On June 3 we announced a new candidate site.
On May 30, we announced that the event was canceled,, but that an alternative venue was being sought
Why? It seems that the monk who was the decision maker was not somebody who we met in a year of meetings, although the festival committee was allegedly responsible for putting on the event, not this guy. Why did we not meet him? because he is some sort of hermit who does not meet people, so we made two in-person presentations to enthralled audiences - the committee, and the monk's boss. But, when the committee presented the idea to the monk last month he said gee that is a lot of people and money and we have a big crowd already so who needs them? Apparently the event is strictly a money raiser for him, and he had zero interest in the history or culture and totally had no clue what we were trying to do. I wrote a letter to him explaining what we were trying to do and how much we put into it already, but when I got him on the phone it was pretty clear that either he had not read the letter or did not understand it. Then I appealed to his boss, but did not hear back from him.
Why did the committee not present the idea to him earlier? I heard some explanations but mostly they just seem to be afraid of him.
By the way, it seems that they had had the meeting with the monk's boss days earlier, but did not bother calling me. I guess they are just a shy bunch.
Back on May 9, 2003...I had just heard about it.:
We just heard that there are objections and problems. This is not the first time and might not be the last. Right now I am confident that the event is on as described; however, please don't buy non-refundable tickets, etc. quite yet. We will have definite news by the end of May.
P.S. They did not call me, I called them to remind them that we were going to put down a deposit on horses in a day or two, so we really would like a signed contract now...
back on
April 8, 2003:
The folks at the National Shrine of Our Lady of
Czestochowa
are sponsoring this event.
The head of the Pauline Order in North America (the big boss) visited a reenactment, watched us do our thing, and has personally given the project his blessing. He is a big fan of Potop (the Deluge). And though we are still talking details, It is fair to say now that the event is a GO.
A stipend is provided for living history units
participating. There is a fixed stipend budget, and the amount per person
will vary depending on the number of participants. For planning
purposes expect about $25 per person per day ( $ 50 for the weekend)
assuming a hundred or so costumed reenactors over age 12. A small amount of funds will
also be available to help defray expenses for special items we need:
cannons, horses, etc. Also extra gas money for vehicles coming from west of Ohio or
South of VA. They will also provide a batch of meal-tickets, plus straw,
firewood, the usual, plus other expendables such as gunpowder. We hope that by May 2003 we will have
a written contract, but this is mostly all set now.
I hope they will even try to get some local folks into 17th C. costume, and are
game for other ideas. We will do our best to get a good crowd of reenactors out for this. If this works out,
perhaps we can do it again and better for the 350th anniversary, in 2005.
I
The Festival and Site, as it was planned
We visited the 2002 festival. I was much impressed with everybody we met, and with the festival goers. The Doylestown folks were really nice, knowledgeable people, excited at the prospect of doing something with a real cultural and historical connection. They have a suitable site, and the festival is quite nice - they had some really great entertainment, for example, a professional troop of `Gourale' (from Tatara mountains, Poland) singers and dancers were there putting on a GREAT show. The vendors were low key, there were many great food booths, and we enjoyed some great perogi. Somewhat unexpectedly - there was a county-fair-like midway, with carnival rides.
Maybe next time there could possibly be a Ren-faire like addition to the festival, with a
street of 17th C. Vendors leading up to a camp (our living history camp).
It would make sense to have some ren-faire like acts and games as well. If
you are at a Ren-faire this fall, make a note of what would be fun to
emulate.
The Doylestown location is largely rural but is
on the fringe of Philadelphia suburbs. The shrine is quite large and
attracts worshipers from a large geographic area. The Pauline Fathers
operate a monastery on the location.
