Who’d a thunk I’d be spending hours editing photos of a festival that commemorates a reptile. Me. Of all people. Who jumps when a wee little snake is seen in the garden.
The Village of Peninsula, population 601, enjoys its celebrations. From the Quarry clean up day, to the 4th of July, to Peddlers’ Day, to Christmas in Peninsula. We know how to celebrate. And the 55th anniversary of the sightings of the Peninsula is no exception. If you want to read more about the Python, slither on over here.
As promised, here is a video of this year’s Python Festival. And I have a new skill: I uploaded it to You Tube!
If you are unable to see the video here, click on this link.
And the winner of my high tech contest (where I drew a name from a hat) for one of our favorite mugs is Rudeek. She will be receiving a mug in the mail soon. Thanks to all who posted comments and sent mug shots
My Town Monday was started by Travis Erwin. Travis has retired from the MTM helm, and has passed the torch to Clair Dickson. She has created a blog just for MTM, where she posts links to bloggers who write about their towns hither and yon.
Signs of the python are all around: Larry has been getting his python ready for tomorrow’s parade; the Peninsula Art Academy’s artful python has emerged from it’s winter resting place. Our python has been enjoying being outside.
We are getting ready for the python scavenger hunt in the Gallery. If you can find them all, you win one! Lots of activities are planned in the Village tomorrow. Slither on over here to see.
While you’re in the Valley, wander on down the Towpath to Deep Lock Quarry. Hobo Days will be in full swing. It starts tonight with the Hobo Jungle Campfire, the official lighting of the hobo campfire. You can enjoy potlatch and hobohemia. Bring a can of soup for the hobo pot. Breakfast will be at 9:00a.m. tomorrow, and there will be activities all day. The election of the Deep Lock Quarry Hobo King and Queen will be at 3:00 p.m.. The campfire will be at 8:00p.m., and there will be more hobohemia Sunday, from 11:00a.m.-1:00pm. For more information, check out the MetroParks, serving Summit County website.
I talked toNaturalist Pat Rydquist (whose hobo name is Hummingbird) about Hobo Days. Thie is the 6th year of the event at Deep Lock Quarry. 30-40 hobos will camp in primitive campsites there. Hobos were really the first “leave no trace” campers. Number 8 of the Hobo Code of Ethics reads: “Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.“ For more information about the Code of Ethics, hobo terminology and hobo symbols, go here.
The Village of Peninsula, Ohio, population 601, will once again celebrate the saga of the Peninsula Python, the serpent whose escape, disappearance, and subsequent sightings terrified the people in the Valley during the summer of 1944.
Word War II was going on, and many of the young men from the Valley were deployed overseas. When the story of the Python was picked up by the wire services and Stars and Stripes, soldiers stationed overseas sent letters to the Village. Letters from places people had never heard of.
While the story of the python frightened people in the Valley, it was not nearly as scary as the horrors of war.
The mayor deputized a posse to try to capture the renegade reptile. Although they men of the posse followed up on every lead, they were unable to find the snake.
If you are in our neck of the woods on Saturday, July 18th, come on over to the Village. We’ll be celebrating the python with our Python Fest. There will be all kinds of things to do. Slither on over here to find out just what will be going on. Steve and I will have a plethora of pythons around the Gallery, at 1619 West Mill Street. If you can find them all, you will win a prize.
You can also wander down the trail to Deep Lock Quarry, part of the MetroParks, serving Summit County. Celebrate Hobo Days with food, stories and the crowning of the Hobo King and Queen.
My Town Monday is now hosted by Clair Dickson here. You will find links to other MTM posts all over this fine planet. Travis Erwin is the originator of MTM. Go visit him and say hello. He’s a very nice guy.
Ronda Russell, the proprietor of Peninsula’s Downtown Emporium, loves the Village of Peninsula and it’s history. She says, and rightly so, that Peninsula is full of stories. The story of the Peninsula Python is unique, one that was told all over the world in the summer of 1944. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of Ronda’s stories about the Python and the festival she spearheaded in it’s honor. For more information about Python Day, slither on over here.
So the story goes like this: back in the summer of 1944, a traveling circus came through Bath Township, which is a short distance from the Village of Peninsula. There was an accident in the local cemetery, and two large snakes escaped. One was found dead, and the other disappeared—for a short while.
