The festival has gone through many transitions over the
years since I served as their princess during the 1977-78 year, but one of the
lasting legacies is the bond of friendship that is formed during the year
between its four elected delegates who then serve in the roles of Hernando
DeSoto, the captain, the queen, and the princess. During my year, those
compatriots were Jim Ryan, Earl Lucas, and Nancy Guthrie.
The peculiarities, rituals, and long traditions of DeSoto
are far too complicated to explain, so I’ll leave that to the genuinely curious
to research on their own. The focus of this story is on Earl, who was not only
my captain, but Queen Nancy’s stepfather, and a man with true heart. During our
year together in DeSoto, Earl became a father figure, and along with wife April
chaperoned Nancy and me on many occasions including attendance at other
festivals like the King Neptune Ball in Sarasota. But it was our trip to and
from the International Festivals Association convention in the fall of 1977
that I remember most.
Diary entry: October 7, 1977
Bradenton, Florida—Nancy picked me up at 5:15 a.m. Went to Lucas’s to load luggage on motor home. Left for Tampa 6:10. Plane left at 8:30. Long day followed with air travel to San Francisco (2-hour lay over) on to Honolulu about 2:00 San Fran time. Finally arrived in Maui at 8:00 (2 a.m. Bradenton time) Very tired. Checked into Lahaina Shores and went to sleep.
We stayed on Maui for a couple days prior to heading back to
Honolulu for the convention. While there, Nancy and I were on our own during
the day to go to the beach, have lunch, and spend time at the pool, but at
night, Earl and April turned their full attention to making sure we girls were
both enjoying ourselves and were safe. When we wanted to go to the Foxy Lady
Discothèque located several miles from our hotel, they, along with a couple
other adult members of our group (yes, Frank Eldridge, that means you!), got in
the taxi with us. Earl and April sat a discrete distance from us, but were
nevertheless very watchful in making sure their queen and princess were well
looked after. I don’t recall feeling at all that they were being over
protective. I liked the idea of their being near by. They seemed to have just
the right mix of parental concern and understanding about our desire to be on
our own.
After Maui, the details of being in Honolulu are a bit of a
whirlwind blur as Nancy and I attended parties, luncheons, evening receptions,
and prepared for the big event, which was riding on a float in the Aloha Floral
Parade. During the day Earl and April were otherwise occupied with the business
of attending meetings on festival fund-raising, designing community projects,
and how tos on ticket sales and crowd control. However, they took time each day
to take us somewhere special. One day the Arizona, another a Don Ho show, as well as a trip one evening to attend a full
blown luau with hula dancer entertainment. I think what I’m trying to convey is
that I was included as a family member in every single way, and felt keenly the
warmth of their affection.
We returned to the mainland a week later through San
Francisco, but this time Earl had a big surprise all planned out for us. We
were to stay over one night in the Drake Hotel and spend an entire day in San
Francisco before heading back to Florida on a red eye. Earl had been stationed
in San Francisco when he was in the Navy as a young man and told us stories of
being on leave. He couldn’t wait to take us to the Top of Mark to see the
spectacular view of the city from the revolving top floor restaurant of the
Mark Hopkins Hotel. For lunch he had arranged with a business associate to pick
us up in a fancy Lincoln Town Car and take us to have sushi. I’d never had it
before, but it was in San Francisco where I learned how to use chopsticks and
ate raw yellow fin tuna dipped in soy sauce for the first time. And what trip
to San Francisco is complete without hopping on and off the street cars, or
getting chocolate at Ghirardelli’s? It was quite a day that I was treated to as
if I was a daughter, not a guest.
After learning of Earl’s death, I searched around for a poem
that might be appropriate to salute him and pay tribute to the kindness he
bestowed so unflaggingly on me during our DeSoto year. I finally settled on
“Crossing the Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889). It is thought that Tennyson
wrote it in elegy, as the poem has a tone of finality about it. I offer it up
now as a farewell to our beloved captain, Earl Lucas.
Crossing the Bar
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
It is my sincere hope that every DeSoto queen and princess
can reflect back nearly 40 years afterwards and have similarly fond and joyous
memories. Happy 75th DeSoto celebrants!
Copyright DJ Anderson, 2014
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