Lying in church
When asked how he first came to own camels, Allen confesses that it came from a lie he told in church. Some thirty years ago, a local congregation was planning a Christmas pageant and wanted a Nativity scene that pulled out all the stops. They hired Scott Allen to provide all the requisite manger scene animals: sheep, goats, donkeys, and even (oddly) a llama.
Someone at the church mentioned in passing how much she wished they had a camel for the show. Allen asked her how much she would pay to rent one. She named a price that he liked, then she asked, “You don’t have a camel, do you?” Allen did not own any camels — not one — but when he thought about how much the church would pay to rent one, he said, “Sure, I have a camel!” It took him several months to find one, but he finally succeeded.
After Allen procured the promised camel, he only had a few weeks before the Christmas program would be performed. The problem was, he had no idea if the animal could be trained to do what it needed to do, safely. The pageant was going to be inside the church sanctuary, so the last thing anyone needed was a giant, ungainly animal galloping down the aisle, out of control.
The camel had to be trained and tested, in short order. Inspired with an unconventional idea, Allen took the camel to his grandmother’s house, which was still fully furnished, though no one lived there. Allen and a few young men walked the camel, carefully, slowly, all through the house to make sure it could navigate an interior space without an unfortunate incident.
When the camel, at last, was in the yard again, the interior of the house was still perfectly intact. The giant beast had passed the test, and it went on to perfectly perform in the pageant’s Nativity scene. There were no stampedes, no ladies’ hats were eaten, and no one got kicked or spat upon.
That Christmas camel three decades ago was the first of many. At present, Pettit Creek Farms has about eighteen camels in its herd, and new calves are born now and again. They are a favorite attraction at the farm.
At one point in the farm’s lengthy hayride, the wagon stops and customers are invited to disembark and hand-feed the camels. For those who want an even more up-close-and-personal experience with the huge animals, camel rides are available.