{"id":22078,"date":"2018-10-31T12:08:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T17:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=22078"},"modified":"2018-10-31T12:22:19","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T17:22:19","slug":"jeris-jackpot-the-legend-of-the-wood-ape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2018\/10\/31\/jeris-jackpot-the-legend-of-the-wood-ape\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeri’s Jackpot: The Legend of the Wood Ape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Continuing on our trek through the various festivals as well as the weird and wacky things around the United States, we come to the age old legend of Bigfoot, or as he has recently been renamed by the North American Wood Ape Conservancy, the Wood Ape. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Bigfoot is a legend that spans back as far back to at least 1898, if not further. According to anthropologist David Daegling, the legend of Bigfoot existed long before there was even a name for such a creature. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The first sighting of bigfoot was in 1811 by David Thompson, in what is now Jasper, Alberta Canada, who found some tracks in the snow that were \u201cfourteen inches long and eight inches wide, with four toes\u201d according to unmuseum.com. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In 1884, the capture of a creature, named Jacko who was referred to as a \u201cSasquatch\u201d was reported in a local Canadian newspaper. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0However, due to the description of the creature, many think it is likely that it was simply an ape brought over on a ship from Africa. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Over the next century or so, Bigfoot sightings began to increase in number and location. He has become such a legend that in Skamania County, Washington, anyone who shoots and kills a Bigfoot will face a $1,000 penalty and five years in jail. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0In Texas, there is the North American Wood Ape Conservancy (NAWAC), which is a research center dedicated to researching and educating people about the creature. It is made up of a team of researchers, most of whom have a degree in anthropology, wildlife or are experienced hunters. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The site has several links to Bigfoot related information, such as their description page. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0According to NAWAC, the Wood Ape is described as having a \u201clarge bulk, powerful build and thick chest.\u201d It\u2019s thought that there are both male and female Wood Apes, with the females described as having \u201cpendulous breasts\u201d as the most defining characteristic. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The creatures are more human like in nature than bearlike, and have thick hair covering most of their bodies. In most encounters, people describe the Wood Ape as having a graceful gait, appearing to almost float across the ground. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Bigfoot is more than just a research center though. Several states around the U.S. have Bigfoot Festivals. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Destinationamerica.com lists the top five Bigfoot related festivals in the U.S. The first on the list is the Honobia, Okla. festival that typically runs from Oct. 5 to Oct. 6 each year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0According to travelok.com, \u201cThe Honobia Bigfoot Festival & Conference features live music, handcrafted arts and crafts, fun games, a nature walk, delicious food, family friendly entertainment and an art show showcasing the work of local artisans.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The festival takes a small break on Sunday for a 10 a.m. church service and resumes after. They encourage festival goers to bring their own four wheelers for Bigfoot ATV rides. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Willow Creek, Calif. has its own Bigfoot Days the first week of September. The event kicks off with a parade, which according to seecalifornia.com, has no rules. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Anything goes in terms of entries into the parade, from livestock to floats. There are various games that people know and love, and music performances. The China Flat Museum houses the Bigfoot Collection as well as many other artifacts. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0The festival in Leetonia, Ohio takes place in the summer, usually in June and draws a crowd with its Bigfoot Howling contest. There is also a ghost walk as well as food and games. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Skamania County, Wash. had the Bigfoot Bash at Logtoberfest this year on Oct. 6. The host of \u201cFinding Bigfoot\u201d from Animal Planet returned this year. The Bigfoot Mojo, a performance group performed on the mainstage and there were several events for kids. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The Bigfoot Bash was combined with Logtoberfest, meaning it was a two part event this year. There were also Sasquatch vendors as well as many fall themed vendors. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Last but certainly not least on the list is The Bigfoot Jamboree in Happy Camp, Calif. The event has ran for 52 years as of this year. The first night kicks off with a Bigfoot Pie Bake Off and dinner. There is a parade, festivities and even a King and Queen crowning.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Bigfoot has been a part of humanity\u2019s legends for centuries, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Maybe one day we\u2019ll finally track one down, and learn to understand the species. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0For all we know, Bigfoot could be supernatural or he could simply be some undiscovered species just waiting for discovery. Perhaps one day, Bigfoot will be on the list of endangered species and will be something to marvel at instead of hunt. Who knows what mysteries really lie out there in our strange world? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Next time on Wacky and Weird, we\u2019ll take a look at the Hobo Festival and the Tarantula Awareness Festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Jeri Hensley<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Graphic Designer<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Continuing on our trek through the various festivals as well as the weird and wacky things around the United States, we come to the age old legend of Bigfoot, or as he has recently been renamed by the North American Wood Ape Conservancy, the Wood Ape. \u00a0 \u00a0Bigfoot is a legend that spans back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":22133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2104,2150],"tags":[2751,2016,2765,2790],"class_list":["post-22078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-world","tag-festivals","tag-jeri-hensley","tag-jeris-jackpot","tag-wood-ape"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bigfoot.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-5K6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22078"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22134,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22078\/revisions\/22134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}