Keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes is their job.
Mom and Dad are on the board at Martindale Mennonite Fellowship Center, which is a venue used for church services, hymnsings, meetings, funerals, and of course, weddings.
Last Saturday morning, like most Saturdays, there was a wedding at the center. There’s always a board member present to take care of the air conditioning and the sound system, etc.
It was my parents’ turn to be there, and in the late morning, Dad was sitting next to the sound system, keeping an ear on the wedding sermon, when one of the guests came up to Dad and said, “There’s a snake in the foyer!”
That can’t be right, thought Dad. Surely he’s just seeing a big fishworm.
The foyer is beside the chapel where the service was being held. Mom and Dad went to find the snake. “There was a little girl sitting in here a few minutes ago,” said Mom.
Then they saw it: a baby snake curled up on the tiled floor.
They stared as the snake flicked out a forked tongue. It was as thick as a pencil, about twelve inches long, bronze-colored with a diamond-shaped head.
“It is a snake,” they whispered to each other. “How are we going to get it out of here?”
Since the chapel was nearby, and the vows were about ready to be spoken, the normal method of killing snakes— a swift blow to the head— wasn’t a good option.
Otherwise, the wedding guests might hear the formal ceremony like this:
“Now may the God of—”
WHACK!
“Abraham, Is–”
WHACK!
“–sac, and”
“You missed!”
Jacob, be with you–”
WHACK!
“Go forth–”
WHACK! WHACK!
“as husband and wife–”
“Ha, ha! GOT him!”
No, this snake would have to be taken live. There wasn’t much time. Once the service ended, people would be pouring into the foyer, beginning with the bride and groom.
The men’s room was nearby, so Dad went inside and grabbed a clear plastic cup and a big wad of paper towels.
He came back into the foyer and pushed the coiled-up snake inside the cup with the paper towels, stuffing them in after the snake. The snake began to thrash around inside the cup.
Dad went back in the restroom and dumped the snake inside the toilet. As the snake swam to the edge of the bowl, Dad quickly flushed the toilet, and the little snake went to his watery grave.
Dad was pretty sure it had been a copperhead, and an internet search confirmed it. Copperheads are a type of venomous pit viper, and while their bite usually isn’t deadly, children, elderly, and the immunocompromised are “at risk”, according to National Geographic. They’re common in the wild areas of Pennsylvania, but I’ve never seen one.
No one knows how the snake got into the building.
Let’s all be grateful for those who keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.
Great story ! Be sure to forward to the newly weds ! I’m sure they appreciate the efforts to not disturb the ceremony!
Glad you liked the story, Brenda. I don’t know the bride and groom, I guess they’ll have to learn the story from the grapevine.
Horrors! I’m glad I didn’t know that when we were helping with the youth event there this past Sat eve! So was this happening on the 22nd? If so, the newly weds will be our next door neighbors when they get back from their wedding trip & I’ll have to make sure I tell them!
Yes, it was the 22nd! I think a few of the guests heard what happened, so the newlyweds might know the story already.