is to get the ball into a "goal" at either end of the "field." In this case, the field is the snow-covered road, the ball is quite large and orange, and the "sticks" are actually brooms, thus the name. (It is reported that nearly all the brooms in the village were "swept" into service for game day.)
A black and white striped referee's vest, a nod at least to officiating, was used in Broom Ball, the only event, I believe, in which such a gesture to fair play was made. Here Cailan Carpenter "sweeps" down the street toward the goal under the watchful eye of her father, Chuck, in the referee vest.
There were Broom Ball games for adult teams and Broom Ball games for the younger members of the village. Kristopher Vass shows his intensity as he makes his way through defenders.
Following Broom Ball, there was an event called "The Human Dog Sled" which I (unfortunately) missed. But later, just after coffee break, we were treated to The Coffee Relay. Here members of three different teams take their first step across the start-and-the-finish line. And yes, you would be right in assuming that the brown line over which they are stepping is a line of coffee poured in the snow.
The rules for the relay were so complex that basically the winners were the ones who could remember all parts of the relay and the order in which they were to do them. A guest seems to be remember correctly the step that required her to make her way down the street carrying a full cup of coffee AND return with the coffee plus an inkle loom and a large spool of mop cord.
Winners high-five each other and receive a round of applause. Later, they would receive medals for their efforts.
Holden's special affection for the unusual made its way into the Games under the guise of an event called "Drag and Carry." For starters, to be a competitor, you must be dressed in drag. Paul Hinderlie, for example, entered dressed as Julia Child...and was speaking Julia Child-ese. Fluently, I might add.
The "Carry" part of the event stipulates that the object carried be a child. The child is placed in a large garbage can lined (thankfully) with a heavy duty plastic bag. The competitor drags (a play on words) the child inside the garbage can down a special chute carved out of the snow (think of it as a crude luge course) from the top of the hill on the west end of the dining hall down to the street level. Here Steph Carpenter dressed as a Paul Bunyan figure (complete with pine cones tangled in the massive black beard) reassures young Meheret Vasquez-Suomala that this is the way we have fun at Holden!
At the bottom of the hill, the garbage can and its contents must be lifted and placed aboard a special sled made of four skis braced together. (This device is actually one of the ones used when we haul cans of garbage from the truck to the compost bins.) All the children emerged from the inside of the cans clean, but all reported the offensive odor. Young Olaf Coffey is still smiling after his trip down the hill.
Olaf's mom, Dawn, nears the end of the chute and the beginning of the lift-and-carry part of the exercise. All contestants had to lift the can, place it on the sled, and drag it down the road to the garbage truck and lift it again and place it on the forklift of the truck.
Melissa Johnson, dressed as a carpenter, got special points for running in style with her gazelle-like leaps down the road toward the finish line. Elli Vegdahl-Crowell peers over the edge of the garbage can.
The Drag and Carry Event was timed, but special points were awarded (meaning seconds were deducted from the final time) based on style and the "accessorizing" of a contestant's costume. Judges of this aspect of the event were Tom Aylstrom (incognito as Pastor Buegge) and Noah Nierman.
And the winner is...Chris Tou, performing in high heels and a sun bonnet with a stuffed bear on a strap for a purse. Abandoning the garbage can from its final position, Dowit Vasquez-Suomala sets a new record for exit time.
Just after lunch, the village flocked to Chalet Hill for the Sledding Events...Singles, Doubles, and Limited Contact (aka "Bumper Car") events. The hill was steep, the course was fast, and the contestants were fearless. And there were no serious injuries.
A young guest, intensity writ large, plummets down the course. (As might be guessed from the angle at which the photograph was taken, she came within just a few centimeters of taking me down the hill with her.)
While the sledding events continued to play out on the "big hill," the cross country skiers (on terrain having less of an incline) take off for either the short course or the long course. Never looking over his shoulder, the leader at the start was the leader at the finish.There were two events held in the Great Dining Hall of the People, indoor events, you might say. One was the Staring Event, in which there were winners and losers in all categories. The other, the Truffle Making Event (a team approach), there were no losers. The spoils of the victors belonged even to non-participants.
After dinner in the Great Dining Hall of the People, there was a ceremony featuring the flags of the nations and medals for all...held here by Elli Vegdahl-Crowell.
The winner of the cross-country event waits his turn at the table while the names of other winners are announced and medals are handed out.
After dinner in the Great Dining Hall of the People, there was a ceremony featuring the flags of the nations and medals for all...held here by Elli Vegdahl-Crowell.
The winner of the cross-country event waits his turn at the table while the names of other winners are announced and medals are handed out.But a strange thing happened in the middle of the Awards Ceremony. The village fire alarm sounded and the entire Great Dining Hall of the People erupted into confusion (on the part of the guests) and the prescribed necessity of every staff member rushing to an assigned position.
There was smoke but no fire in the laundry room of Agape. The system and its implementation had worked as designed. We all wonder, however, if all the medals ever got to the people who had earned them...you see, they were made of a gold foil wrapped chocolate coin glued to the ribbon...
Yes. Every winner got a gold medal.
And every winner received a medal made of chocolate.
(And one further note...this particular blog is lovingly dedicated to my Diamond friends...Maija and Espen...who, had they been here, would have entered every event...even the Staring Event!...and given The Games their very best, which is very, very good...always.)
3 comments:
as always a wonderful story teller you are ... complete with pictures!!!!
Thanks, Wanda, you deserve a gold medal for your photo journal!
Isn't Child that big Politician personality?
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