The facilities and overall site is very nice, much acreage, a tree-lined
area good for a camp, plenty of space for a battlefield. Permanent
restroom facilities built for the fair would be open 24 hours for our
use.. There are extensive indoor conference facilities and a cafeteria,
should we have a desire to use them (hmm, maybe an evening costume
seminar?). The `main stage' structures provide a clean break between the
modern carnival and vendors, on one side, from the other side where the
main food area is, which will lead to our area - that is to say, there
will be no problem maintaining a 17th C. atmosphere in our area, but it
will be easily accessible to visitors. We will actually be camping close
to the monastery. Our camp also has a rear exit via an access road, so
cars can get pretty close in case people need to get in or out during
festival hours (12-8PM). Cannons are no problem. They want cannons, lots
of cannons. Horses are welcome also.
above, left, is the left side of the battlefield, where our fortress will be built (actually, along the fence below the view here.) The horse paddock and the cavalry camp will be in the woods here. The right continues this view, and in front of the low tree the Swedish gun emplacements and gabions will be set. The Swedish position will continue to the right. On the far right, at least on Sunday, is an area that will be used as an overflow parking lot.
From this view, if you turn around 180 degrees, you would see the buildings below. This would be, in the middle ground, covered with vendor booths. The church is in the middle, the stage is to the far right. On the other side of the stage is the festival food area, and beyond that is our camp, leading up to the monastery.
The map to the
right shows the layout of the Shrine and the key locations of the
event.
Labor Day Weather
OK, we admit being a bit nervous about the risk of a hot day. However, the site is on a high ridge, so is a good bit cooler than Philadelphia or even Doylestown, and is not as humid. The average high/low compares to a Washington DC day in late September.
The Sept 1 high in Quakertown, 10 miles west of the Shrine and at a similar altitude, is 79 degrees, average low 58 degrees. Humidity is usually moderate. In contrast, the average high in Washington DC on the same day is 84, low 66, with high humidity.
Sunrise 6:27 Sunset
7:33.
Scenario
for Field Events
Current plan: battle around 2 on Saturday, a more or less free tactical
with equal sides (the Swedes win in the script, driving the Commonwealth army into the
fortress).
That evening, we could have a 7PM cannonade with some pyrotechnics and perhaps a rush or sortie - only a few dozen need participate. (That time of year, it starts getting a bit dark at 7:30, but there is still some light at 7:45.)
Sunday 2PM a final tactical with 75% of the force on the attack, representing a last ditch attempt on the fortress. The defenders start with a sortie then the Swedes launch a bombardment and assault. Eventually, the attackers fall back, followed by harassment of the retreat. Saturday, Sunday, Monday mornings are entirely free to us if we want to play in other ways (fencing, target shooting, chatting, skirmishing....), as the public will not be in before noon. I think we may need to avoid to much cannon fire-type noise on Sunday morning.
Some of us (like me) will also stay Monday and
keep up something of a show, but nothing official will be planned and
folks can leave anytime after 5 Sunday or any time Monday (Labor day can
be a travel day.) We will likely also plan a modest appearance the
Festival's second weekend (4-6 of us, doing a low key show&tell).
Schedule - Just a preliminary plan at this point!
Labor Day Weekend 2003
Thursday evening
- a few volunteers will lay out the earth works and construction
Friday Aug 29
- Setup anytime after 1 PM
- a few select peasants and infantry 'volunteers' get to participate in authentic 17th C. style gabion construction! What Fun!
- optional practice drills and maneuvers - 6PM
Saturday Aug 30
-Officer's meeting 9:30 AM
- Practice drill on the field 10AM. The snow should all have melted by then.
- Public arrives at Noon
- Tactical 2PM-3PM.
- Cannonade 7PM-7:50PM
- Public Leaves at 8PM
Sunday Aug 31 (should be the biggest day, for public attendance)
- Public arrives at Noon
- Tactical 2PM-3PM
- Wrap-up (optional) 5PM - some 'front camp' living history presentations must continue to 8PM (the crowds get biggest 4-5PM) - (rear camp breakdown and packing allowed starting 3:30PM, especially if the coolers and modern clothes stay low profile - A service road is adjacent to camp in case things can be carried, but no cars in camp 'till 5)
-Public leaves at 8PM
Monday Sept 1 (traditionally the 2nd biggest day)
- Optional day for reenactors - Play or Travel. A few folks - 5 or 6 would do, a dozen would be nice - put on a show 'till 5PM.
- A few volunteers help break down the 'fort'
- Public arrives at Noon
- Public leaves at 8PM
Saturday/Sunday Sept 8 It would be nice to have a token presence the second weekend of the festival.