CapnJake

Scuttle Sally, Maybe a phone call to the paper would get someone to email a copy of the cover photo that can be posted here?

Mary Diamond - thank you so much for your very kind words! You folks were all so amazing. We may have had thousands of locals, but the reenactors were the real "color" that splashed the fun and amazement around. I have to say that so many of you had such incredible garb! Sterling's personal affectations are above and beyond! So fun! Wasn't that "Pirates Meeting Room" set incredible? Joel Telaco's team from MoonHowler did a lot of the set dressing, that being one of the best pieces. I'm only sorry we didn't get a chance to take advantage of it. May I please post your images from your post to our Photo Gallery? I will credit you, of course (PM me if you want me to use your mundane name.)

I'm still decompressing after the event. Thank you all so very much for coming out to this festival. I hope you all had a good time - despite the weather! I apologize for not being able to spend more time visiting with all of you, but between the scenario shows and my own shows with Bounding Main I was hard-pressed for a spare moment. There was so much else I wanted to do and the time just raced by too fast. I'd very much appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer.

Yeah, and she really means that too! She's been drinking in The Capstan Bar, I've seen it . . .

MKE Online Here's some good, local press about pirates, Bounding Main and the Port Washington Pirate Festival.

Oh, yeah, it is a "Rain or Shine" event all right. We've got enough canvas cover to rig a fleet! Might get a bit crowded if there's a tempest, but that just makes for cozy. There is food and drink under the tents, so all would be well in the worst case!

Kelowna is a GREAT and scenic town. Many years ago I drove from Vancouver to visit Flightcraft of Kelowna, a customer at the time. This event would be worth attending for nothing else but the beautiful drive.

A quick note to anyone in the area who is participating in the "Pirate Shows." We are having dress rehearsal at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday May 26. We're scheduled to go until 5:00, but ending time and working again on Sunday will depend upon how smoothly things go Saturday. We will be working with the ensemble cast, the pyro technician and the fight choreographers to block out the movement during the scene. Blocking instructions will be sent out to all groups participating. Thanks, mates! Dean Calin Entertainment Coordinator Port Washington Pirate Festival

Johnny, Who are you asking, mate? I thought it was an excellent exhibit, combining historical artifacts with modern, hands-on aids that enabled children and adults to get an understanding of the life of a pirate as a robber-sailor. There was a large collection of the work of Don Maitz, but I didn't regard that as the only draw. The reproduction gun deck was fantastic, as was the virtual ship tour. While there was a limited amount of historical artifacts, what they had was fascinating and told compelling stories. The customization that they made to the museum was very cool, the other interactive features, such as the pirate clothing room was great, the scent boxes were visceral (also seen at the Oshkosh Public Museum's Pirate Exhibit in 2005), the music kiosk was very informative. If you're just looking for recovered shipwreck artifacts, this is not for you. If you're looking for a modern perspective and recognition of the pirate life, I heartily recommend checking out this exhibit. Dean

For those of you going to see this exhibit and are interested in picking up some maritime goodies of your own, I went to Bay Trading Co. in Egg Harbor last Saturday. I discovered that they had no less than twenty real ship's wheels, a large assortment of oars, signal lights and other maritime paraphernalia. It is a bit of a drive, but I browsed for nearly two hours looking at everything. Bay Trading Company 7376 Hwy 42 Egg Harbor, WI 54209 920-868-2648 Terence Thompson asaintno@msn.com The owner is a hell of a nice guy and has salvage partners in Florida, Louisiana and other points on the gulf sending nautical goods to him regularly. And Door County, Wisconsin is famous as a beautiful place to dine and relax, so combine your trips if you're coming out. Be sure to check out Shipwrecked Restaurant, Inn & Brewpub, also in Egg Harbor!

Oh, I see they're a group of . . . religious scholars . . .

I wanted to take another moment to highlight two more of the entertainer groups that we've hired to perform upon our five stages at the Port Washington Pirate Festival. The Jolly Rogers are one of the country's most popular Pirate singing groups. With a ten year history together, several CDs and appearances at many faires and venues, they always provide a fun show. Rakhshanda Tribal Dancers is a young group of performers from the Midwest that have created quite a stir with their energy, improvisational skills and technique. They have created a pirate-themed show just for the Port Washington Pirate Festival and we're very happy to have them join us. If you've seen these folks before and can offer notes of review or encouragement I'm sure the artists would welcome the input.

Based on some recent correspondence that I've had with Brian Kelsey, the executive director of the museum, the museum member's opening is on Friday the 11th. it is officially open to the public on Saturday the 12th. I just wanted to make sure that no one made plans to go on Friday only to find out that they couldn't get in that day.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight two of the entertainer groups that we've hired to perform upon our five stages at the Port Washington Pirate Festival. Starboard Bound is an action-comedy troupe that originated at the excellent Greater St. Louis Renaissance Faire in Wentzville, Missouri. With a semi-variable cast, this group of swashbucklers amuse the audience with swordplay, "Hero School" and ironic humor. They have performed at various faires in the heart of the country, and this is their first Wisconsin performance. Knotty Bits Sideshow is a classic vaudeville/sideshow act that wildly mixes contortion, fire-eating, magic tricks, glass-walking and other, incredible feats in one show. They have toured widely and we're happy to have them on board. If you've seen these folks before and can offer notes of review or encouragement I'm sure the artists would welcome the input.

