W64 Registration is Open

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Registration for "Winter 1864" 2008 is now open. The registraton form is posted on the event's Yahoo Group in the "Files" section.

If you want to attend, get your registration in ASAP, because the available registration slots will probably be taken within a few days.

Looking forward to freezing with those who are quick to stick the envelope in the mail. :)

[Johnny Lloyd]

Sir-

My check is in the mail. Don't wanna miss this event. Now to find an enlisted frock, Hardee Hat, and more importantly an overcoat... ;)

Look forward to meeting you! -Johnny

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Now to find an enlisted frock, Hardee Hat, and more importantly an overcoat... ;)


Please review the event standards: No dress ("Hardee") hats and, while enlisted frock coats are fine, we prefer that attendees wear a New York State jacket. If someone does not have a NY jacket, a frock or sack coat is acceptable, because the 151st New York was documented as having all three types of jackets represented in its ranks in the winter of 1864.

An overcoat, extra socks, and mittens are virtually mandatory (let's put it this way: I wouldn't attend this event without them) and a scarf is a darned good idea. Wool sleeping cap is advisable as well.

[Johnny Lloyd]

I stand corrected, sir. Thank you. ;)

No worries. I don't even own a Dress "Hardee" Hat... don't fancy them at all. :p

I shall try my best for a NY State Jacket especially, though. They are pretty rakish, indeed.

Will we receive confirmation that we're signed-up for the event? The check clearing from Mr. Schotz would be enough, I suppose.

This sounds great- a no-miss event.

Thanks-Johnny

[Randy]

John,

Love the avatar you've got! :) Made me crack up.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

We'll issue an e-mail with the registrant list probably over this coming weekend or, at latest, early in the week of 10/01.

While I admire the number of folks on this forum and the event listserver discussing obtaining NY jackets, please note that the registration form has a place for anyone with a jacket they can loan to check it off (for example, I believe most of the commissioned officer impressionists for this event each have a NY jacket that they won't be wearing at this event) so that we can help individuals who need a loaner. Fact is, while they are nice-looking jackets, they are somewhat specific in impression.

Perhaps the comment above about dress hats was a jumbling of event requirements for W64 and the upcoming Outpost 3 event; Outpost has dress hats as the preferred headwear for Yanks. :)

[Johnny Lloyd]

Kevin-

I'd like to let you know now that I'd like to borrow an extra NY State jacket, if I can reserve my place in-line for this somehow. If I happen to obtain one in the meantime, I'll let you know so someone else can use that loaner.

"Why suh... those uniform regulations comin' at me so fast must have hit me with a horrid case of the vapors and confused me somehow... where's my smellin' salts?" :p

Not too hard to confuse me anyway, at least.

I normally get a "case of the vapors" when I eat at Taco Bell...
Too much info-:eek:

Good times! :D

Cheers, sir- Johnny

[Kevin O'Beirne]

We’ve been receiving several requests by e-mail and other means asking a version of, “Did my registration arrive? Am I ‘in’?”

I’d like request a few days’ grace period before the Registrar has to reply to these requests. I’m sure that Tuesday through Thursday of this week will see quite a number of registrations arriving in the Registrar’s mailbox and then they have to be arranged into “who’s arrived on what day” and then we have to start listing who goes where.

The intent of the committee is to let all those who sent in a registration know the results as soon as possible, but please keep in mind, the Registar (and me—I have to help transcribe some of this stuff into the event registration listing) holds a full time job with a wife and kids, and further the Registrar, in addition to his day job, has a 40-acre farm complete with both crops and livestock here at harvest time.

It’s our intent to let those who submitted registrations know “the results” within the coming week. We’ll do our best. If, for some reason, it takes us a few days longer than that (frankly, I’m also spending some of my evenings this week watching the new Ken Burns documentary mini-series on PBS), please be patient. :)

[Charles Heath]

...and with that, the 2008 season has begun!

Heck, the 2007 season still has one event left. Good gosh, such a hobby!

I'm still wondering how the recently slaughtered porcine offering works into this cult of winter camp. Makes you go "hmmmm."

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Charles,

I can state unequivocably that the Event Coordinator's recent trucking of a full-grown swine from the pen behind the Event Coordinator's barn to the kills-and-dresses-your-livestock guy in the nearby town has nothing whatsoever to do with W64. :)

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Today I received a forum PM from someone who wrote that they are not a member of Yahoo Groups and therefore were not able to access the event's registration form.

To state what I hope is obvious, the W64 2008 registration form was posted only on the event's Yahoo Group for one reason: to register you need to be a member of the event's Yahoo Group, so that you are "connected" with pre-event communication.

