This is a very important date: the eleventy-first birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien (bio).
As fans are no doubt aware, the novels begin with the sentence: “When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.”
In honor of this momentous occasion, we’re going to have a party featuring a game of pin the ring on the hobbit, snack foods mentioned in the works of Tolkien, and the time-honored toast, “The Professor.” We’ll also show the extended DVD version of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring (but you don’t need to stay for that). There will be much more, but I hope that whets your appetite to come!
Come to our place (directions) at 7pm tonight. The toast will be at 9pm (to coincide with the worldwide toasting of Tolkien by other fans).
We will we will have a small handout highlighting Tolkien’s motivation for writing fantasy novels, but this be very low-key: there will be no gospel presentation or invitation to receive Christ. This is just an opportunity for us to have fun together and celebrate the goodness of life.
