![The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]](images/wwwboard.gif "The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]") |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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 Posted - January 08 2009 : 10:37:30 AM
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Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself to the board! I've been "lurking" as people say for about a month. Joining something online & talking w/ total strangers is extremely out of character for me. But as I've started reading everyone's post I find myself laughing often & realizing there are other people out there like me. So I've reconciled myself to having "gone over the edge" b/c I have to be a part of this extraordinary Mohicanite family! I was born & raised for a time in around Pittsburgh. I remember someone saying "that's it Fort Pitt" on one of the forums. My family & I still say that along w/ "hold down the fort". I lived in Delmont- a town along Forbes Rd. (for all who know F&I war history in PA). My Dad was raised in Harrison City where my Aunt & Grandma still live. Just up the road from their house is Bushy Run Battlefield where I spent time as a kid & still do. Living around Pittsburgh I remember visiting Fort Ligonier, Jumonville, etc. and still make a yearly trip to Kennywood Park across the river from Braddock. My sister & I just visited Point Park & the Fort Pitt block house & musuem for the first time this past Nov. We travel the basic route of Forbes Rd. (Rt. 30) all the time when we go back to western PA to visit family. Then I lived in Bedford for a couple of years & spent a lot of time playing at the park along the Juanita river where the fort used to be & one building still stands. Now I live & work in Gettysburg,PA. I saw someone mention G-burg in the "On the Trail of the Last of the Mohicans" book (which I just got from my sister for Christmas) & went "hey!". I work in the heart of the historic district in a small historical clothing shop as a historical clothing seamstress/consultant & fashion historian. My field of expertise is the Civil War/mid-Victorian (of which time period I am also a living historian) but I wouldn't mind making some F&I war clothes! Anyway, to get to LOTM. I first saw the movie 5 yrs. ago. At the time I thought it was a good movie b/c I love historically based stuff. I told my sister about "this movie", said she need to watch it sometime, & that was it. Fast forward late winter/early spring '08. I borrowed the movie from my boss, took it home to my sister & said "watch it". When I came home from work one day she said "I watched LOTM & don't like it-everybody dies (practically)". But then she watched it a couple more times & she got bitten by a little LOTM bug. Late that summer we decided to do something different for our annual trip to our Grandma's & went to see a F&I war reenactment (really a Pontiac's War reenactment) for Bushy Run Battlefield's 245th ann. It was our first reenactment of the kind & it was so much fun! Well to get in the mood I once again brought home LOTM before we left for our trip & our lives have never been the same. Both of us have now officially been bitten by a BIG LOTM bug & can't imagine life w/out it. How could we go along w/out knowing it existed before? Then it was like it was meant to be. I had to get J.F. Cooper's novel out of the public library and read it. It was the first time I had gotten really involved in a book for a long time. Sure I was taken aback by the movie story/book story difference but I still enjoyed it immensely. Then would you believe- my sister got to take a business trip to the Biltmore & Asheville. I said " Bea, I think LOTM was partially filmed on the Biltmore!". Sure enough I skimmed the end credits & there it was- "OH MY GOSH BEA-YOUR GOING TO MOHICANLAND!". We were both so giddy! She got to ride over the bridge Duncan's carriage goes over. She said she started shouting " this is the bridge! this is the bridge!" & her co-worker was like huh?. She also got to stand in the courtyard where Duncan first sees Cora. Once she got home she said "somehow, someway, WE ARE GOING BACK". Then we had to watch the movie all over again- I haven't stopped watching one scene or another of LOTM since this past August. My sister got me the directer's DVD version for Christmas as well as that beautiful soundtrack & your book "On the Trail of the Last of the Mohicans". I read all the "how I got into LOTM" stories in the back of the book & that's when I decided I had to join the board & share my introduction to LOTM & my love of all things related w/ fellow Mohicanites! I just saw there may be a 2010 gathering in the works- my sister and I might just be there!
Kay
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
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 Posted - January 08 2009 : 10:48:18 AM
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| If you are in Gettysburg, then you must know of Dirty Billy's Hats? I have a number of his, and see him at an event in Aiken, SC every February. Also deal with a company called Wooded Hamlet as well. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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blackfootblood
Devoted Tribal Member
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 22 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - January 08 2009 : 10:58:33 AM
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Welcome to the board Kay!! You will fit in perfectly here!! And I enjoyed you're story. I'm actually from Pennsylvania too, Somerset county, right beside Bedford county. So you and I share the same stompin' grounds! I left Pa back in 02' for the south, but I sure do miss it. Look forward to you're posts, happy posting!!  |
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!"
