Each year before the Christmas holiday, Hoosac School celebrates The Boar’s Head and Yule Log Pageant. It’s a tradition that was begun in 1866 by the Tibbits family, the school’s founders.
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The Hoosac community prepares for many weeks to learn the songs and practice for the production. All of the students, faculty members, and staff are involved in the celebration. They act, sing, dance, play musical instruments, and work on the tech crew.
The two act play includes solos, the Mummers Play, a sword dance, Father Christmas and the sprites, the Three Kings, and a jester. This year’s jester was Yan Bouchard ’16. “Silent Night” is performed in several different languages to represent the diversity of our community. “O Come All Ye Faithful” and the Hoosac School Ode are performed in Latin.
The first act features a boar’s head to symbolize the festival dish of Norman England and represents the triumph of good over evil. Traditional Elizabethan costumes are used to show the period dress. This act is slower paced and more traditional.
During the intermission, a medieval banquet is prepared with roast beef as the main course, carved by our head chef.
The second act is light and fun, with the Mummer’s Play being the focal point. The jester makes his first appearance, his identity is a surprise to the school community on the first night of the performance.
Hoosac is a school rich with traditions. The Yule Log tradition has survived for more than one hundred twenty years. The burning of a log at the end of the year represents the banishment of the old year’s evil and a rekindling of the hearth fire, the center of family life. Here at Hoosac, our family is united once again.[/private]