Fair draws jousters large and small
By Heather Kays/staff • hkays@newsleader.com • June 22, 2009
 

MOUNT SOLON — Trisha Casady, 2 1/2, wasn't just born to joust, she was named to joust — literally.

"We had to name her something with a 'T' because her father is Knight of the 4th 'T' and she is Maid of the 5th 'T'," said Trisha's mother Tracy Casady, as she stood at the sixth annual Stone Tower Glenn Renaissance Faire conducted Saturday and Sunday in Mount Solon.

"Her name depended on her knighthood," said Terry Casady, her father, who held the tiny blonde-headed girl with ringlet curls and red juice stains on her face.

Trisha participated in her first jousting tournament Saturday.

Following in the footsteps of her father, grandfather and several other relatives, Trisha has become a jouster.

The dozens of jousters competing at the faire were broken into four groups: novices, amateurs, semi-professionals and professionals. Each jouster had to ride a horse while holding a lance and trying to capture a ring, ranging in size depending on the level of proficiency. The higher the level, the smaller the ring. For example, a professional would try to lance a ring that is an inch in diameter or smaller. A novice would go for a ring that is an inch and three-quarters in diameter.

"You have no one to blame if you mess up but yourself," said Terry Casady. "There's a lot of trust between you and your horse. It's no easy task. You are riding with a six-and-a-half-foot lance trying to catch a one-inch ring."

Terry Casady, who has been competing since age 5, said he started jousting because of his father and other relatives that where involved. Originally of Churchville, and now a resident of Schuylkill Haven, Pa., Terry Casady and his family travel to Virginia twice a year to attend tournaments conducted by the National Jousting Association. They also attend tournaments in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

This is the sixth year that the jousting tournament has been held in conjunction with the Renaissance faire.

Mia Pugh, known as Lady Dargny, said she and her husband, Chris Pugh, or Sir Blackwolf, are honored to run the fair at the same time as the tournament.

"As much as this is a lifestyle for us, jousting is their lifestyle," she said, while wearing a long, elaborate gown and pearl necklace that covered her entire neck.

"It definitely combines the modern with the historical," Mia Pugh said. "Where it has started and where it has progressed to. The idea of the joust dates back to the Renaissance. We like to keep that feel. The modern aspect is what you see today, with sons, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, entire families jousting."

Although the competition took place Saturday, on Sunday participants voluntarily jousted to raise money for Terry's mother, Mary Casady, who has breast cancer. About $150 was raised for her.

Using half a lance and being led by her father, Trisha, the littlest lancer, caught her first ring during her first tournament.

"She was a jouster before she was born, no doubt," said her mother.