St.
Margaret's Joust is a Family Affair
By THERESA WINSLOW, Staff Writer
Published 07/12/09
Joshua McKerrow — The Capital
Let's get right to the point - the family
that jousts together, stays together.
And that point was punctuated
again and again at the end of homemade lances at yesterday's 12th annual St.
Margaret's Joust & Craft Faire.
"We love doing it together," said
Laura Tenner of
For the record, both mother and daughter
ended up spearing the exact same number of rings - seven - after three passes
in the Novice Class. Ideally, a jouster would grab three rings dangling from
steel arches on each pass, making for a perfect score of nine.
About 40 jousters of all ages from across the
state as well as
"I think it's a great tradition,"
said the Rev. Lori Lowe, interim rector of the church. "Animals, and
people and children ... it's a great celebration."
Several hundred people watched, as well as
shopped for gifts, and the whole event had a bit of an old-time, Renaissance
festival feel to it. The jousters paraded in to Celtic-tinged music, some in
costume, and competitors were announced thusly: "Charge, Sir Knight.
Charge, Fair Maid."
Some of the children's lances were decorated
in bright colors and quite a few of their horses had flowers in their manes as
well as a glitter of flowers adorning their tails.
"It's very fun," declared Sarah
after her first run, although she wasn't too happy with her mount, who cantered instead of trotting. "(But) I was expected
her to go slower. I think she's excited."
Sarah admitted she was excited, too, and both
her and her mother concentrated deeply on their runs.
The Tenners weren't
the only family to take part. There also were also husbands competing alongside
wives, father-and-daughter jousters, and brothers and sisters vying for the
rings.
"I used to do a lot of horse
shows," said Joyce Barnett of
Ring
of truth
The rings, which are made of copper, covered
in cord and then dipped into a whitening agent, vary in size from 1 ¾
inches in diameter for novices to an inch for professionals. Ties are broken
using rings as small as a quarter-inch.
"It's a very small ring," opined Kristin Eckels of
Malcolm Macy of the town of
"It's easy to learn; difficult to
master," said Jeanne Dinkle, who was helping to
run the event.
Consequently, it's a skill that can take
years to hone.
"It's a hand-eye
coordination (thing)," said jouster Jackie Rosenthal of
Mack Ridout, who in
the late 1990s revived a jousting tradition in St. Margaret's dating back to
1860, said the horse is really the most important part of jousting. The animal,
he said, has to be trained to run steadily. If it doesn't, the event can get
very difficult, he added.
"St. Margaret's is a historic church and
jousting is a historic sport," Ridout told the
crowd at the start of the event, holding a lance used in a local tournament in
1887 and one that he used when he competed years ago.
Ridout, 83, trained several of the girls from the
St. Margaret's Pony Club who took part in the joust, like Maddie Connick, 10, of
Although Maddie said she's been riding for
more than half her life, she admitted to being pretty anxious before start the
tournament, her first.
"Well, I'm excited about this joust, but
a little nervous, too," she said as she prepared to tackle the rings.
She wasn't the only rider with opening
jitters. But the interesting part of the event was that after competing,
everyone just chatted and smiled. Regardless of experience or age, they were
all jousters and they said there was a great bond between them.
"What I love about the sport is that it
represents camaraderie, it represents responsibility to the children, and
sportsmanship," Rosenthal explained.
The eventual first-place winners were:
- Novice Class - Mikayla Miller.
- Amateur Class - Bradley Enfield.
- Semi-professional Class - Mark Asche.
- Professional Class - Ken Enfield.
- Trophy Class - Mark Weesner.
"I think it's awesome," said Jill
Thompson of St. Margaret's, who was watching the event with her daughter, Anna,
8. "I think it's wonderful."