A parade on Saturday through downtown Hanover featured pint-sized cars and men garbed in red fezzes, but it was only a prelude to the heated Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl that followed -- the annual football game between Vermont and New Hampshire high school students held at the College.
Fans from all over the two states flooded downtown and eventually Dartmouth's Memorial Field, where the charity bowl attracted a large crowd.
During the parade, the Shrine Masons, commonly known as Shriners, donned their the extravagant Middle-East-type costumes and played bagpipe music to provide a circus-like atmosphere around the Green.
In the afternoon, the football game pitted a team of top-notch Vermont high school football players against another competitive New Hampshire team. The latter was coached by Hanover's own Mike Ivanovski, head coach at Hanover High School.
This year marked the 52nd year of the charity bowl, and rivalries continued to run high, especially with New Hampshire's four-game winning streak on the line.
Although New Hampshire eventually won 24-6, the Vermont fans, who sat on the Dartmouth side of the field, came out in full force to root for their green-clad team. After Vermont's only touchdown, Green Mountain State supporters, who appeared to outnumber significantly their New Hampshire counterparts, stood and cheered enthusiastically.
Emily Jones and Kirsten Njort, recently graduated seniors from Rice High School in South Burlington, Vt., came to the game to support four players from their area.
Although they had not previously attended the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, they noted that they enjoyed this year's event.
The girls said that this year's buzz at home was bigger than other years because of South Burlington's contribution to the bowl.
"We haven't had a lot of kids on our school team be on the Vermont team [in the past], so it hasn't been well known," Njort said.
Although Vermont trailed the whole way, the two girls were pleased to be at the game and at Dartmouth.
"I think it's a great location for it," Jones said. "And it's not that long of a drive."
Alan Grover, a Shriner from White River Junction, Vt., who worked at one of the entrance booths, also felt the location was a nice compromise, especially with Dartmouth's proximity to the Connecticut River.
The Shriners are affiliated with the Freemasons as part of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America. The Shrine's 775,000 members consist of 32nd degree Scottish Rite Masons or Knights Templar York Rite Masons from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
When asked about the number of Shriners in attendance, Grover said the operation was too big to count.
"I'm a small cog in a big wheel," he said.
The Shriners are best-known for their generous work with ill and hospitalized children.
According to the Egypt Shrine's website, "Shrinedom has one objective, and this is to support our Children's Hospitals, which provide quality medical treatment at no charge for any child."
The Shriner's Creed blatantly spells out the fraternity's benevolent purpose.
"As Shriners, we look beyond ourselves to serve the needs of others, especially children who can't help themselves," their website states.
The football game, entry to which cost $10 in advance and $20 at the door, raised money for the Shriners' three local children's hospitals. They run hospitals in Boston and Springfield, Mass., which specialize in burn treatment, and another hospital in Montreal that specializes in orthopedics.
The parade started at noon, preceding the actual football game, and was attended by various community members.
Placards and signs constantly reminded on-lookers that the parade was for the children of the Shrine hospitals.
The side of the Shrine band's bus read, "The Shrine Band plays so that children may."
