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Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Sect 27, Row 34, Seat 8
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Ostriches again whoopin' it up
Ostriches again whoopin' it up
Geri Koeppel
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 12, 2005 12:00 AM
CHANDLER - With five minutes to go, Nicholas Campanile was eager. The 3-year-old and his family, attending their third Ostrich Festival, were ready for the races to begin.
"I'm going to laugh when the ostriches come out," Nicholas said.
"He doesn't want to ride the rides, he doesn't want to go to the petting zoo," his mother, Laura Campanile, said. "He just wants to watch the ostriches."
The big birds are the star attraction at the 17th-annual Ostrich Festival, which kicked off Friday evening with one of several ostrich races. The festival continues today and Sunday at Chandler's Tumbleweed Park.
The Campinales and everyone else in the stands got an eyeful as jockeys riding on improvised saddles tried valiantly to cling to the rounded backs of the birds as they ran willy-nilly around a dirt track.
The crowd cheered as one rider waved his red baseball cap like a bronco buster, expertly steering the creature to victory.
They hooted as another, precariously perched too far back on the bird from the get-go, fell off halfway around the track.
In the chariot race, the crowd squealed as one rider's ostrich got loose from the harness, causing the cart to tip forward and the rider to fall face-first on the dusty ground.
Though complaints about the sound system and the baking sun were heard, the amusing mayhem seemed worth it, based on the eruptions of laughter.
Races will be held again at 2 and 5 p.m. today and Sunday.
Other attractions at the event included a ride midway, ongoing live entertainment (the '70s rock band Foreigner headlines tonight at 8 ), and Ostrich Alley, a row of booths selling ostrich feather dusters, emu oil products for the skin and, yes, ostrich burgers.
Anne and Luis Mejicano of Glendale bit into ostrich burgers at Barb's Bird Ranch booth.
"I didn't really have any expectations because I've never had an ostrich burger before," Anne said. "It's got a lot of flavor."
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__________________
I.D. badges are long overdue. Security in this office park is a joke. Last year, I came to work with my spud gun in a duffel bag. I sat at my desk all day, with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged? - Dwight K. Schrute
I was just at a smoothie place that sold a bunch of supplement stuff and they had an ostrich meat-snack thingy. I almost bought it because I love meat snacks, but then I thought about how sad it would make Nicholas Campanile if I ate an ostrich, and how he might not laugh anymore when the ostriches come out, so I didn't.
__________________ America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.
Last edited by Pariah; March 13th, 2005 at 07:08 AM.
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