Expectations for this event--both those of prospective participants as well as the event committee--are quite high. We can all achieve those expectations, or at least come close to them, through a lot of pre-event communication of things like:

* Gear participants will need for their safety.
* Gear and items that participants will probably want to obtain the best experience possible from the event--remember, this isn't your typical "campaigner" event where everyone packs light; rather, this is winter quarters, and that means a whole set of "stuff" that most reenactors don't bring to a campaign-impression event.
* Setting pre-event expectations properly.
* Sharing historical documentation and research applicable to the event and unit bring portrayed. It's important to know the history to portray the men and situation even partly properly.
* Clarifications to the event's standards, rules, and regulations, when such clarifications are necessary.
* And other stuff!

Want to register? Sign up for the Yahoo Group by dropping an e-mail to event coordinator Scott Schotz at hurrah_without_the_H@yahoo.com (frankly, I think this is one of the best reenactor e-mail addresses I've ever seen, taken from Billings's hilarious account in "Hardtack and Coffee").

[Charles Heath]

Kevin,

Somewhere there is a joke that begins, "a German, an Irishman, and a hog all walked into a bar....."

Anyway, I think it was pretty darn nifty to mail a registration for the first EBUFU event of 2008 at the same time as the registration for the last event of 2007. Back to the pig...knowing some of the alleged diabolical activities that sometimes occur with event rations (not that I've actually witnessed any of this firsthand, of course), I'm tempted to be in a state of suspicion bordering on paranoia when it comes to any critter being slaughtered in WNY between now and W64. Don't you dare contact Mark "Piney Flats" Campbell for any baled skunks, either.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I'm pretty sure Schotz's porker is destined for his own chest-freezer in his basement, and maybe parts to the freezers of some of his pards.

[GrumpyDave]

“The Winter of 1864-Looking Through a Frost Covered Window”
Dave Towsen


I've had a very difficult time writing about the Winter of 1864 event. This sort of mental, writers block problem, has never happened to me before; describing events I've attended as always seemed to come easily but for some reason this was a huge exception. I was for some time unable to get my thoughts into words and my words into a form that gave the event the credit it was due. My good friend, Rob Willis, didn't know I called him the other day to help remove my writer’s block. And, with his words, "Even though some who read what you write may not fully understand what you experienced, you need to put into words what you saw and felt. Not everyone knows the time period we know so well, not everyone can or will understand the experiences the men of the American Civil War had but, because of what we know, our hearts and minds can parallel our experiences to theirs. Even, sometimes to the point where the present time becomes a moment in a time past." Thank you my good friend for those words of inspiration. Who could have said it better? This won’t be the first time I will thank all of the event organizers, the members of the 151st New York, Kevin "Old Zeke" O'Beirne, Charles Heath our Sutler and especially Renee Roth, who portrayed the distraught Mrs. Silk. You shall never know how much your acting contributed to my weekend's experience or, everything I‘ve ever done at a Civil War event. Your portrayal haunts me still. I don’t know any other way to put what I experienced walking you from the guard post to the Officers Quarters. I hope you, the reader, will endeavor to understand the paragraphs to follow.

February 12th 1863

Dearest Mother,

I have just received you letter of January 19th. It often makes me wonder why the mail is so awfully slow while we are in winter camp. While we are on the march, I can understand the slowness of the mail. Still each letter is cherished and read over countless times.
I am assigned this day as Sergeant of the Guard so, I may have to put down my pen and paper as duty calls. It is very late though, after midnight, and biter cold. The wind howls like the winter wind in our home in Buffalo. Nary a soul is out and about, except for those of us given the duty of guarding our camp.
Please, don't feel the requests you send for me to send money home go unheeded. I know how our family needs the money I send and, will not forget to do so when we are paid at the end of this month. Don’t forget, our pay is only issued every other month and I will send every cent I can.
I must tell you of an incident that occurred on our camp. A sad story, which bore out over the last two days. Very late, evening last, there was a knock at our little cabin door. Someone poked their head in and announced, “The Surgeon says Private Silk is dying. If any of you wish to see him once more in this world, you had better go to the hospital.” Not feeling wholly myself and not knowing Mr. Silk all that well, I rolled back in my blankets and went to sleep. When I awoke this morning, there was a fresh grave in the small plot next to the hospital. Private Silk had succumbed to the lung wound he received at Mine Run. I was saddened once more by the flooding back of the memories of our fight there and those friends lost there, who I will see in this world no more. The morning bugle sounded and I packed my things for the duty I am now performing as Sergeant of the Guard. Our Officer for today is a fair man and has done his best, within army rules, to make the men comfortable in their duties on this frigid windy day. I had posted my first groups of men and had just settled down to the paperwork which is required of this duty when I was called by one of the Corporals to the furthers post. Imagine my shock and surprise when I found Mrs. Silk, trying to come into camp to see her husband. She was crying quite fitfully when I came upon her. I was a stone as to what to say to the poor woman as I escorted her to the officer’s quarters. I had no words to sooth this stranger’s grief. I could not open my mouth to tell he her husband had passed. I was glad my journey with her was short and my duty to her was soon over. During a patrol later in the day through the camp, I witnessed the coffin containing Private Silk’s remains and his wife being loaded onto a teamster’s wagon. I understand the teamster delivered them to the train depot at Brandy Station. I think you will see them before this letter. I believe I was more profoundly affected by this incident than I was when the mini balls were a flying at Mine Run. There was something very personal about this incident that I cannot understand, or explain.