There is a decent ship stage at the St. Louis Faire, but it is way at the back of the site, down in a dell that seems to scare people off - like they couldn't make it back up the hill or something. There ARE shade trees for the audience. They are also doing a nice fall Pirate Festival using the same grounds, but costuming everyone up in Golden Age of Pirates garb and doing a fun scenario of "Pirates vs. Military."

You might not be aware of this, but there is no admission charge for the festival. Since there is no revenue coming in from a gate fee we have to pay for the facilities we rent for the campers. And I believe we are also covering the overtime for the police for security. I hope you can understand that we need to charge someone for some things in order to make this event "go."

For all participants interested in period and non-period camping at the Port Washington Pirate Festival: Please go to this page: http://www.portpiratefestival.com/PortWashington.html Here you will find the "Official Rules" and the camping application that must be completed and returned. I guess the objective for the camping this year is to please all be model citizens so we can do it again next year. I am VERY glad we were able to secure this: I know how important it is to so many of the visitors to the event!

Sorry it's been so long to reply - lost track of this thread! Lots on the plate with the shows and the Pirate Festival and all. My trick to the concertina is - leaving it in the case while I think about practicing with it . . . I've been a HORRIBLE student, but with so many other things going on I had to set something aside, sad to say. How is it coming for you?

Ladies and Gentlemen (and the rest of yous . . .), We have camping. There will be forms on the web site, and permits need to be applied for, but there will be camping. The event organizer has gone through enormous efforts to make this happen. This sleepy tourist town has never done anything like this before, and change is difficult for some. Kim McCulloch finally made it happen, though, and deserves congratulations all around. We must - absolutely MUST - all be on our best night-time behavior or we will lose this privilege in future years. Everyone must police their own groups and be respectful of the site, the nearby citizens of the town and the business owners both on and off shore (the charter fishermen have been put off at losing parking spaces during the festival . . .). Keep your eyes on the Port Pirate Festival website for the city permit forms. If you have specific questions, I cannot answer them, but post them here and Scuttle Sally or I will forward them to the producer of the event. In a pinch, there is a contact email on the official website: Port Washington Pirate Festival.

Since I did not receive an answer to my email, I will ask you again here in case your server is not passing all messages through: How does a shanty music group get its tunes added to your play list?

I know he is asking after the camping questions even now. He can't tell you what he does not yet know, unfortunately. We're waiting for the producer of the show right now. In the mean while, if you go to the this page you should be able to work up a map from the camping grounds to the site. Sorry I can't be more help with this right now, mate. For the scenario, we'll be sending out copies of the scripts in the next week or two with requests for participation for various stages of the show. It is going to be great fun! Thanks so much for playing with us, Capt. Sterling.

I know that the ladies of Rakhshanda, who will be featured artists at the Port Washington Pirate Festival have stepped up for this opportunity. I believe they are still looking for more volunteers. Visit Rakhshanda's site at Rakhshanda.

Ahoy, Archangel Crew! Would one of you kindly get in touch with Chris Last, the reenactor liaison for the Port Washington Pirate Festival? He needs to coordinate with you events for the weekend and the pirate invasion scenario specifically. contact@gsmbristol.org Many thanks!

I'm not sure that the link is set correctly. You are taken to the Lake Casitas Renaissance Faire that seems to have nothing to do with pirates in title or in image . . .

Port Washington Pirate Festival 2007 The grounds that the show will occupy is twice what we had last year. We'll have three more Thieves' Market tents, a Gruel Galley just for food, cannon battles at the launch of each cruise, Pirate Invasion Shows on Saturday and Sunday, a Buccaneer Bash on Friday and Saturday nights, costume contests, a parade through town on Sunday, cruises all weekend on our pirate ship, "The Windy II," and what I'm estimating to be about 25,000 attendees. I hope all of you as can make it do - this is going to be a grand adventure! Ensemble Cast Heroic Pirates Tom Charney as Captain Joe Cotton David Gregory as Rum Davey Kimberly Chavez as Scuttle Sally Dastardly Military Rick Cleveringa as General Lester Orchitis Richard Gilbert as Lieutenant Keloid Chris Last as Capt. Freddie Hauptmann Variety Performers The Scurvvy Dawgs Christopher Reeves, Kevin Wright, Joe Schumaker, Kurt Edgerton Capt Corrmin Barbayos & Crew Kevin Weekley Knotty Bits Sylver & Gwydiion Rakhshanda Tribal Bellydancers Razi, Athena, Emilie Starboard Bound Dan, Eric, Jenny, Traci, Dani Musicians The Jolly Rogers Chris Berger, Sean Foree, Cliff Lawson, Kurt Hanover, Mark Stahl Bounding Main Christie Dalby, David Yondorf, Dean Calin, Gina Dalby, Jon Krivitzky, Maggie Hannington Tourdion Adam Velez, Chris Vail Reenactors/Pirate Crews Reenactment Groups The Guilde of St. Michael The Crew of the Fool's Gold The Crew of the Archangel Pirates of the Sarafina Crew of the Queen Fairy River Valley Colonials Fife and Drum Corps And, of course, all of you . . . For more information please visit http://www.portpiratefestival.com Oh, yes! Free admission and fireworks every night! Honest!