Traditionally, it is celebrated on April 23. We do know that he was baptized on April 26, 1564. Perhaps the date of April 23 was chosen, among other reasons, because Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 — that being an appropriate symmetry. The Shakespeare Club has a decades-long history of celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday.

The birthday party was the culmination of a year spent studying distinctive places around the world. It began with a tea at our local Lily Dale. We were given a history tour and ended the event with tea and cakes. Lily Dale is one of our more distinctive places besides the Chautauqua Institution.

The club members put on an Elizabethan-style banquet for Shakespeare’s birthday and partook of an attractive array of food fit for our Shakespearian characters.

The award for perfect attendance to members who attended all our meetings was given to Lucy Richardson, Joan Larson, Irene Strychalski, and Mary Croxton. Members enjoyed playing a version of the game “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”; where the members had to pick the best answer to questions based on our distinctive place’s papers.

Top row, from left: Susan Westling, Linda Dunn, Karin Seager Cockram, Lisa Mertz, Leanna McMahon, Irene Strychalski, Cheryll Rogers, Joyce Haines, Lucy Richardson, Mary Croxton. In front are: Judi Lutz-Woods, Barb Albert, Nicki Schoenl, Joan Larson, Mary Jane Covley Walker. Below is the photo from 1915.

Dessert consisted of a cake that resembled the ‘Globe Theatre’ with an edible figure of ‘The Bard’ sitting on top. Members dressed in costume, portraying a character from one of Shakespeare’s plays. We could have put on a production that day. Perhaps, “Much Ado about Nothing,” “The Comedy of Errors,” or, fittingly, “All’s well that ends well.”