"Live well, love much, laugh often!" |
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
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November 27 2002
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Posted - January 08 2009 : 12:32:41 PM
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Welcome, Kay!
It's funny how that movie affects people, isn't it? I find it interesting that your interest had to grow and develop over time and several viewings. Me? I was hooked from the opening scene the first time I watched it.
Hope you have fun here in Mohicanland.
Wilderness Woman, aka WW, aka Joyce |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
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Kaylynn44
Mohicanite
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 13 2002
Status: offline
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Posted - January 08 2009 : 1:14:04 PM
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Hi Kay,
Welcome to the board!!! You will love everybody here. There are times that we have our disagreements, but we still love each other. 
You will also love going to the Gatherings!!! You meet an awful lot of nice people there and get to see alot of places where the movie was filmed. I have been to the last three Gatherings and have loved it each time that I went. I am hoping to make it next year, but it is just kind of up in the air right now, but I am going to try!!!
Welcome again!!!
Love,
Kay D. |
~ An Infinite Zephyr~
Some things never end
As long as goodness exists
Winds shall always soothe
www.cloudsbooks.com
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Bookworm
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 10 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - January 08 2009 : 10:51:36 PM
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| Welcome, Kay! I'm about 30 miles up Route 34, in Carlisle. You're not the only person here whose interests extend to the Civil War -- glad to have you aboard! |
Bookworm
"I've gotten so fascinated with the eighteenth century, I'm going to stay there." -- David McCullough
"Nothing to it, brother." -- Barack Obama |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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Posted - January 09 2009 : 10:43:55 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
If you are in Gettysburg, then you must know of Dirty Billy's Hats? I have a number of his, and see him at an event in Aiken, SC every February. Also deal with a company called Wooded Hamlet as well.
Yep, Dirty Billy has a great store front here in town and I've been in a couple of times. I have friends and customers that are customers of his too. Wooded Hamlet is owned by our local fabric and sewing store Needle and Thread. It's a great store and where we buy all of our period appropriate fabrics- we are in there so often we're practically family! |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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Posted - January 09 2009 : 10:49:25 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookworm
Welcome, Kay! I'm about 30 miles up Route 34, in Carlisle. You're not the only person here whose interests extend to the Civil War -- glad to have you aboard!
Good to know that there is a "local" out there! One of my best friends lives in Carlisle so I go up there sometimes. Maybe one day we'll run into each other! 
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
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October 24 2007
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Posted - January 09 2009 : 4:02:52 PM
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Welcome, Kay!
On one of my favorite vacations several years ago, along with my oldest friend from high school, I drove from Pittsburg to Gettysburg pretty much along Forbes' route. I was especially interested, having recently read Flexner's "George Washington: The Forge of Experience". We visited the Ft. Pitt museum, Ft. Necessity, Jumonville's Glen, Bushy Run, and Ft. Ligioner, all before arriving at our "real" destination, Gettysburg. There's certainly no other way to understand history comparable to seeing where it actually happened, even if you often have to use considerable imagination.
I first became REALLY interested in the colonial/Revolutionary period while ironically working on the film Glory in Savannah, Ga. It was simply because of the number of historic sites from the period there which I'd never been exposed to before. It was only very recently I discovered that two of my ancestors, father and son, actually served in the South Carolina Line during the assault on Savannah; the elder lost fingers on one hand there!
I've been to all the major Civil War sites ( and most of the minor ones as well ); but from here in Texas, the Revolution always seemed exotic, remote, and essientially inaccessable. What helped most to make it REALLY accessable are two excellent ( if older ) publications: Mark Boatner's Landmarks of the American Revolution and especially the three volumes of Sol Stember's Bicentennial Guide to the American Revolution. Boatner includes the main colonial/F&I sites as well; both have those like Ticonderoga, et. al. that figure in both periods. A subsequent trip to upstate N.Y. with these guidebooks to actually see what we had been representing in Mohicans was enlightening and unforgetable! |
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winglo
Deerslayer
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 13 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - January 09 2009 : 6:28:11 PM
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| Welcome, Kay. Yea! Another Pennsylvanian! |
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caitlin
Bumppos Tavern Patron
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 17 2002
Status: offline
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 12:21:04 AM
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| Greetings and salutations! Wecome to Mohicanland! |
Jack McCall: "Should we shake hands or something, relieve the atmosphere. I mean how stupid do you think I am?"
