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 Zephyrhills Celtic Festival and Highland Games The Legend of Zeffie |
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The Legend of Zeffie |
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The legend of Zeffie is a tale as old as Loch Ness in Scotland, but I did not know that on that late January day when I shot the now familiar photo of Zeffie. The Modern Photograph A few days prior to the publication of the photo in the January 30, 2003 issue of the Zephyrhills News, Celtic Festival founder Steve Serneels and this reporter were down at Loch Zephyr. I was conducting an interview about the upcoming Third Annual Celtic Festival. We were preparing to get photos of Steve at the festival site. I asked Steve to point at the Loch and I raised my camera to take what normally would have been routine publicity shots. What resulted was far from routine. In fact it has become the most fantastic photograph I have ever taken. It all happened so quickly and I reacted so instinctively that I cannot tell you much about the moment I snapped the shutter. I was focused on Steve intentionally leaving the Loch unfocused for effect and I did not refocus my lens. When I took the picture of Zeffie, he was clearly in my viewfinder, but when I took the camera down from my eye there was no large creature in the Loch. I knew, however, that unless I was going mad, I had something special on that roll of film. I have no idea what the creature was; all I know is the creature I shot was real. There are those who doubt the authenticity of the photograph and of my story; but I would testify in a court of law and before my Maker that all I have described is true. I affectionately named the creature "Zeffie" in honor of the legendary Loch Ness monster "Nessie". It wasn't until news staff began to dig for information about the creature that I realized how closely they may actually be related. Official Recognition While many scoffed. There were those who took Zeffie seriously. One of them was Zephyrhills Mayor W. Cliff McDuffie. A Scot of the Clan Macfie himself , he knew that such mysterious tales are often found in Celtic lore. To publicly profess absolute belief in such a creature may well have been political suicide for the mayor. Yet almost a year to the day after the publication of the Zeffie photo and with courageous Celtic spirit, McDuffie gave a cautious nod to the elusive denizen of Zephyrhills' waters. On January 26, 2004, McDuffie chose to make a public proclamation at the Zephyrhills City Council during which he proclaimed that the body of water in Zephyr Park could rightfully be called Loch Zephyr. In addition, citing that "there has been a hint of speculation that there is a dinosaur of some description lurking in the lake;" that "the dinosaur, if discovered, be given the name McZeffie" So by official proclamation the creature?s formal name became McZeffie, but those of us who know him well still call him Zeffie. An early Zeffie photo?  Whatever you call him, mystery indeed surrounds the creature. In the continuing quest for the enigmatic Zeffie, the Zephyrhills News has uncovered a hitherto unknown early photograph of Zeffie circa 1920. Why has no one mentioned this photograph through the years? Perhaps it is because it is not very clear and the creature can be explained away as an unusual light pattern or a heron in the shadows. Perhaps the early town fathers were afraid of curiosities that could keep people from moving to the fledgling community. Popular Zeffie conjecture The current belief is that Zeffie visits Loch Zephyr via a connecting underground waterway coming from Crystal Springs. Popular thought proposes that Zeffie was the real reason behind the closing of Crystal Springs Recreational Park several years ago. As the theory goes, the owners, not knowing the disposition of the creature, could not allow continued swimming in the springs. They also knew that announcing their reasons would be met with scorn and ridicule at best and flocks of thrill-seeking tourists and exploitation at worst thus they never announced the actual cause for closing the swimming area. The center for ecological study now employed to teach students about Florida ecology is considered by Zeffie believers to be a front for Zeffie research. The origin of Zeffie How Zeffie came to be here is another matter of obscurity. Ancient legends say that Zeffie and Nessie were mates back when the earth was made of one continent known as Pangaea. If one looks at a globe one can see that it seems to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. In such a landmass Florida and the British Islands may well have been together. According to the fanciful story, Zeffie was an adventurer who took the opportunity of the Great Flood to leave his Loch Ness home to find out what the rest if the world was like. He promised Nessie he would be back. As the waters receded however, the earth took on a new look and Zeffie found himself trapped in what would come to be Florida. Unable to stand the briny ocean Zeffie has never been able to return home. Ever since Nessie has awaited Zeffie?s return and Zeffie has yearned to be reunited with his mate. You decide Truth or legend? I can only tell you what I saw through my viewfinder. |