I had almost forgotten, I will enclose my commission papers with this letter. I am very proud to have finally received them.

Tell everyone I am well and will write again soon. Kiss the little ones for me.

Your Son,

Nathaniel


I penned that letter on Saturday night in the guardhouse as I did my duty as Sergeant of the Guard. I was to portray Sergeant Nathaniel Peck for the weekend, which was made very easy by the event organizers. You see, each of the attendee’s was given the role of an actual soldier from the 151st NY and provided information about that soldier several weeks before the event. It’s not often any of us have the opportunity to attend a winter camp event, an event that was, to me, more of an experience then the typical event. And, this event for me started in October at Payne’s farm and ended in Newfane, New York at a little place called the Newfane Historical Society.

The Winter of 64’ event is in it’s third “go round” being held every other year in Newfane New York. The nine small winter huts and other buildings, include a cookhouse with brick bread oven, officer’s quarters, hospital tent, a guardhouse and a lawyer’s office. The well-constructed huts are reproductions of shelters found in the winter camps in and around Brandy Station Virginia during the actual winter of 1864. Using only donations, and their own labor, Dennis Shank, Scott Shotz, Jim Sauder and others of the 151st New York, have put together what has to be the best reproduction of a Civil War army’s winter camp in existence. The site is nestled on a hillside behind the Historical Society and, there were no modern intrusions that I noticed during the weekend.

The event continued the 151st NY’s journey from Mine Run and into winter camp at Brandy Station. During our weekend stay, we experienced first hand how the men of the winter camps dealt with the day-to-day issues of survival. And, I say survival because the high temperatures only reached the low teens and there was a brisk wind for the entire weekend.
Cutting and splitting wood, keeping our huts clean, and our stoves lit took on an increased importance. “Old Zeke,” as the men fondly called, Col. Ezekiel Bowen, who was portrayed by Kevin O’Bierne, kept us busy all weekend.

There was a company talent show on Friday evening songs, poems and a skit or two held our attention for the night. Lights out was followed by trying to keep warm. Saturday, Erasmus Hopkins, portrayed by Charles Heath, our battalion Sutler was open for business and happy to take anyone’s money who had money to offer. I must admit, this was the best Sutler impression I have ever seen. Erasmus had all kinds of wares and food to fulfill your every desire. A cranky man that Sutler. Maybe it was because his liquid goods kept freezing making them harder to sell or, maybe it was because of his meager heating and lighting arrangements. Well thought out by the event organizers, each of us received replica sutler tokens at check in as part of our event fee. Erasmus was all too happy to relieve us of them at every opportunity he had. The list of food an items available for purchase if listed here would be as long as an edition of the "Columbia Examiner."

Saturday morning I was detailed to be Sergeant of the Guard for the next 24 frigid hours. I am still amazed that someone would think enough of me to place me in that very important position. At this event, I actually was responsible for the lives of my friends. And, those duties were to provide me with an event experience I shall never forget. Guard duty, “the most honorable in the Army“, allowed me to, several times, look back into 1864 through a small frost covered window. A window that allowed me to experience the things I wrote of in my opening letter. I hope the next few lines will allow you the reader to look through that window with me. I'll try to pick up just after I dropped Mrs. Silk off at the Officers headquarters.

Back inside the Guardhouse, our officer (Garr Gast) was finishing up some of his required paperwork, sitting at a small desk off to one side of the room. A couple of the men were warming themselves by the stove in the corner of the room while others napped on the bunks. the Lieutenant had organized the guard into fifteen minute shifts and moved the posts out of the wind and into the sun so the men would suffer as little as possible.

The Corporals of the guard needed little direction. These men had earned their ranks through their drive and knowledge. They performed their duties as one would expect from seasoned men. After all, the Guard is run by Corporals. Despite the horrid weather, the men in their charge were well cared for.

As I made my occasional rounds by our posts and through the camp during the day men were busy in every direction I looked. A wood cutting fatigue worked all day. Another fatigue removed the coffin which contained Private Silk’s remains from it’s frozen grave and took it to the hospital tent. One of the men tried to earn extra money by exchanging shaves for Sutler tokens. The cooks scurried back and forth from their cookhouse to the brick oven, exchanging their armfuls of baked for unbaked bread. Men cleaned their quarters, aired their blankets, and complained about the cold, a stove that wouldn’t draft properly because of the wind and the walk down the slippery hill to the ice covered sinks. Everywhere there was warmth, men stood to soak it up.

