STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Blessing of the Animals will be held on Sunday, Oct. 1, in Festival Meadows on Sun Valley Road.
The annual event hosted by St. Thomas Episcopal Church will begin with a service at 9:30 a.m. Blessings will begin at 10, and all fluffy, feathery, crawly and slithery friends are welcome along with their two-legged human companions.
Attendees should bring their own chairs.
The Blessing of the Animals is celebrated in conjunction with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. St. Francis, a Catholic friar who founded the Franciscans, lived in the 13th century. He believed nature mirrored God and called all creatures his brothers and sisters, even preaching to the birds.