2012 Paper Modelers at Army Heritage Days

[Leif Ohlsson]

Thank you for this! - L.

[KCStephens]

I'm happy to report that this years Army Heritage Day was a great success. The day was beautiful and the weather could not have been any nicer. My son, Nathaniel, and I had a great time visiting with reenactors from diffierent periods of our military's history. Nate was almost recruited to enlist for three years in the Union army for $13.00 a month! (He was not willing so he ended up coming home with me insted).
In addition to the living history exhibits the paper models were not too bad either. It was great to see old faces as well as some new ones.

Here are a few pictures of the Hardware that was on disply as well as some of the living history reenactors.

[KCStephens]

Here are a few pictures that I took of the Models that were on display (I appologise for the poor quality) I hope that the others have some better images to share here on the forum.

[Don Boose]

Thanks for stopping by Jeff, Don, Greg, and Leif. And thanks for posting the images, Kevin.

The second day of Paper Modelers at Army Heritage Days was also terrific. Mike had to head back to Northern Virginia, but the rest of us spread out (I put the Horrible Hampden on display once Mike’s magnificent Mitchell was gone). We spoke with more interesting veterans, talked with lots of young people about how to get started with paper models, opened the eyes of an architect and a model railroader, both of whom carried off the handouts and the ECardmodels flier. We passed out 500 LBirds L-5s and PTA M-3 Stuarts (going bingo on Stinsons around 1500 and running out of tanks an hour later). We also gave out around 800 DGA jeeps as well as a lot of DGA Nissen huts left over from last year’s IPMC and sent to us by Pete Heetsch.

John and Rosemary hit the road after lunch time and missed the very welcome appearance of Anne and Jack McCombs. They had been attending an airshow and, after getting airborne in their 1975 Thomas Pazmany PL-2, decided that they just couldn’t miss being with the Paper Modelers, so they filed a new flight plan, took the second star to the right, and flew straight on to the Carlisle Airport, showing up at our table and asking if we had any models of Sikorskys.

We packed up at 1700 and everyone headed home except for Rick, who had dinner with the Boose family at the Market Cross Pub, where Karl Warner and many of our USAHEC friends were also dining, so we extended the day a bit.

Tomorrow, I will post photos from the Army Heritage Trail, but for tonight, I just want to post a few photos of friends and interesting events.

1. Ridgway Hall, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center

2. Our neighbor in the corridor of the Visitor and Education Center (VEC) was Hal Youmans, a retired Army Staff Judge Advocate and a historian whose field of expertise is military law of the War of 1812 period and the life of Andrew Jackson. He is dressed as a Judge Advocate of 1812. You can see behind him one of the pictures of ordinary American soldiers throughout history.

3. The picture right behind my table was of Specialist Angela Reese, Tennessee Army National Guard, on the day she returned from Operation DESERT STORM in 1991. By a remarkable coincidence, she came by our display so we were able to capture her alongside her image.

4. And a Dutch family came by, so Rick was able to explain the paper modeling craft in his second language. They were surprised and pleased to find that he was building a Dutch helicopter (the youngest member of the family wasn't impressed and had checked out of the net).

5. Anne and Jack next to their airplane.

6. Anne exchanges paper modeler inside info with Kevin.

7. And carries off one of the PTA tanks.

8. The last image is of Trudy Seip, who had organized a table where visitors could send letters to American service people in Afghanistan. We gave her three sets of models so that she could insert them into the letters, with instructions to contact PaperModelers.com if further instructions or encouragement are needed.

More later,

Don

[DrLaser]

I ditto Kevin's report of Army Heritage Day. It was absolutely perfect weather and a greater than normal re-enactor presence. The WW1 trench system was new (I think) and very impressive with it's realistic portrayal of the horrors of living and fighting in the trenches. The WW1 re-enactors were amazing.

Now if we only had a B-24, we would have been golden. But at least we now all know it was Sikorski!

[Don Boose]

John! Look what I found!

[silveroxide]

In continuation of the Activities, here are a few photos. On the first day, we started the setup of the displays. and no signs of a "Sikorsky" anywhere.

[silveroxide]

Continuing with the setup. For my part, I brought other genres to the activities and of course my horsedrawned carriages

[cjwalas]

Fantastic! The photos are a visual treat and a great compensation for those of us unable to attend. Very glad it was a success. Congratulations to you all, gentlemen!
Chris

[RyanShort]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

And finally –

It is the tradition from time immemorial that the Paper Modelers at Army Heritage Days end the first day with a traditional, immemorial, and solemn dinner at Amy’s Thai cuisine, which today included birthday toasts to Ryan Short and Mike Bauer and a toast to Greg Perry and other absent friends.

1. The assembled crew. Left to right: Don Boose, Denise (the Official Paper Modelers Thai Food Server since Time Immemorial), Lil Boose, Mike Scalingi, Kevin Stephens, Maureen Stephens, Rose Glessner, John Glessner, Pedro Centano, and Rick Steffers. Maureen: "What a great way to celebrate our wedding anniversary!"

2. Denise serves the traditional Tom Yum Talay (“Spicy Many-Sea Creature Soup”).

3. We all look solemn.

More tomorrow.

Don

LOL Don. Thanks for the thought. I'm glad it seemed like y'all had a good time there.

Ryan