Farmer Clarence Mitchell was tending his corn field. He reported that his dogs were mighty nervous for a couple of days; then they refused to go near his field. Mr. Mitchell looked up and said that he saw the biggest snake he had ever seen, sliding along the ground in plain site. Local historian Randy Bergdorf, of the Peninsula Library and Historical Society writes:
Multiple sightings of the serpent were reported during that summer of 1944; the mayor organized the local Civil Defense organization into posses. Folks with loaded guns responded to reports of the wayward snake. The then director of the Cleveland Zoo, Fletcher Reynolds, pleaded for the life of the snake. He asked that anyone finding the reptile stay calm and phone him with the snake’s location, so he could come and take him alive. Locals came up with plans to capture the snake, from box traps, to clotheslines and sticks, to music.
By this time radio newscasters, and reporters from the United and Associated Presses were regularly reporting on the escapades of the snake that had become the Peninsula Python. The story was reported in the media that was sent to American troops abroad during WWII. Letters from soldiers came into the Village’s post office. Robert Bordner, a reporter from the old Cleveland Press was one of those who wrote about the snake; one of his stories was published in the Atlantic Monthly, in November, 1945.
Sightings of the reptile decreased; some folks wondered if the entire story was a hoax concocted by Bordner. Those who saw the snake stand by their stories.
Post a comment and I will enter you in 2009’s first Peninsula Python Posse drawing for an official badge! You will have a chance to join Peninsula Python Posse members Amy, Terrie ,Sam, Travis, Barrie, and Eryl.
As always, Travis Erwin, an official PPP member, is the man at the helm of My Town Monday. Slither on over there and see what he has to say.
This week we’ll revisit a couple of things in my town.The beauty of this late summer’s afternoon has been calling my name. The infinite azure sky that September brings to Northeast Ohio, warm temperatures and gentle breezes are welcome. We are still cleaning up from the storm that Ike brought us last week. Our beautiful old maple, as old as this old house, succumbed. More on that in another post.
I’ve talked about the special place that is my town, and the feeling that is unlike that in any other place I’ve been. It manifests in many ways, and the Peninsula Python Festival was one.
Post a guess who this PPP member is in the comment section and I’ll enter your name in a high tech drawing (where I draw a name from a hat). You could be the latest member of the PPP. You could win cool stuff and join the other intrepid Posse members, Terrie Farley Moran,Sam, Travis, Barrie, and Eryl.
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The versatile Travis Erwin, is the originator of My Town Monday. Wander on over to his site and see what others have to say about their towns this day.
The Village of Peninsula, Ohio, population 602, is a place where you can walk. There is a walking tour that shows you lots of interesting places in the Village. I’ve been walking through the side streets of my town, discovering things I’d not seen before, and seeing some things in a new way.
Nixon is a 4 month old silver lab. He greeted me as lab puppies do,with a wet tongue and a
wagging tail.
There are houses and barns tucked away on the small, winding roads off Main Street.
No place is perfect, and the hazards of cell phone life are the same no matter where you hang your hat.
Amarillo’s own Travis Erwin is the Master Mind behind My Town Monday. Take a trip on over there and you can see the world through the hearts and minds of bloogers all over this fine planet.
Fr. Bernard Cook wrote, “We need to have people who mean something to us; people to whom we can turn, knowing that being with them is coming home.” I have learned that home travels. I have found it in the mountains of North Carolina, in New York City, in Cleveland, Ohio, in Blue Mountain Lake, NY (of which I will write later) and in my town, Peninsula, Ohio.
Ronda, the proprietor of the Downtown Emporium tells me that over 100 names were entered into the Name the Peninsula Python contest. Most were alliterative, some playful, some mythological in nature. Most folks seemed to assume that the python was a male. Ronda says that the official gender-neutral name of the Peninsula Python is Penn.
The world, including the Great Dane on Main (Street), passes by Ronda’s porch:
Here are some more photos of this year’s Pythons of Peninsula and the people who made it all happen.
There is something special about my town, its people, its heart and spirit. Something that truly is like coming home.
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Post a comment and I’ll enter you in the Python Posse Giveaway–and you could win cool stuff, too! You can join the latest member of the Posse, Amy, and her cohorts:Terrie Farley Moran,Sam, Travis, Barrie, and Eryl,
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**As always, My Town Monday is brought to you by Amarillo, Texas’ own Travis Erwin. Take a trip on over to his blog, One Word, One Rung, One Day, and you’ll travel to Cimarron Canyon in northern New Mexico. You’ll also find links to the blogs of other My Town Monday Marauders.
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While you’re in the 
The mayor deputized a posse to try to capture the renegade reptile. Although they men of the posse followed up on every lead, they were unable to find the snake.