Evening began to fall. A wagonload of supplies cam from Brandy Station to our Sutler. Private Silk and his Wife made the return trip with him to the station. Hot supper with soft bread made all happy. Soon darkness fell. Music and laughter rose and fell from the mistral show being held in the officer’s quarters. The company street became empty. Candlelight began to flicker from small windows, tent rooftops took on a soft glow from the light inside. Inside this cabin or that, the pre-sleep activities had begun. Men played cards around a cracker box table. A pipe was smoked. Letters from the days mail were read in silence or exchanged by friends. The guard checked to be sure the stoves and cabin’s are safe. Constant check are made to be sure sparks aren’t blowing onto the Sibley tent or the canvas roofed huts. Two men discussed this or that. Sleep overtook the men one by one. Inside the Sibley tent the men are huddled into a small “lump” with every article they own that might provide warmth tossed on top of themselves, next to a pile of wood and a small stove. Midnight approached, the wind howled it‘s sad tune.

Forgetting the cold I stepped outside the guardhouse without my scarf, mittens and greatcoat. The icy cold sent me immediately back inside for them. I remembered how one of the men had remarked earlier in the day how, "this must have been how Washington and his men had it at Valley Forge." As I started down the company street I realized there was no one out, or awake but me and the steady wind. Peering into the windows of the little cabins all of the boys could be seen by the flickering light of a candle or the red glow of a stove, sleeping wrapped tight in their blankets. As I lifted the little flap on the Sibley tent and gazed inside a warm rush of air hit my face. Their stove and pipe were glowing red and the mass of huddled men had become a head to toe circle around the stove. I chuckled to my self and thought, "They finally figured out how that stove works." Returning to the guardhouse I found the Lieutenant awake and looking over the guard book. "Get some sleep." were welcome words. The duties of the day and the cold had taken a toll on my energy.

I was awakened in what seemed like a short time by the sun coming through the Guardhouse window and a blast of cold air from an opened door at what felt like the same time. I addressed the condition of my uniform, placing it in a more suitable state then, discussed with the Lieutenant what I had missed during my sleep. Breakfast soon and soon after that we would be relieved. I immediately began filling out my guard report and had it signed.

I was glad we had first-rate cooks, I remarked to a private standing near me. We were both standing in the warm sun taking our morning meal. The wind was gone. Suddenly there were shouts and confusion all along the company street men ran this way and that Screaming, “FIRE! FIRE!” Sure enough, flames were beginning to engulf the canvas roof of one of the huts. In this whirlwind of danger and horror, I witnessed on of the funniest things I had ever seen in a camp. On of the boys, in his haste to quell the flames, had grabbed one of the “slop” buckets from beside one of the cabins and tried in vain to throw a stuck in the bucket chunk of frozen excrement on the flames. The men soon prevailed over the flames and only the canvas roof, and a pair of trousers were lost.

No sooner had our Guard been relieved when, I was reminded how much I hate rumors. Rumors that aren‘t rumors any longer, but, have turned to fact. Sitting down in our little hut and beginning to organize my things that I had to move because of my duties to the Guard, “The General sounded through the camp. Groans went up everywhere in camp. Everyone knew the moment we left, someone would take over our comfortable living spaces. “First Call“, “Assembly“ sounded and the battalion was formed. “Zeke“ announced we had been given Grand Guard duty and would be moving several miles from the camp for three or more days. Mummers went up and down the lines as men wondered out loud how we could survive in the openness of the picket line in this weather. It was no rumor that men died on a regular basis by freezing on the picket line. Many would not complain about the weight of their extra blankets on this march. “Right face,” and off we stepped. “At least the sun‘s out and the wind‘s stopped,” I thought to myself.*

So, now the frost covered window is closed. The short march ended at our cars. Kevin, Scott and Dennis thanked us for coming, thanked us for enduring the cold and putting up with them as officers for the weekend. They THANKED US! No, thank you, all of you who made The Winter of 1864 event happen. I can’t think of a man in the ranks who wouldn’t have turned around and stayed longer if he could have. Including me.



*Reader should understand this hut was constructed by the event organizers for the expressed purpose of burning it down. No one at any time was actually staying in the hut. Just as “Private Silk,” a hundred pounds of something wrapped in blankets and placed into a pine coffin were buried on the event site before the ground became frozen. The original Private Silk, however, actually did die at the 151st NY’s winter camp of wounds received at Mine Run, February 5, 1864.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

On 10/04 a list of registrants so far was posted to the W64 listserver.

About 20 spaces remain out of a max of about 75 available.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Registration Status Report as of 11/09:

There's about four spaces left.

On 11/10 I spent a good deal of the afternoon preparing the preliminary assignments of registrants to the companies and to huts. That's not an easy task to:

* Keep messmates together.
* Keep probable road trip partners together.
* Keep all occupants of a hut in the same company.
* Keep the companies balanced, given the above constraints.

I left two of the larger huts--the Pine Cottage and "Cooler Hut"--temporarily unassigned with their 20 bunks and 16 current registrants, pending receipt of the final registrations.

