Positively medieval

The event is meant to bring history alive.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- Seniors at Poland Seminary High School traded in the usual jeans, T-shirts and high-fashion clothes for drab, heavy garments of the medieval period.
The senior class had the second annual Medieval Renaissance Faire at the school Wednesday. English teacher Karen Simko said the event is meant to bring studies of the medieval period to life.
"You can take Shakespeare only so far without showing some relevance and making it come alive," she said. "We take the history of the era, we take the literature, we take the music, we take the drama and we take the recreation. We try to get the kids enthused about why they are still studying something that is hundreds of years old."
Time traveling
A walk through parts of the school could be seen as a jaunt back through time. Every student spent the day dressed in clothes of the medieval period. The clothes were bought or rented at area stores or made at home.
Art students created three-dimensional images and sculptures of horses and knights. There are also stained-glass window creations.
Students in the music department performed selections representative of the time. Students in the drama department performed, and medieval entertainment events were held throughout the day.
Simko said students staged a theatrical combat exhibition, tug-of-war demonstration, a gauntlet challenge, and the marriage of King Arthur to Queen Guinevere. The highlight of the day, however, is the feast, Simko said.
The feast started with the roasting of a pig in medieval fashion, with the head still attached. Dr. Eleanor Congden, Youngstown State University professor of Medieval and Renaissance history, did the honors of removing the head with a sword. Congden worked with students in research for the event.
Simko said students created a meal of roasted chicken, a root vegetable and Jo Jo fries (larger cut french fries) to represent a potato. She said Jo Jo fries aren't representative of the time, but medieval people ate with their hands and used the dagger as a knife, so the fries were a more sanitary way for the modern students to eat a potato.
There were also fruit pies and custards supplied by community groups and businesses.
jgoodwin@vindy.com