Hey all,

First of all many thanks to the McGraws for their hospitality; it was a great
place for an event, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
Memories: Stars and Bars outside a Southern Manse, a great repast, hiking in,
setting up windbreaks, a poem with Hogg on picket post, presents from the heart,
stew in the coffeepot, wet wood and the everpresent smoke on picket, a letter home
on both sides of the paper (and loosing the stub of a pencil for a time in the
leaf litter), Hogg shooting at cows, "Nevermore" (got through it, Poague, but I
cheated, had a copy to refer to when memory failed), good period banter, laughter,
cold ground, birdology, swamp sinks, trying to cover Jason's feet and guessing
wrong, the Loon (which was in actuality a Hogg), dried pears, Men of Ice, a toast
to absent friends.

It seems a long time until spring . . .
Until then, the best of the Season to You and Yours!

yer comrade, messmate and most obedient servant, James C. Schumann

Definitely a night to remember. Although I do not remember as much as Jim as I was actually able to sleep. But I did hear Jim's recital of "The Raven." He is being humble as I was very impressed with how well he got through and how much he had committed to memory.

I too wish to reiterate Jim's comment about the wonderful hospitality by Dan McGraw and his lovely wife Susan. They treated us very well indeed.

Dan Barker

Thanks Fellas,

I really appreciate sharing our outpost time with you all. The six of us showed comraderie, duty and humor as we took a chunk of wilderness and made it into a livable camp and strong picket post.

A special thanks to Dan and his lovely wife for their hospitality. I can't wait for the next Sugar Bush event. By the way ONV men, his property is perfect for a number of different immersion opportunites so keep that in mind when developing a local event.

Steve Acker

Dan sent four images from the weekend and I have just posted them in the ONV gallery.

Lads,
A special thanks to Steve for organizing the event. I enjoyed spending "Christmas" on the picket line with my comrades. It was a unique experience to have a comfortable camp in the snow and cold and share a soldier's Christmas with chums. The meal, exchanging gifts, and humor were important, but being alone on picket duty during a cold "Christmas" night in a snow covered forest really made the event a Winter of 1862 moment for me. Some of the pickets wrote letters home as they were on duty. Darn, I wish that I would have done the same.
Sue and I enjoyed having Steve, Jason, Dan, Jim and Andy as our guests. They treated the land with great respect. The event site was left absolutely pristine.
The "WELCOME" mat is always out. We hope that more of the ONV members attend an event at our place in 2009.
Merry Christmas,
Dan McGraw