Archives for April 2013

A little more than a month after organizing the Polar Bears’ Poetry Picnic, Seymour K. Worthington Polar Bear has agreed to serve as head judge of the 2013 Toe-Hair Contest.

After The Park’s Department of Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations made the announcement this morning, the winner of the 2012 Toe-Hair Contest spent a few minutes fielding the media’s questions before heading to his office.

Standing in front of the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre, the site of tomorrow’s event, Worthington asserted that he was feeling “invigorated rather than spent” after the Poetry Picnic, and pooh-poohed the idea, expressed by some media representatives, that he was “spreading himself too thin.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “I’m in fighting shape…[I’m] a good weight and I have a keen eye, and not just for poetry,” he joked.

He added that the Poetry Picnic had allowed him to hone his “Animal” skills and learn to work well with others.

“That is an important requirement of any organizer, but also of a head judge among [other] judges,” he said.

According to the Contest rules, the head judge votes along with his peers, but his vote also has the potential to end a tie among the other four judges.

“The position is an important one,” said Aintza Kanariar, Director of Public Relations for the department, at the time of the announcement.

“Should there be a tie, the head judge, who is an Animal with greater expertise than the other judges, has the ability to choose the winner. It is a position of responsibility that calls for a great deal of knowledge and personal integrity,” she said.

The other four contest judges are Marsha Shrew, Barton L. Bradypus, JerMain Jerboa, and Gabrielle T. Gecko, whose grandfather, Samuel P. Gecko, was awarded second prize in the 2004 contest.

The event, which is in its 18th year, is set to commence at 10:00 a.m. Park time.

With the annual Park Mating Dance less than a month away, it seems that those planning to attend aren’t the only ones who are experiencing a heightened level of anxiety.

So says Balthasar Alouatta, press secretary to the 2013 Archons, who confirmed at a media Q&A this morning that The Park’s 35 leaders are currently sequestered in the Burrow Theatre mulling over the newest set of proposed changes to the Dance’s rules.

“It’s a last-ditch attempt to reach some kind of consensus,” Alouatta said. “They fully understand [the importance] and it is weighing heavily on them. Unless they do [reach an agreement], the Dance will have to be postponed.”

Changes to The Park’s demographics have made amendments to the rules of the Mating Dance necessary, experts say. But, with previous Archons failing to act on that imperative, the responsibility has fallen to this year’s leaders.

After weeks of consultation with health officials and researchers at the University of West Terrier, as well as with The Park’s Departments of Well-Being and Safety and Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations, Chief Archon Dewi Rhinoceros was confident they had a set of rules that they could approve, Alouatta said.

It soon became apparent, however, that unanimous approval would require further discussion and, possibly, more tweaking.

But since organizers say they require at least two weeks to prepare, only a small amount of time remains before the Dance must be postponed. Alouatta is certain, though, that an agreement is imminent.

“Zoocracy is a messy, time-consuming affair, but I believe that, in the end, the Dance will go ahead as planned,” he said.