White Deer R.I.P.

The time has come to let the unluckiest deer in the world go to her eternal reward; White Deer, rest in peace.

For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to live in Garner, North Carolina, I must relate the tragic tale of White Deer. Her first appearance strangely enough coincided with my own move to Garner, although I make no claims to a relationship. Five years ago, sightings of a white deer wandering around Lake Benson Park began to be reported. The small town was abuzz with excitement-- golly, an albino creature of our very own. The town aldermen riding a tidal wave of good feeling decided to name a new park after her. Tragically, although her real name was "Sally" (She Walks in Beauty Like Vanilla Ice Cream) she was known about town as just plain "White Deer," so that is what the new park was named. Even more tragically, three days later she was killed in a fateful rendezvous with a pick-up truck.

But help arrived in the form of a kindly old taxidermist. White Deer was stuffed and then put on display first at the old Garner High School auditorium (scene of many a bad play put on by the Garner Town Players) and then at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and there she might have comfortably lived out the remainder of her new life as a stuffed animal. But fate had other plans for our darling.

Her next move was to a storage room at the publics works department. At this time the Garner city council was hotly debating what to do with her. It is not every day that God gives a stuffed, albino doe to a small town. Obviously something special should be done for White Deer-- although hopefully nothing too expensive. After much agonizing and dire predictions (more on that in a moment) it was decided White Deer should have her own wee climate-controlled house built and a monthly allowance of $50.00 set aside in the city budget (presumably to pay for the electric bill rather than for candy and magazines.) Oddly enough the choice was made to build "Storytelling House" not in the eponymous White Deer park, but at Lake Benson, scene of her younger, non-stuffed days.

A cute little structure was built and last Sunday White Deer was moved into her new home. But alas! A mere five days later someone broke into Storytelling House, pulled White Deer out and set fire to her. One alderman was quoted as saying, "I said two years ago, and I said right up to the dedication, I thought something bad would happen. The deer was set up. It was an accident waiting to happen."

A $1000.00 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the vandals and there is talk of restoration, but I believe it is time to let White Deer go. She was too good for this world.