Wild Bill Hickok: "I don't know, I just met you."
"A nation with no regard to it's past will have little future worth remembering."
A.Lincoln
"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize that they were the big things"
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Gadget Girl
Gatherer of Gathering Gadgets
USA
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May 17 2002
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 06:32:54 AM
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Welcome to MohicanLand, Kay!
I am the one in the back of Rich's book whose life was changed when her (now Ex) husband brought home a "Cowboys and Indians" video one evening. I thought the Cherokees were the only Indians not in the Westerns. I discovered a movie I love and time period I now explore and learn about every chance i get and even was able to explore some of my own home state I didn't know existed. Oh...and there is also the WAY HUGE added bonus of all the wonderful life long friends I have made here!!!
GG -Diana |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 09:12:55 AM
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Welcome, welcome, welcome!! Kay, glad my book helped you in some small way.
Enjoy yourself here and make yourself at home always! |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 09:36:09 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by James N.
Welcome, Kay!
On one of my favorite vacations several years ago, along with my oldest friend from high school, I drove from Pittsburg to Gettysburg pretty much along Forbes' route. I was especially interested, having recently read Flexner's "George Washington: The Forge of Experience". We visited the Ft. Pitt museum, Ft. Necessity, Jumonville's Glen, Bushy Run, and Ft. Ligioner, all before arriving at our "real" destination, Gettysburg. There's certainly no other way to understand history comparable to seeing where it actually happened, even if you often have to use considerable imagination.
I first became REALLY interested in the colonial/Revolutionary period while ironically working on the film Glory in Savannah, Ga. It was simply because of the number of historic sites from the period there which I'd never been exposed to before. It was only very recently I discovered that two of my ancestors, father and son, actually served in the South Carolina Line during the assault on Savannah; the elder lost fingers on one hand there!
I've been to all the major Civil War sites ( and most of the minor ones as well ); but from here in Texas, the Revolution always seemed exotic, remote, and essientially inaccessable. What helped most to make it REALLY accessable are two excellent ( if older ) publications: Mark Boatner's Landmarks of the American Revolution and especially the three volumes of Sol Stember's Bicentennial Guide to the American Revolution. Boatner includes the main colonial/F&I sites as well; both have those like Ticonderoga, et. al. that figure in both periods. A subsequent trip to upstate N.Y. with these guidebooks to actually see what we had been representing in Mohicans was enlightening and unforgetable!
You worked in Glory! Awesome!-that's another one of my favorite movies and soundtracks in my collection. Aah Savannah,GA. That is one of our "must go see" cities, someday. I got to take a whirlwind road trip to Charleston,SC about 5yrs. ago when they laid to rest the final crew of the confederate sumbarine "Hunley"- another great movie even if it isn't entirely historially accurate. I marched in the funeral procession, attended their burial, and visited the submarine and it's artifacts. I got to see a bit of old Charleston too. It is sooo beautiful down there-to me it was a whole different world! So, I defnitely want to visit Charleston again along w/ Savannah. I have a great aunt that lives in Marietta,GA-we often talk about visting her since there are some great CW sites around her. I pretty much travel throughout PA,MD,VA, and WV when I visit CW sites- for living history events. But I hope to travel farther to see others and now visit F&I/Rev war sites too! Nothing can compare quite to good old PA though. There is so much to see and do here! I know alot of CW for sure and even more F&I/Rev war than the average person-thanks to our parents taking us places when we were little. Now that we are older Bea and I are returning to a lot of those places w/ better appreciation and more understanding. We joke that if we hadn't moved to G-burg but stayed in Pittsburgh we would be doing Rev war living history instead of CW. As a "newbie" to the period I am reading F&I War Forts in Pennsylvania. A good chunk of the book tracks Braddock's and Forbes' Rds in great detail, stopping at every settlement/town and naming all rds/paths. It is nice b/c they use modern town names and state routes and streets as you get into downtown Pittsburgh-even landmarks so I know exactly where I'm at as I map the routes. It's cool to read about sites you pass over and over again-it does help everything make sense. I'm already for our next rt. 30 road trip back home!