After things are filled up, some of the next steps with registrants will be:


Helping to coordinate loaner gear exchanges.
Attempting to firm up flight info for those who are traveling to W64 by air (which is quite a number of you).
Selecting non-commissioned officer impressions. So far only the commissioned officers and the two Orderly Sergeants have been selected. We need two additional sergeants and four corporals for each of the two companies. If you wish to voluneer, drop me a note and I'll put your name on a list of interested parties. Note that non-comms at this event really work, and hard. Pulling Corporal or Sergeant of the Guard duty when it's 15 degrees outdoors isn't necessarily easy or comfortable, and every non-comm (except staff non-comms and the Orderly Sergeants) will be serving in one of those roles during the weekend. Non-comms need to know their stuff when it comes to guard duty, and be able to help look out for the welfare of the men relative to cold.
After non-comms are selected, we'll assign each registrant the name of a soldier from the historical 151st New York Co H or K, as applicable, and provide each registrant with basic info (that we have available) on each man being portrayed. If you hold rank at this event, you're portraying the very man who wore those straps or stripes. All the privates will have a "first-person name" as well, but for those we typically attempt to assign the names so that the first-person name is as close as we can get to your actual last name; most of the time, this is only that your "first-person surname" off the regiment's roster starts with the same first letter as your actual surname, but once in a while we get lucky with a name that either is very similar to the actual one or in a few cases, identical.
Starting to better-communicate to registrants expectations and "what you need to know" to participate in this event.


Work at the site is proceeding apace by the busy event committee and a few other local volunteers. Things are looking good, and hopefuly the site prep will be largely completed to the extent possible by early December. Of course, there's a good deal of pre-event work at the site in the final couple days prior to the event itself.

This final W64 appears to be appealing to folks regardless of geography. Registrations for this admittedly small (in numbers) event includes folks from Oregon, Los Angeles, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota, in addition to the folks from the areas that have typically supported W64 (New York State, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New England, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia).

[Eric Tipton]

This final W64 appears to be appealing to folks regardless of geography. Registrations for this admittedly small (in numbers) event includes folks from Oregon, Los Angeles, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota, in addition to the folks from the areas that have typically supported W64 (New York State, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New England, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia). I believe you can add Ohio to this list now. ;)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[AndrewMartin]

I believe you can add Ohio to this list now. ;)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Eric,

You must have realized that you'll now have time for this event after last weekend...and not still celebrating Ohio States National Championship into Feb!:tounge_sm

Sorry, I'm an ND fan...and it's been a ruff year so this is the only fun I get to have, when other people's ranked teams lose!:confused_

Looking forward to seeing some Buckeyes there!

[ley74]

ET:

That is great!

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I believe you can add Ohio to this list now.

Oh no! Buckeyes! :)

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Registered so far for W64 2008 (for those who want to know, and those who keep "who is us?" lists):

Backus, William
Bemis, Todd
Berezuk, Peter
Berndt, David
Biggar, Scott
Bishop, Jeremiah
Briggs, Noah
Calloway, Paul
Caridi, Joseph
Coats, Herb
Connelly, Harry
Craddock, Patrick
Dicks, Russell
Dudkowski, Michael
Eggleston, David
Ewen, Riley
Fable, John
Farley, Darren
Firth, Robert
Gast, Garr
Gingras, Thomas
Groves, Troy
Gulley, Scott
Hamby, Jason
Heath, Charles
Henion, Jeff
Hicks, Brian
Johnson, Joseph
Jurek, Barry
Lloyd, John
Luscombe, Brian
Martin, Andrew
McCarthey, Pete
McIntyre, Ryan
Meaney, James
Milbert, Art
Murray, Robert
O'Beirne, Kevin
O'Connor, Michael
Parsons, Janele
Parsons, Shawn
Parsons, Zachary
Peterson, Michael
Piering, Chris
Renault, Greg
Rodman, William
Roth, Renee
Roth, Ronald
Runyon, Justin
Ryan, Michael
Schaeffer, Craig
Schaffner, Michael
Schotz, Scott
Slaughter, Robert
Smith, Pete
Somerville, Mark
Stauder, Jim "Coldfoot"
Stauder, Renae
Thomason, Kiev
Tipton, Eric
Towsen, Dave ("Grumpy")
Trent, Hank
Tyler, Steve
Watson, Ley
Willard, Ryan
Willard, Sean
Woodburn, Matt
Woodhams, Bill
Zimmerman, Evan

[Sherry Key]

Not being familiar with all the names...is there anyone registered that will be traveling from South Carolina or Georgia or points south?

Mrs. Cornbread

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Yes, at least one from Charleston and one from north Georgia. I believe, however, that each is intending to fly from an airport in their region to the Niagara-Buffalo International Airport (BUF) instead of driving.

[Sherry Key]

Thanks Kevin! That doesn't really help as I was hoping to find a ride for Cornbread to share but I'll see what airfares look like. Doesn't look like it will work out. Y'all have a wonderful time.

Sherry Key.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

There are exactly, currently (as of 11/12/2007) three registration spaces remaining.

[Pvt_Sullivan]

Sherry,

I am flying from Charleston, SC to Buffalo for W64. I was able to find a round trip flight on AirTran through Travelocity for $208.

