Saturday, October 9, 2010

Third Annual Veterans Memorial Service at Van Wert Church

It was quite an occasion, all in all.  I'd never been to a Confederacy memorial service before, or been to any of the battle re-enactments, but The Sons of Confederate Veterans did a great job setting up, hosting and bringing a good air of the era into the world of 2010.



Loved this old cannon, with all the attention to detail in the ropes, gloves and leather satchel.

The people in costume were marvelous, although no doubt sweltering in all those clothes in the warm sun.
This fella was like a statue -- stayed in place the entire time I was there. He was way, back at the far end of the cemetery on the hillside.

The Eighth Regiment Band of Rome, Georgia, conducted by Mr. John  Carruth, did a fine job as did a bagpiper whose photo I never managed to get. This is a really big deal band -- one of the top bands of its kind in the world.  All of their instruments are authentic to the era, their music is authentic to the era.  They have 3 cd's out and sell them in Europe and other parts of the world.  A couple of days after this event I met one of the band members who told me so much that impressed me.  They are booked 40-50 weeks per year for the next five years, in places like Ft. Sumter,  Antietam, Gettysburg, Europe, DC.  They've been in a couple of movies.  The big drum is, if I remember correctly, from a Maine regiment, but I wouldn't swear to my memory on that one.


Maybe the best moment, for those of us who know Greg and his wife, Brenda, was the presentation of a plaque that will hang in the church in recognition of their efforts to restore this church and cemetery.  I haven't known them for long, but their dedication to this as well as our Cemetery Preservation Committee is more than clear.  And they are super people, to boot. I wasn't at such a great location for this photo, wish I could have shown their fronts instead of their rears, but I'm sure they will forgive me.

Once the speeches began my interest waned and since I really had a lot to do, I headed on home.  I think the 'good old singing in the church' that was to follow the speeches might have been fun, but....

If you'll recall, I mentioned that I'd put Krazy Kitten out on the porch with all hopes of leaving her there permanently earlier this morning.  When I left to run my errands, she'd gotten up on her high perch and I couldn't get her to hop onto the cushion that allows me to get her down, so I just shrugged my shoulders and went on my way.  By the time I got home, she was much more amenable to the cushion. She even seems to be trying to behave herself.  Most of the time.

I've sanded and applied Citristrip to the window framing and hope I can soon have that ready for painting.  I can't paint the outside of the lower sash yet because the putty I used to seal off one edge of the glass still has not dried.  The 'helpful' man at HD told me that product should dry quickly and be ready to paint fast.  Well, a couple of days ago when I realized it was still soft, I put my specs on and read the fine print: 7 to 14 days to cure.  At least there is plenty to do on the frame.

And -- since the day was wonderfully warm -- I decided to open up the other, newly installed, window.  It would not budge!  I'd had it locked, and it looked as if the paint from the two sashes had almost fused together where the lock had pressed them together.  Talk about a moment of fear!  I struggled with it, eventually got both the top and bottom sashes to move, and don't think I'm going to lock them again until that paint has a chance to mellow out a bit more.

And then.....off to the garden, where I planted a bunch of tulip bulbs and edged the herb garden to free it of bermuda grass runners.  Picked a few collard leaves (the most plentiful thing I've got) for dinner, and pretty soon I'm gonna chill out for the rest of this day.  Would you believe it's 84 degrees here right now, at 4:30pm?  Folks, that's what I like about the south! Even if it is unseasonably warm.

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