Kay |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
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January 06 2009
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 12:14:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Gadget Girl
Welcome to MohicanLand, Kay!
I am the one in the back of Rich's book whose life was changed when her (now Ex) husband brought home a "Cowboys and Indians" video one evening. I thought the Cherokees were the only Indians not in the Westerns. I discovered a movie I love and time period I now explore and learn about every chance i get and even was able to explore some of my own home state I didn't know existed. Oh...and there is also the WAY HUGE added bonus of all the wonderful life long friends I have made here!!!
GG -Diana
LOL My sister and I love westerns and historical war movies(even some modern war movies). Often they don't even have romance or women in them at all! Sometimes it's better that way-no women-less complications (and more men for us!) It seems to be unusual for women and younger ones at that (I'll will admit our ages I'm 22 and Bea is 26) to like this kind of stuff but what can I say "we're a breed apart and make no sense". We even played cops and robbers and "pirates and indians" (not exactly cowboys) when we were really little. Of course LOTM is an indian movie with just the right touch of indian, war, and romance. Uncas is what ultimately draws me in! (no really I love it all but Uncas is a big plus!)
Kay |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
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January 06 2009
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 12:18:44 PM
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Thanks Rich- I have a greeting from the great "Federici"! And thanks to everyone else who has welcomed me w/ open arms! I know I'm going to settle in just fine around here!
Kay |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
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October 24 2007
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Posted - January 10 2009 : 1:55:56 PM
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Kay,
While working on Glory in Savannah I didn't have as much time off as I later did on Mohicans, so the opportunities for travel were more limited. But with some of my new friends among the reenactors there I did manage to get away for a day to go to Charleston to look around the Battery and downtown area. Later in the production I was able to return for another day by myself and take the ferry to Ft. Sumter and drive over to Ft. Moultrie. Unfortunately I never got over to James or Morris Islands where the 54th had fought. Soon after the filming was over and I was back home the graves of some of the original members of the 54th and 55th Mass. were discovered and they were reinterred in the National Cemetery at Beaufort, S.C., simillarly to the crew of the Hunley. Unfortunately, though I could've attended, I was unable to get back there! |
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di-mc
Pioneer
USA
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September 03 2008
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Posted - January 12 2009 : 2:20:15 PM
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Hi Kay,
I'm another former Pennsylvanian, now living in NC! We planned to take the Mohicanland trip last fall, but due to high gas prices and shortages in that part of the state, we cancelled, but will be going in the spring. Fortunately,we live just a few hrs. drive to many of the sites. Welcome! |
Diane
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson |
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Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
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August 16 2006
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Posted - January 12 2009 : 9:43:53 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Kay
..... We even played cops and robbers and "pirates and indians" (not exactly cowboys) when we were really little. .....
Kay
Oh Lord! another Uncas freak! Just kidding (I think)--just ask some of the "ladies" here of my opinions about Ching's brat (I [almost] never spell his name!).
But I digress...there's nothing wrong with being a tomboy! My wife actually has a cap on one of her front teeth, which she broke as a kid, playing football!!
So...welcome aboard! I'm envious of your current location. G-burg is wonderful. I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks there, 20 years ago. I keep telling Mrs. Obi that someday we'll go there...
Say, did they ever remove that hideous tower? |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
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October 24 2007
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 11:47:14 AM
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Obediah,
Let me answer that with a resounding YES! BUT... Now the Park Service, in their infinite wisdom have opened a huge NEW multi-million dollar visitor center, shaped in part like a Pennsylvania round barn, somewhere in or near the "saddle" between Cemetery and Culp's hills. Though I personally haven't seen it, it seems to be more or less universally HATED by the Civil War/reenactor community. It's primary function appears to be "political correctness" in re-focusing the exhibits from the BATTLE to SLAVERY! A friend of mine who has seen it says the accompanying film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is a total waste of the $8 it for some reason costs to see, being just more politically-correct BS. The official excuse for this is that Gettysburg is probably the ONLY Civil War battlefield most visitors will ever see, so they wanted to "explain" the war, not "just" the battle. ( I'm sure THAT means, as usual, making the Southerners the villians of the piece! )
I can only wonder what has happened to the WONDERFUL exhibits in the old center, formerly known ( even before the Park Service acquired it ) as the Gettysburg National Museum; apparantly many are GONE, because one reenactor complaint regards not enough display, for example, of artillery and its effects. One controversial decision involved the destruction of the 1963 visitor center which stood on Cemetery Ridge and was considered a prime example of Modernist archetecture. Fortunately the Cyclorama it was built to house has again undergone much-needed restoration and been moved to the "round barn" part of the new building. I don't know the fate of the original early 1900's National Museum building, but believe it too was to be demolished.