Hopefully that helps...

[Charles Heath]

I see a well known, but never actually convicted (and executed by firing squad) pie thief has added his name to the list.

If he is #70, can numbers 71 and 72 be "farby hind?"

Hoosiers! Dang, there goes the neighborhood.

[boozie]

Never had a pie from the state of New York. Of course, i'm sure they will be safe as long as no Buckeye is placed to stand guard over them. Those fellows are always thinking about sporting women back in Cincinnati!:tounge_sm

[Eric Tipton]

Boozie:

See, Buckeyes have attempted to trust Hoosiers, but certain, ahem, pie incidents have taught us (the hard way) not to. Of course, ask a Badger if they trust a Buckeye when it comes to passes in and out of camp, and you might hear the same thing about us.

I'm not sure what a "sporting woman" is, but she sounds fun. :D

[GWHall]

(sorry to chime in a thread for an event that I'm not attending)

Eric! Don't lump all Badgers in for the actions of one lone Dutch Baron on a fort wall!

[Terry Sorchy]

Yeah and remember Eric, some Badgers actually supply you with Pies.:rolleyes:
Cheers:D
Terry Sorchy

[Eric Tipton]

Yes, I stand corrected. In terms of pies, Badgers DO actually have a history of providing them. That was damn fine pie we had at Outpost. We actually had Hoosiers in that group who didn't want the pie, so I guess I am really talking about a specific unnamed bad "apple" amongst the Hoosiers who just wants to ruin pie for the rest of us. :D

"Did you take the pie because you were HUNGRY, or did you take it because you just like pie?" :p

[Charles Heath]

As much as I hate to throw arbitrary and capricious documenation on this raging pyre, and especially documentation provided by a danged Hawkeye, here's a blurb provided by that infernal Rob "Goat" Willis in the August 2006 edition (Vol. 7, No. 4) of the Columbia Examiner:

ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF CIVIL WAR PIE

The following is a reporting in the Davenport, Iowa Gazette on
conditions at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1862 and the
medical problems the barracks commanders were attempting to deal
address:

“[One] great cause is in the fault of the men themselves. They
have their daily rations issued them, which in quantity far
exceeds the amount they would eat at home, yet they devour
the entire quantity as though the Government required it and
between meals they patronize apple-pie and pop-corn peddlers
to an extent that would astonish one who has not been a
personal observer. This error is more particularly to be found
among new troops who have but recently left their homes. If
all new troops will bear in mind the injurious effects of this
course, they will avoid a great deal of illness, and some of
them will prolong their lives.[!] To exclude the peddlers is an
utter impossibility, unless they exclude all citizens, and
particularly washerwomen, who conceal pies in the bottom of
their baskets and hide them with washing they bring in.”

"It is good pie is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." - The Lee Sisters.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I will not mention here that W64 is held in the middle of a very large apple-growing region. No, I won't mention that.

And I'll put the pie thieves of the Columbia Rifles up against all comers in any pie-thieving contest. Some of these fellows are excellent practicioners of their craft. In fact, some of them--including our company commander at one event (no, not me)--even took to ripping off virtually anything full of carbs not nailed down or under the gaze of an astitue and vigilant sentry. On that occasiion, I had to attempt to mediate (in the capacity of a de-facto battalion-level officer that weekend), with a straight face, between the commander of the company who's bread and pie was lifted, and the CR company commander, who I observed brushing crumbs from his beard as I called him over. Straight faces were maintained and the injuried party ultimately received no satisfaction. Similarly, there's a number of civilian impressionists who are missing pies after the the CR (or its members) passed by. At one point a few years ago it got so bad that the group commonly and informally acknowledged that they would probably sell all their beliefs on "authenticity" for a damned pie.

Cherry and apple are my favorites, but overall I'm not that picky. :)

Continuing the cone of silence about plans for W64, I can neither confirm nor deny any rumors about the possible appearance of pie at that event. :D

[Sherry Key]

Peter,

That's very helpful! Charleston is an easy drive for us. I'll take a look at Air Tran. PM me with the date you're traveling.

Thanks,
Sherry Key.

Oops, sorry folks, I should have just pm'd.

[Charles Heath]

O'Bee,

Come to think of it, I do believe I saw you eating some apple pie in the general vicinity of the front yard of the Ira Petit House in Metro Newfane (okay, Wilson NY) scant weeks ago. This would have been the evening prior to the "Great Ditch Leaping & Woodline Sprinting Exhibition" towards the end of a certain march the next day, but we shan't go into details about that. Let's assume these two activities were at least somehat mutually exclusive, and the near calamity was precipitated by the whiff of 400 acres of cabbage ready to be harvested.

You missed a remedial pie thievery lecture and practicum at Fort Donelson a while back. As embarrassing as it may seem, we had to teach Hoosiers how to steal pies. Yes, it has come to this. Oh, the humanity. Unfortunately we were only able to teach them how to steal half a pie, although I understand they are perfectly willing to try and try again, being good sports about it and all. Some claim them to be slow learners, but others say it was the appearance of a strange creature not unlike a two-legged buffalo in camp that slowed down the greatly encouraged larceny that evening. Every man played his part well.

