As COVID -19 continues to plow through 2020, Collegedale Academy has been forced to cancel traditional events like ice breaker and junk scramble and replace them with CDC approved gatherings. One significant event that students and administrators alike have both worried about is CA Picnic. However, in a recent SA meeting, an alternative to Picnic was introduced, and quickly approved. 

CA Picnic for 2020 will reinvent itself as a true event of survival, taking the form of a Medieval, Bubonic Plague-era faire. It’s time that we remember our plague-time traditions, so grab your plague masks, and get ready to party like it’s 1346!

Ye Olde Collegedale Village

 The traditional space for Picnic, the SAU track, which will be transformed into a Medieval village, complete with period-accurate dwellings, food, and animals. Covid-19 precautions include full suits of armor including helmets with face guards for the gentlemen, and veils of handwoven linen soaked in lavender oil for the ladies. Plague doctors from Southern Adventist University  will also be on site, poised for the eventual time where a student will fall ill. Each health professional will be donning the long-beaked plague doctor mask to distinguish them from general staff. 

Ye Olde Tournaments 

With concerns about traditional athletic events in masks, and the difficulty of running in a full suit of armor or petticoats, SA has developed new competitions to replace the traditional picnic fair. 

To build school camaraderie, a socially-distanced jousting tournament has been planned. All competitors have been paired with an opponent for the first round. There will be a total of five jousting rounds. The victor will be knighted at graduation and receive a free portrait painting and a hand carved bathing barrel upon departure. 

Another new event is the plague rat race. Each class has been assigned a fine rodent, and they will have to run from one side of the track to the other. A student from each class will entice the rat with a bit of cheese on a string, which they will have to trail across the field. The first class whose rat crosses the finish line will receive 30 points for their class towards the coveted skip day. 

In another celebration of Medieval life, students will be tasked with cooking their own lunch. However, knowing that all competitors will not be able to catch their own wild wham, they will be provided with an edible plant guide written in its traditional Latin. Also onsite are 20 cows which will be part of the cow milking contest. 

Souvenirs 

To remember this grand year of our Lord 2020, each student will receive their own iron jousting spear. Over the summer, Mr. Peel and his IT team enrolled in a welding class, and with a generous donation from the Georgia-Cumberland conference, they have been able to create and emboss each spear with the school’s motto, “Educate, Equip, and Inspire” to generate school spirit. 

Observation tents will be available, with thrones for Baldwin and Crawford. Any student who is interested in providing opening fiddle and bagpipe music should contact Mr. Galera and Mrs. Foster at least a week prior to the event. 

Administration wishes the best of luck to each class as they start gearing up and practicing for the tournaments. They only request that all jousters maintain chivalry and Christian behavior throughout the tournament.