Maybe Kay can tell us more about this since she's a resident of Gettysburg! |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
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January 06 2009
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 2:14:29 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Obediah
[quote]Originally posted by Kay
..... We even played cops and robbers and "pirates and indians" (not exactly cowboys) when we were really little. .....
Kay
Oh Lord! another Uncas freak! Just kidding (I think)--just ask some of the "ladies" here of my opinions about Ching's brat (I [almost] never spell his name!).
But I digress...there's nothing wrong with being a tomboy! My wife actually has a cap on one of her front teeth, which she broke as a kid, playing football!!
So...welcome aboard! I'm envious of your current location. G-burg is wonderful. I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks there, 20 years ago. I keep telling Mrs. Obi that someday we'll go there...
Say, did they ever remove that hideous tower?
Thanks for the welcome! I'm glad for my tomboyishness too! It makes for much better conversation at times! And although I only got to play football a little bit in high school gym class-I love watching football and hockey and am an avid Steelers and Penquins fan! Yes, some day you'll have to come back-a lot has changed in 20yrs. A lot has changed since I moved here 14 years ago-gosh has it been that long!? I watched the tower come down live when they broadcasted it on our local tv station. I remember the first couple of family trips we made to G-burg before we actually moved out here. Seems like a long time ago, even for me. But Gettysburg is still "mecca" as we reenactors say. And I promise I won't mention you know who your "favorite" LOTM character too often- I'm not a big swooner/romantic and I don't bother people w/ that kind of talk cause it gets old! So have no fear!
Kay
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 3:50:00 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by James N.
Obediah,
Let me answer that with a resounding YES! BUT... Now the Park Service, in their infinite wisdom have opened a huge NEW multi-million dollar visitor center, shaped in part like a Pennsylvania round barn, somewhere in or near the "saddle" between Cemetery and Culp's hills. Though I personally haven't seen it, it seems to be more or less universally HATED by the Civil War/reenactor community. It's primary function appears to be "political correctness" in re-focusing the exhibits from the BATTLE to SLAVERY! A friend of mine who has seen it says the accompanying film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is a total waste of the $8 it for some reason costs to see, being just more politically-correct BS. The official excuse for this is that Gettysburg is probably the ONLY Civil War battlefield most visitors will ever see, so they wanted to "explain" the war, not "just" the battle. ( I'm sure THAT means, as usual, making the Southerners the villians of the piece! )
I can only wonder what has happened to the WONDERFUL exhibits in the old center, formerly known ( even before the Park Service acquired it ) as the Gettysburg National Museum; apparantly many are GONE, because one reenactor complaint regards not enough display, for example, of artillery and its effects. One controversial decision involved the destruction of the 1963 visitor center which stood on Cemetery Ridge and was considered a prime example of Modernist archetecture. Fortunately the Cyclorama it was built to house has again undergone much-needed restoration and been moved to the "round barn" part of the new building. I don't know the fate of the original early 1900's National Museum building, but believe it too was to be demolished.
Maybe Kay can tell us more about this since she's a resident of Gettysburg!
First, sorry about the weird set up of the last post I made-it is just idiot me still learning about posting!