Say, weren't you the reb officer with a large amount of freshly purloined Sally Lund bread atop his gear at Mumford NY a few years ago? That afternoon constituted yet another excellent learning experience for innocent young men desiring a life of crime in low places, and how to hide the evidence in plain view.

[Brian Luscombe]

And I personally observed him scarfing down an outrageously large hunk of pie handed out by LCol Sorchy at Outpost 3. Is there no pie safe in this land?

[HURRAH WITHOUT THE H]

Pie Rankings in WNY..
(as far as I know)

1- Any Type of Pie from "Earls", Rt 16 Chaffee NY (sorry, after 50 years Earl retired and closed this week)

1.5 - Any Type Pie from the chubby little amish girl at a roadside stand in Cherry Creek NY, I don't know the road, but if your driving I'll get you there. These whoppers are only$6.00 a pie.

2- Elderberry Pie from the "Family Spot", Rt. 18 Lyndonville NY

3- Blueberry Pie, Apple Pie from "Harpers Bazzare", in Newfane NY

4- Any Type Pie, from Yoders Amish Country Store, Lyndonville NY

I like pie with ice cream, and if it's apple I like a slice of sharp cheese with it. A good pie always deserves a good cup of coffee. My wife makes a good mince meat, and a good pecan.
Who can hate pie?

Scott Schotz
CR / 151st NYSVI

[Kevin O'Beirne]

I had two nice slices of pie at the Pettit March last month. The over-the-ditch-and-through-the-woods scramble while 12 guys waited along the road was indeed an urgent one, but I'm confident that the pie had nothing to do with it. I suspect it was Lanky's venison sausage instead. Plus (at that point) 4.5 miles of marching had undoubtedly assisted things to work through it all.

Okay, now that that's been discussed.... (yes, I did tell the above story to Joe Smotherman at Outpost)

The Friday evening pie at Outpost 3 was a darned nice treat on a cool evening. The pie at Vicksburg 2007 was darned nice on a semi-warm evening. The pie at the Pettit March was nice on an evening that was, well, nice in temperature. Why did so many Yanks bail out half-way through Rich Mountain? I'm confident that the answer was "no pie to be found". I hope that this is not the case at Bummers 2009, which could quite possibly--IF IT'S PLANNED RIGHT--become known as "Pie Bummers 2009". Personally, I trace the "campaigner" pie craze back to a certain mainstream event north of Pittsburgh in June 2000; that poor lady still, to this day, probably doesn't know quite what it was that hit her concession and cleaned her out of 25 pies--sort of like a sutler raid of old, except it was more akin to a plague of locusts attired like 25 Yankee infantrymen.

Darned shame that a Hoosier had to be TAUGHT how to nab a pie. To a red-blooded New Yorker or Pennsylvanian, or New Englander, it's an innate, instinctive reaction ("being taught" is not part of this at all) to steal first, eat second (in snarf-down fashion), with an option to think coming much later (remember, it's only an option, and not often exercised); remorse is not part of the equation, nor is there any consideration whatsoever to the effect of, "maybe I shouldn't do that again". I'm sure that if one looks very closely at the Ten Commandments, next to "Thou Shalt Not Steal" is a little asterisk and down below, after the stuff about not coveting thy neighbor's goods or wife, is a litlte footnote that says, "Except for pie, particularly the fruit-filled kind." I suspect that the same asterisk is also next to the part about not coveting thy neighbors goods (or food).

Frozen pie can be re-heated to satisfactory temperature and consistency. Just remember that.

[Charles Heath]

Well, at least no one mentioned the vacant window sill at a certain home in Athens, MO, or the great fried chicken raid at a certain relatively quiet historic site in NC. Plausible deniability got shot right in the arse when a little circle of chicken bones was situated around each and every full bellied blue clad member, the biscuit crumbs had dribbled down our fatigue blouses, and traces of delicous side dishes were seen in smears and splatters here and there. To protect the innocent, the instigator's name shall remain nameless, but the "reach" in the operation was a fine young fellow by the name of Justin, who was just tall enough and light enough to be held by his ankles through an open window, across a sideboard of some sort, and he could just barely reach the food on the table and pass it back to the waiting hands through the window. Quite the exhibition of teamwork, alacrity, and appetite all in one fell swoop.

Little did we know that chicken feast was meant for a gaggle of general officers, but we sure found out in record time. Of course, in spite of all the overwhelming (and still warm in some instances) circumstantial evidence, we had an iron clad alibi.

Iron clad, I tell you.

[Texyank]

1- Any Type of Pie from "Earls", Rt 16 Chaffee NY (sorry, after 50 years Earl retired and closed this week)

1.5 - Any Type Pie from the chubby little amish girl at a roadside stand in Cherry Creek NY, I don't know the road, but if your driving I'll get you there. These whoppers are only$6.00 a pie.

