Have you ever wished that you could have been a kid forever, that you could fly away to a place where you would never grow old? Well one way to achieve this goal would be to get in touch with Peter Pan and fly away to Neverland! Residents of Perry did just that on November 20 and 21 1971. They watched as Wendy, John, Michael, and even Captain Hook interacted with Peter. Here at Hometown Heritage, we are lucky enough to have some rare photos of the event!
In our first photo we can see John and Michael Darling. Michael is sitting on their (rather enormous) dog and is holding an unknown object, while John is carrying his umbrella. Moments later Wendy would come into their room and put them to bed and it would not be long before Peter Pan found them. In fact, our next picture happens to capture the illusive teenager lying on top of the fireplace. It is suspected that it is around this time that Peter Pan convinced the Darlings to run away to Neverland with him.
Our final two pictures are of the infamous criminal pirate, Captain Hook. The scoundrel named Hook, due to the hook replacing his right hand, is accused of attacking and threatening the lives of Peter Pan and the Darling children. As you can see, in one picture he is brandishing a sword and assaulting Peter, most likely with ill intent. Our final picture is the last known picture of the criminal alongside the crocodile that was seen chasing him into the distance. It is presumed that the crocodile is the same crocodile that caused Hook the injury resulting in his hook hand and that the animal had acquired a taste for Hook. After their scrape with the pirate captain and his band of thugs, the Darling children decided to return home, and lived peaceful lives.
If you wish to see a reenactment of the events of this story, the Perry High School Music and Drama departments are performing one this weekend! There will be three showings, with two both at 6:30 P.M. on both March 31 and April 1 and a matinee at 1 P.M. on April 1. If you attend, you can see how closely the play resemble the scenes seen in these photos of the events! Did you ever wish to fly away with Peter Pan? Let us know and the comments, and join us next week for another Hometown Heritage Blog!