[MR] fort

[Fred thomas]

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Greetings again, one and all, from Munenori!

I write to you today to lay before you the current
construction 
timetables
for the Pennsic Fortress. We have broken ground on the
site, and we 
will
have pictures to show soon (at a website to be
announced shortly).

A couple of brief notes before we begin: this project
is not only for 
the
enjoyment of the people who built it, nor is it only
for Pennsic-goers 
this
year. We are building this fortress to use for a long
time, and for the
enjoyment of everyone who comes to see it and play on
or around it.

The construction effort isn't being drawn solely from
Pentamere, nor 
just
from Pentamere and Oaken; we're actively soliciting
volunteers from 
every
part of the SCA. Of course, we're starting with the
more-local parts of 
the
Middle Kingdom because that's where much of the staff
for the project 
lives
(SE Pentamere, Oaken). We hope to find volunteers from
AEthelmearc, the 
East
Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and anyone else who's
interested in seeing 
the
project completed.

The fort will be available for the use of other SCA
groups holding 
events at
Coopers Lake (for example, the AEthelmearc War
Practice).

=========
THE PLAN (Operations)

We plan to work every weekend between May 5th and June
30th (or 
whenever we
finish). If we can get everything finished before
then, we will - it 
will
give us a chance to get some kind of grass cover
started before War.

For each weekend, we hope to have a work crew of 40-50
people. While 
more
volunteers would be gratifying, we don't want people
to come out and be
bored because there isn't enough work to keep everyone
busy at once. We 
also
don't know how much equipment (tools and such) our
work- force will be 
able
to provide (and we don't want to rent every single
hammer and shovel). 
For
those reasons, we're asking everyone who would like to
help to send 
word to
me (Munenori, munenori9 at excite.com) so I can schedule
the right people 
for
the right times. We also hope that some of our
volunteers can help us 
by
bringing some of the tools and equipment that we'll
need. The staff 
will be
bringing everything we can scrounge from home, but
we'll still need 
these
things:

  - A yard hi-lo operator for May 4th (please!)
  - Shovels, wheelbarrows, tamping poles, and posthole
diggers
  - 1 or 2 power augers
  - A power miter saw, 1-2 circular saws, a sawzall
  - 2 generators and several extension cords
  - Several sturdy drills (3/8" or larger)
  - 3/16" and 5/16" bits (we will buy as many as we
can afford)
  - A gas-powered air compressor (would be very
handy!)
  - Air wrenches (3/8" or 1/2" drive, with 1/2"
sockets)
  - Hand tools (saws, ratchets, sockets, hammers)
  - Pairs of large (10' - 12') stepladders (if you
only have one,
    please bring it anyway, we'll find or rent
another)
  - Sawhorses, 'milk crates' or other stands
  - C-clamps, crowbars, and beat-up/throw-away brushes
(for tar)

  - Anyone with a *big* tent we could use for barracks
space
    (like a GP-Med or bigger), please contact me as
well.

Again, if you can bring any of these implements with
you, please let me 
know
so I can plan accordingly.

=========
WORKFORCE

  ** Weekend 1 (5/5) **
We'll need one to three people to help offload the
lumber from the semis on Friday, May 4th. At least
one of these people will need to know how to operate
the lift that will get the wood off the trucks and
onto the ground.

We will need 40-50 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - run saws, drills, and air or hand wrenches for
assembling walls
  - push, lever, and pull the wall sections up into
place
  - shovel lots of gravel and dirt

  ** Weekend 2 (5/12) **
We will need 40-50 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - run saws, drills, and air or hand wrenches for
assembling walls
  - push, lever, and pull the wall sections up into
place
  - shovel lots of gravel and dirt

  ** Weekend 3 (5/19) **
We will need 40-50 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - run saws, drills, and air or hand wrenches for
assembling walls
  - push, lever, and pull the wall sections up into
place
  - shovel lots of gravel and dirt

This is the weekend of the AEthelmearc War Practice,
so
we will take some special precautions so as to
minimize
our impact on the event. There's lots of room, so we
should
be able to stay out of the way while we're working.

We won't be working the weekend of Memorial Day.

  ** Weekend 4 (6/2) **
We will need 40-50 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - dig postholes with power augers or by hand
  - run saws, drills, and air or hand wrenches for
assembling walls
  - push, lever, and pull the wall sections up into
place
  - shovel lots of gravel and dirt

  ** Weekend 5 (6/9) **
We will need 25-35 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - run saws, drills, and air or hand wrenches for
assembling walls
  - shovel lots of gravel and dirt
  - operate hand-pumped sprayers (for wood sealant)

We plan to assemble the gates and the Marshall's
Bridge
(the walkway that will form the roof over the gates)
this
weekend, along with installing the false drawbridge
and
other 'decorative' elements of the fort. We also plan
to
start sealing the wood once all the assembly work is
complete.

  ** Weekend 6 (6/16) **
We will need 10-15 people on Saturday and Sunday who
can:
  - lay seed mats down on the exposed earth that
remains
  - water said seed mats


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