2- Elderberry Pie from the "Family Spot", Rt. 18 Lyndonville NY

3- Blueberry Pie, Apple Pie from "Harpers Bazzare", in Newfane NY

4- Any Type Pie, from Yoders Amish Country Store, Lyndonville NY

Charles,

Sounds like driving directions on the trek to W64 to me.

[Charles Heath]

Sounds like driving directions on the trek to W64 to me.

Almost,

I may head up a couple of days early, just to sample the local pies, and order a "Jimmy" at the local breakfast eatery in downtown Newfane. That, and the 13th NJVI fellows have turned me on to a nice, inexpensive, commercial source for lard in large quantities, and I'd like to get a head start on a certain project made famous by Sparky's photo analysis.

I swear I saw Marse Craddock and some Widow's Sons standing curbside in Gettysburg today -- with pie.

[grant]

hey sent my registration in couple of days ago hope it makes it there safe and sound.

-Grant Kirkwood

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Charles and Jason - I'm sorry to say, but Earl's, that landmark of Western New York pie for generations, recently closed. Kaput. Sorry.

Below is the current registration list as of 11/25. We had one drop-out so there's now TWO bunks available.

Backus, William Columbia Rifles
Bemis, Todd 1st Texas Co A
Berezuk, Peter 69th NY Co A
Berndt, David Columbia Rifles
Biggar, Scott 155th NY Co I
Bishop, Jeremiah NCWC
Briggs, Noah Atlantic Guard Soldiers Aid Society
Busenbark, Scott Pumpkin Patch Mess/ GHTI
Calloway, Paul GHTI
Caridi, Joseph Columbia Rifles/ POC'R Boys Mess
Coats, Herb WIG
Connelly, Harry Columbia Rifles
Craddock, Patrick WIG/ Widows' Sons Mess
Czerow, Tim 122nd NY
Dicks, Russell 83rd Pa. Co K
Dudkowski, Michael 140th NY
Ewen, Riley Old Northwest Vols
Fable, John Liberty Rifles
Farley, Darren WIG/ GHTI/ Pumpkin Patch Mess
Firth, Robert 13th MA Co F
Gast, Garr 122nd NY/ Columbia Rifles
Gingras, Thomas Ind./ 13 Mass Co F
Groves, Troy 1st Calif Co F
Gulley, Scott WIG/ GHTI
Hamby, Jason Independent
Heath, Charles Columbia Rifles
Henion, Jeff Columbia Rifles
Hicks, Brian WIG
Horton, Caleb Columbia Rifles
Johnson, Joseph 119th NY Co H
Jurek, Barry 122nd NY
Lloyd, John Independent
Luscombe, Brian Columbia Rifles
Martin, Andrew GHTI/Pumpkin Patch Mess
McCarthey, Pete Columbia Rifles/ POC'R Boys Mess
McIntyre, Ryan 124th NY
Meaney, James 155th NY Co I
Milbert, Art WIG/10th Texas
Murray, Robert 1st Minn. Co A
O'Beirne, Kevin Columbia Rifles/ 151st NY
O'Connor, Michael 140th NY
Parsons, Janele "Salt Boiler Mess Ladies Auxiliary"
Parsons, Shawn Salt Boiler Mess
Parsons, Zachary Salt Boiler Mess
Peterson, Michael Columbia Rifles
Piering, Chris 122nd NY/ Columbia Rifles
Renault, Greg Columbia Rifles/ ANV/ 49th NY Co D
Rodman, William Rowdy Pards/ 1st ANV
Roth, Renee "Salt Boiler Mess Ladies Auxiliary"
Roth, Ronald Salt Boiler Mess
Runyon, Justin Pumpkin Patch Mess/ WIG/ GHTI
Ryan, Michael Columbia Rifles/ 151st NY/ 140th NY/ 26th NC
Schank, Dennis 151st NY
Schaeffer, Craig 151st NY/ 26th NC
Schaffner, Michael Brady Sharpshooters
Schotz, Scott 151st NY/ Columbia Rifles
Slaughter, Robert 124th NY
Smith, Pete Columbia Rifles/ 151st NY
Somerville, Mark 49th NY Co D
Stauder, Jim "Coldfoot" 151st NY
Stauder, Renae 151st NY
Thomason, Kiev WIG
Tipton, Eric Mess No. 1
Towsen, Dave ("Grumpy") Columbia Rifles
Trent, Hank Independent
Tyler, Steve Columbia Rifles
Watson, Ley Columbia Rifles/ POC'R Boys Mess
Willard, Ryan 151st NY
Willard, Sean 151st NY
Woodburn, Matt WIG
Woodhams, Bill Columbia Rifles
Zimmerman, Evan Mess No. 1

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Had a guy drop out--there's now a bunk available if someone is interested in registering. If so, drop me an e-mail at kobeirne@roadrunner.com.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Three bunks are currently available. Contact me at kobeirne@roadrunner.com if you're interested in attending this one.