West Boylston - June 2008 - Saturday

This event was probably one of the most relaxing I have been to. Our cooking for the day was relatively low because the guys would be gone from 10 till 4, and they were taking lunch with them. Then we had a nice ham and bean dinner that was provided by the organizers of the event. This meant that there wasn't a lot of cooking for us women, and we got to spend more of the day relaxing and walking around visiting the area.

The day started off with breakfast. We were joined for breakfast by the UTA.



Debbie made us scrambled eggs, sausage, and a yummy fruit salad.





Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the vittles.





The boys also put together their lunch which consisted of dried fruit, pretzels, nuts, and beef jerky. We were told to bring a lunch that could be put in their haversack, so this was a great choice and very accurate as well.



Since this was a pretty small event, there weren't many kids. Actually besides Kolby and Jeffrey, there was only one other kid there. But the boys still had a lot of fun playing. I think it's nice that Kolby and Jeffrey always have at least each other during these events, especially at small ones like this.



Early in the morning, the boys lined up to get checked in and debriefed for the upcoming battle. The first thing they did was march through the graveyard and had a ceremony there. Then they got bussed over to where they would be battling.













The women stayed behind and just hung out. I tried to get some portraits of the women, but I don't think they appreciated having the camera around. I can't say I blame them as I don't particularly enjoy having my picture taken either, but I just thought they all looked so beautiful in their clothes sitting there just chit chatting and I wanted to capture that feeling on film.







Kitty took the free time to get her tape loom ready to use. She spread out across the dining fly and had a few instances where people walked right into her strings, but overall it went well and she was able to get it all wrapped and ready to use.



Down the road a few miles the boys had a small skirmish, after which they were all hanging around talking.











Hey aren't you supposed to be fighting those guys, not talking to them!?



The battle drew a decent sized crowd. It probably could have been bigger if it hadn't been so darn hot out!!



I guess I would rather have heat then mud, but neither is fun. Lori, Debbie and the boys tried to combat the heat by having some ice cream.



After lunch the boys had the real battle. Since I wasn't there, I can't say if it was good or bad, but I am sure of one thing, I am sure it was hot.









Now this is how we like to see the British!!



After the battle they got a ride back to camp with the UTA who had their truck with them.





while the boys were standing around camp recounting the latest battle ...



Officer Tony stopped by to share some stories with us and Janie kept us in stitches as usual.





These are the last pictures I have of the night, but I can tell you that the rest of the night involved a great ham and bean dinner, a walk to the liquor store, followed by a ride back from the liquor store provided by a very kind fellow reenactor, and some drinking, that part of which is a bit hazy for me for reasons that you can guess.

Overall it was a fun and relaxing day, stay tuned for pictures from Sunday when we break camp and head home! If you want to see the rest of the pictures from Saturday (there are many more from the battle) check out my gallery here.

Believe me yours faithfully,
Rachel