Friday & Saturday

Just outside of the John Tyler estate, Sherwood Forrest, sits Fort Pocahontas - the site of a battle from the War of 1861, and the site of our final two days of celebration of the Jamestown Quadricentennial.

The open fields had been filled with multiple tents for lectures, book sales, old books and artifacts, food, etc.

The grounds were covered with picnic blankets and lawn chairs, and thousands of men, women and children in varied costume. It was truly a very pleasant atmosphere. And God graciously sent us very bearable weather to compliment the event.

Not enough lawn chairs? Just pull the seat out of the van! :-)

That also allows the van to become a portable nursery...

...which helps little people keep smiles on their faces!

Although throughout the weekend, some of us were in and out with little ones, the lectures that we heard throughout the day were really very high class. Jamestown, the events, people, precedents, and the work of God in and through them, were, of course, the main theme of all the lectures. Be sure to contact Josh about getting some of the highlights.

On Friday afternoon, we were privileged to witness the laying of the 2007 Children's Monument - a monument expressing the gratitude of today's children for those who have preceded us. The crowd witnessing the event, was large and I'm afraid that the above is the only picture of either the ceremony or the monument that we captured on our camera. Perhaps I can get some other pictures from someone else to show you all the monument and inscriptions.

After the laying of the monument, it was time to start costuming our guys.

Part of the evening's entertainment was the first "on the road" presentation of the 2nd Virginia Convention.

Wigs don't travel so well, so there was lots of "primping" the guys had to endure! :-)



Are the curls even??



Finally all was ready and the evening began. Two keynote lectures, and performances by Charlie Zahm preceded their performance and the crowd dwindled some before they actually took "stage".

But those who remained were in for a treat! Not all of the cast was able to make the trip, so we had some last minute substitutes jump in with only quick rehearsals.

Nonetheless, it was an outstanding performance, with certain parts being given better than ever! The crowd started cheering and applauding before they even had a chance to vote on the resolution. :-)

Many of the guys had children come up afterwards asking them for their autographs. They were also encouraged to take the show on the road and invited to a few different places - from South Carolina to Washington state!

Saturday morning started up bright and early and the sessions were opened by a performance of a fife and drum corps from Williamsburg.

We also had the treat of hearing from two former presidents. President John Tyler came and shared with us a small portion of the three-hour lecture he gave on the 250 anniversary of Jamestown. And President Teddy Roosevelt also showed up and gave a very amusing presentation - what a character!

As we were sitting near the sound booth at the very back of the tent, we weren't in a good place for taking pictures. But we heard some really fabulous lectures again on Saturday afternoon. Be sure to talk to Josh about getting the audio. Paul Jehle was, as always, absolutely excellent over the weekend. You want to hear the Jamestown mini-tour presentation and his lecture on Saturday afternoon on Plymouth & Jamestown... oh, yes, and his Sunday morning sermon...

Saturday afternoon also saw the conclusion of the Jamestown 400 Treasure Hunt, which was followed by an auction of rare books, paintings, papers, etc.

Saturday evening brought the event to a close. I spent much of the early part of the evening walking Winston to sleep, so I missed some of the closing lectures. But he managed to fall asleep before the Academy of the Arts from South Carolina took the stage to close the event with a presentation of the Marriage of Pocahontas. Very well done!

Pocahontas was busy afterwards signing her name for a large crowd of young folks!

The evening then came to a close. It was hard to believe that the entire week of celebration was over. But it came to a good end with the Star Spangled Banner playing in background to one of the best firework displays we've ever seen. Then it was time to close up and leave.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was well past midnight, but nobody seemed very eager for bed - despite the exhausting hours kept through the week. So we ordered pizza and stayed up a couple more hours out on the hotel patio!

Looking through pictures of the week, and telling stories, was how we spent most of our time.

What a week! What a celebration! What an education! What a great group of people to be with!! We missed y'all that had to stay behind... and hope to do it again sometime with everyone! :-)