This Year's Calendar Now Online

While a few dates are still merely approximations, our 2016 calendar is now posted on our "Calendar" page.  Please take a look and plan to visit us this campaign season.

A Post Long Overdue

This is a post long overdue, but somehow I just got occupied with other matters.  I hope, however, to rectify that now.

On a Saturday in late November, Captain Pitchell and I, together with our most junior member - my son - offered a presentation in Green Township, NJ for Cub Scout Pack 184, which happens to be my son's pack.  This was not an official Frontier Guard event, but we had a large, enthusiastic audience of both boys and parents. We introduced boys to the history of western New Jersey during the French and Indian War, and spoke about the Frontier Guard and the forts they maintained along the Delaware River to prevent Lenape incursions that took the lives of settlers in western NJ 1755 - 1761. 

We demonstrated the soldiers' equipment and let scouts sample traditional colonial foods like jerky, ship's biscuit, and, as a treat, Welsh cakes.

Boys then broke into three groups to try their hands at colonial games - instructed by my son, fire starting with flint and steel, and tomahawk throwing. We finished the afternoon with a firing of firelocks and a small swivel cannon.

 

The Scout leaders also got in on the fun, borrowing some of my clothing to dress the part, and aiding in the supervision.  I am thankful to Capt. Pitchell for his help in making the presentation a success.  

Merry Christmas!

-Albrecht Dürer, Adoration of the Magi

On behalf of Capt. Doug Pitchell and all the members of the New Jersey Frontier Guard, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!  

We hope to see you in the spring, as the new campaign season begins.  In the meantime, I hope to post one or two bits of news and projects to tide you over.... 

Military Timeline in Kinnelon

On November 7th, the Frontier Guard took part in its final official event of the year, a military timeline organized by the New Jersey Arms Collectors.

The Frontier Guard represented the earliest era displayed; other groups of veterans and reenactors presented depictions of military soldiers and equipment  ranging from the eighteenth century to the Vietnam War.

Hoff-Vannatta Fall Open House

I'm sorry that I haven't posted much at all recently.  Life has been extremely busy, but I will try to rectify that over the next few days.

On October 24th, the Frontier Guard participated in a display at the Hoff- Vannatta farmstead in Belvidere.  As usual, the event at this historic house was busy, with groups of school children and curious visitors.  Luckily the weather cooperated; it was cool, but warmer than the previous weekend at the Van Campen Inn.

Teddy Wilson Photography at Van Campen Day

When we do an event like Van Campen Day, it's nice to have someone who knows what he's doing with a camera on hand.

Photographer Teddy Wilson - Wilsontj@ptd.net - took the great shots you see below.  He's a nice guy, and obviously has a good deal of talent, to say the least.

Snow at the Van Campen Inn

On Sunday, October 18th, the Frontier Guard put on a demonstration for Walpack Day at the Van Campen Inn.  It was brutally cold for mid-October, with temperatures in the 30s and 40s; we even had some snow flurries! Nonetheless, we had a great time.  The visitors were enthusiastic; the music provided by the senior corps of the Colonial Musketeers was lively and appropriate to the time period; our fellow demonstrators were knowledgeable and interesting; and it was great to be back at a site guarded by the Frontier Guard in the period of 1756-1761.  

The Van Campen Inn itself is a wonderful old building whose floors and rooms evoke a sense of history.

  

The junior members were busy all day, despite the cold, and they entertained visitors and themselves, demonstrating children's games and toys, as well as grinding corn and pressing apple cider...

 

Despite the cold, it was another successful event, and one we'll be looking forward to next year!

Van Campen Inn

Join us Sunday at the Van Campen Inn in Walpack, NJ.  We will be there as part of Walpack Day, out on Old Mine Road, where the Frontier Guard patrolled in 1756-58.

Quiet Valley Harvest Festival

Last weekend the Frontier Guard took part in the annual Harvest Festival at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm.  This is a great event each year, with large crowds, and this year was no exception.

 

The weather was nearly perfect, cool, with bright sunshine.

As part of the festival, the ladies of the farm demonstrated traditional wool dying.  The Guard supplied Osage Orange, which produced some of the yellow and orange colors, using various mordants.

There were also musicians and plenty of traditional foods.

Frontier Guard at Trailside

Last weekend, the Frontier Guard set up an exhibit at the Trailsidee Museum in Mountainside.  The weather cooperated beautifully, and as usual, the event was packed.  Thousands of visitors stopped by, and members talked to both old and new friends alike.