Next, UH-OH! You got me started on this one so let me pull out this little guy here and away we go! Every time I think of all the political crap in G-burg (which I'm sure is happening at other national parks and historic sites) my blood begins to simmer. I promise I won't get too political, let me just try to get the true story as it is to the best of my ability. I don't know the final fate of the old National Museum (the large red brick building across from the national cemetary). It closed before Memorial Day '08. It is now sitting empty and the NPS has blocked the parking lot that accompanies it so no one can use all that parking (which to me seems pretty stupid b/c during the tourist season there is never enough parking). The old Cyclorama building was built in 1961 by the famous modern architect Richard Neutra. He is considered to be one of the finest architects right up there with Frank Loyd Wright. Right now his building is the subject of a very heated lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in DC. The family/descendants of Mr. Neutra and an organization called The Recent Past Preservation Network has filed a lawsuit and sued Gettysburg National Military Park to prevent demolishen of the building. No one knows how long this lawsuit will last. Until then the building will sit empty and unused. A couple of businessmen have offered to relocate the old Cyclorama building so the NPS can move on w/ the restoration of the battlefield they have been working on. "Rabbit Trail"- the NPS is in the process of taking the battlefield land back to 1863 condition-removing some houses and buildings that did not exist in '63 and doing MAJOR cutting and thinning of trees. If any of you come back to the battlefield after having visited even just a few years ago many spots will be unrecognizable to you. I don't like the battlefield w/out all the trees but NPS says it will help visitors "visualize" the battle better. Obviously the tourists have no imagination but I run into that a lot up here. Anyway back to the Cyclorama-relocating it would maybe make the NPS happy but not destroy the building, therefore make everyone else happy. I don't know where the building would go if it was moved and this is just an idea that has been thrown out there-who knows if there will be any takers. Relocation would cost an estimated $5 million. There is a great and really informative website if you want more info than this. It is http://www.mission66.com/cyclorama/. As for what I have seen and experienced first hand- This past July my living history group (called the Frederick Ladies Relief Society) held their annual Gettysburg Medical Weekend where we interpret US Sanitary Commission and also talk about Camp Letterman and medical operations after the battle. This was our last weekend of the kind in Gettysburg b/c we always set up on the lawn surrounding the old cyclorama building. Since it is closed there is no longer any visitation at this site. Well, when our weekend came around the building had already been closed for a while. To save on costs the NPS has let the building decay-it is filled w/ old junk and office furniture and displays not wanted at the new museum. The debris fills the inside of the building as well as covers the exterior grounds around it. It is a fire and safety hazard. I'm waiting to hear that the place has burned or someone got hurt b/c someone got into the place and made mischieve. It would be very easy to do from what I've seen. They also have stopped maintaining the grounds around the building ie: mowing the grass. My sister and I and two other women in our group had to go out the weekend before our event b/c the NPS refused to mow the grass for us to hold our event (it wasn't their problem any more) and mow the grass ourselves w/ our own lawnmower. It took us two times around to mow it to a reasonable height and rake all the grass. We had to prep the site ourselves to use it. Does that make any sense? One park ranger who is a good friend of the group was kind enough to unlock the bathrooms in the building so we would have restroom facilities for the weekend. Nobody is suppose to know so nobody read that! (He also gave each of us a letter representing our names off the sign from the side of the building that said Gettysburg National Military Park. So Bea and I have a letter "L" for our last names as a souvenir!) Nobody's suppose to know that one either! The G-burg NPS is frankly out of money and very desperate. They have sold their souls to keep afloat. The new visitor's and cyclorama center came in WAY over their budget. To pay for it, The Gettysburg Foundation and Friends of Gettysburg (both private local organizations) as well as other individuals contributed BIG amounts of money. Now, these private organizations feel they have the right to pull the NPS' strings and have a large say in the new musuem and in the activities of the volunteer living historians that interpret on the battlefield in the summer. They have been asking the park rangers for their living history contacts (that would include our group.) They want to run the living history groups and their events. Everyone gets the feeling that soon (and it has already begun at one local Daniel Lady farm that was restored and is now operated by the Friends)that the G-burg foundation will hire groups to come in to interpret. This means we would be getting paid and it would no longer be volunteer. This also means that they would tell us what to interpret, where to interpret, and when and how long an event would last. Me, my group, and every other group/individual reenanctor that has heard this possiblity is EXTREMELY turned off and refuses to be used and taken advantage of like that. This is our hobby, our passion, and for many (myself included) part of our life's work-not a job.I have visited the new visitor's center and museum. It was a free tour but unfortunately