Fort Knox

July 25-26, 2008

I love Fort Knox. I think all of us do. Well think about it, we get to camp in a state park that is also a FORT, how cool is that?! And we did not have to camp right outside the main entrance of the fort which has cast an unsavory appearance upon us (& our pride). Something I did not know until I went this time was that the Fort was built to fend off attackers during the War of 1812. Apparently, the area had been attacked before so the need for a fort was on the edge of everyone's minds. Well, they started it, and then the war ended. Well, sometime later, the Civil War began and the state decided to re-continue building Fort Knox in case of an attack. To this day the fort remains unfinished. Despite being unfinished (the only thing I see missing are the cannons) this is an impressive place in a strategically favorable spot along the river.

On to the photos!

See!? This is where we camped this time. It was still along the road, but it was much better than where we camped last year. And thank goodness we got to camp somewhere else, not all of our tents would have fit!

The 20th Maine gets to camp inside the fort. I have to admit, I am kind of jealous. I think it is really neat that they get to camp in there, but the 20th Maine was stationed there breifly before being sent down South to fight the war.

We had a pretty sizable group this year. Not only were we in full force, but we had three gentlemen from the First Maryland come all the way up from Connecticut! I cannot thank Elvis (John), Rocky and Chris enough for coming and we had such fun! It is always nice to have semi-even numbers at any event. Also, Marc from the 29th Georgia (I did not know there was one up here...) came, our newest member, Martin and we had our turncoat, Keith.

"The Rebs are comin'! The Rebs are comin'!" No seriously, he shouted that as he ran past.

Here is a lovely photo of Deb as we ladies watched our men die honorable deaths at the Saturday battle (we won on Sunday).

The 20th Maine lines up after their victory on Saturday!

The Confederates also line up.

This would have been an excellent group photo if everyone had been there, but for some reason, certain people just disappear after a gathering (battle) and you do not see them again until later and then someone else has disappeared! I need a nail gun.

As the evening waned, Tom and Ashley went out to pick wild blueberries. Deb, in her quest to track down her child also joined them. I, being the lazy thing I am, chose to participate marginally in the picking and then resumed my duties as historian to document the memories being created by these three. Which is all code for, LAZY. Can you tell I feel guilty about it? It is something like branding yourself a traitor...you save everyone the trouble of accusing you.

And this is a lovely photo of our group before Elvis, Rocky & Chris left. We are missing Keith & Mark, too. Mark left Saturday night and I do not know where Keith went. Those young men nowadays! Always running off!

Here is the end of the event on Sunday where we finished the battle and said our good-byes to the 20th Maine. At least until next time...

...and next time is Chamberlain Days! See you then!

North New Portland Bicentennial

July 12-13, 2008

I liked this event. We marched in a parade, got to socialize with some locals (to the group, recruiting!), and ended up with 6 or 7 pies. The area where we were camped was really nice, too, flat, even and fenced in by trees. The mosquitos were brutal though, you would think they would be well fed with all the wildlife in Maine...

Here was our campsite, tucked into a little corner of the fair grounds. It was great because no one was set up next to us & the only traffic we had to worry about was foot traffic, which is what we wanted!

This was our group for the Parade on Saturday. It was pretty good and we got a woman from some newspaper (the Sugarloaf irregular, I think) to take a photo of all of us!

Here are the troops on the march with the ladies following.

As a salute to all the veteran's of New Portland, past and present, the gentlemen fired a round on the bridge.

Here is a lovely photo of Lindsey. This was the first time I saw her dressed as a civilian, she had started as a soldier but as of Gettysburg she is now a proper lady. She did a really good job with her dress and the hat goes so well with it!

Chris treats our scout, Tom, who was wounded on one of his scouting missions. The surgeons tent really draws people in, mostly because Chris knows so much about it and is so good at lecture.

I liked this event, mostly because, while it was small, there was a lot of interest by the locals and they made it interesting...Davey Crockett...