it was before the movie and cyclorama painting were open so I missed seeing the painting. The center houses a movie theater to show a 30min movie, the cyclorama painting, museum telling all of the CW 1861-65, a restaurant, and a gift shop. The restaurant and gift shop are overpriced. The admission to get in went from being free for the museum and $8 for the movie/cyclorama to $8 firm to get in the center's door. They have even opened up a photo studio where they will slap an apron and a bonnet on tourists and take a "period" picture of them for $10 a shot. My shop shares a building with an operating period wet plate photograpy studio where two extremely talented wet plate photgraphers work. One is a member of the 2nd south carolina string band. A woman came into the studio after getting her picture taken at the visitor's center and told them the center's photo studio had simply given her a bonnet and apron to put on a called it a picture! The museum is trying to draw business away from downtown G-burg b/c it is a well know fact that they are already losing money and their backers are not happy. All of us are glad they are losing money. From what I hear from people who have seen the painting- a crowd of people are herded through a quick light show that supposedly "enhances" the cyclorama experience, are given just a few minutes to study the painting, and herded out again. The museum houses less artifacts then were in the old one-I don't know what happened to all the rest. Bea and I found mistakes throughout and found mislabeled displays and incorrect information. I have talked with others who found misinformation that I didn't. I'd like to know who their historical advisor and resident historian was. I'd like to know who curated the artifacts and doesn't know how to label them properly. Well, ok, off the tangent- but if you weren't sure before you know how much this stuff is hated by quite a few in the reenacting/living history community now. As for the movie I've never seen-well that movie sounds like a waste to me too. Everybody just wants to make the CW and all of its reasons for being a politically correct, clear, cut and dry story. It had so many facets and so many reasons for being that no human can sum it up or cover it up like they want. This is all the news that I'm aware of for now-but I'll keep you posted if you like!
Kay |
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 7:23:56 PM
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| This sounds strangely similar to events at NPS sites in South Carolina. The NPS is a blight on the history of America. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 7:58:00 PM
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| Unfortunately, as a part of the U.S. Government it's thereby prey for all the political infighting and silliness that plauges all the rest. I can remember when the Park Service director was some damn fool whose passion was "physical fitness"; therefore ALL the parks HAD to sprout all these stupid pieces of running/jogging/exercise CRAP. That may be OK for a NATURAL National park; but personally I think it's QUITE inappropriate to take a place like Vicksburg, where many died, and turn its park roads into nothing more than an oversized track for joggers! ( Which is exactly what happened! ) |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 8:27:19 PM
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Kay's account is SO long and informative, I'd forgotten about one part I wanted especially to comment on: I applaud the decision to "take" the battlefield back to it's 1863 appearance. You COULD use the comment about using one's imagination to justify leaving up the notorious tower; the Stuckey's Pecan Shoppe directly across the road from the Peach Orchard that I remember from the '60's; The little 1930's tourist courts I remember staying in with my Mother back in '61 between Oak Hill and the RR cut on Doubleday Ave.; etc., etc. ad infinitum. By removing the forestation it opens the landscape up making it possible to better understand many military decisions, like the importance of Little Round Top to both attacker and defender. Not to mention simply FINDING things: it was only on my last visit I saw the wonderful monument to the Irish Brigade; I accidentally turned down the lane where it stood completely hidden by a grove of post-war trees!
And to return this thread to its dedicated topic, while the Fort William Henry Resort Hotel isn't BAD for what it is; still, I'd still prefer a clear view from the site of the French battery to the reconstruction of the fort itself! ( Since the hotel sits adjacent to it and directly atop what WAS the fort's garden - through which the French approach trenches were dug. ) And this is only ONE example of many possible in this vein! |
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Obediah
Mohicanland Statesman
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 16 2006
Status: offline
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Posted - January 13 2009 : 10:30:50 PM
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| Speaking of "taking battlefields back" to their Civil War appearances, most of you probably have heard of that dip in the ground near Mare's Heights in Fredericksburg VA where many Federal troops lay down attempting to hide from the murderous Confederate fire. Back in 1988 (yup, same trip as G-burg), I and my pards (reenactors all) looked for it--all that is left is a very slight depression running across an alley between two rows of houses! If you weren't looking for it, you never would have even noticed it! Much of the slope running toward Mare's Heights is covered with 60-70 year old houses...which is a darned sight better than a strip mall! I guess in some ways it is a matter of focusing on life instead of focusing on death... |
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