The Midwest Medallion Collection & Display Box
                                             by Father Thomas

       In 1980 the Midwest Rendezvous was held in Waverly, Iowa as the first of the nine Regional NMLRA Rendezvous to be held throughout the United States.  Now, thirty years later, the 2010 Midwest Rendezvous will be held in Ontonagon, Michigan from July 27th - August 7th and the staff is working hard at promoting the heritage and history of the Midwest as part of our event. As an example of these efforts, the 2010-Midwest Staff has put together a collection of the past 29 medallions that were distributed to our event participants over the years. There has also has been a brief pamphlet put together about the History of the Midwest Rendezvous.  In reality, the Midwest Rendezvous has only been held 29 times in the past 30 years.  In 2000, the event was canceled due to a dispute which developed over the ownership of the event when the NMLRA transferred the Regional Events to the National Rendezvous and Living History Foundation.  
        The Midwest is held once a year and rotates its event location throughout the six Midwest States: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Wisconsin.  However, from its humble beginnings in 1980, to its current status, as one of the more consistent and safely run "Family Friendly Events" held in our nation, the Midwest Rendezvous has come a long way.  The success of this event rightly belongs to the many individuals who have worked so hard over the past 30 years.  Much credit and thanks for its success over the years should go to all!   

2010 MWPR ADVERTISING

By Sue Crase

Dear 2010 MW Team,

As Father Thomas said, our Ontonagon scouting trip was a great success.  On Sunday, we were invited on a private tour of the Ontonagon County Historical Museum and the Ontonagon Harbor Lighthouse.  Curator, Bruce Johansson will be doing a seminar for us on the Fur Trade History of Ontonagon.  We also took a short trip west to view the wondrous Porcupine Mountains State Park and the Lake in the Clouds.  Along this route are several scenic waterfall sites.  While the Booshway and Segundo were discussing site, security and safety with the town officials on Monday, Jay & Lynn and I toured the area looking for potential advertisers for our gate book.  We found most businesses to be closed for the winter. Yep, they are still in winter mode, up dere in da U.P.  We changed our game plan to scope out interesting historical sites and hit the "Mother Lode" so to speak.  The Ontonagon Country was the scene of the first mineral rush in America; even before the California Gold Rush.  Copper Mining museums and tours are a large part of the UP Heritage.  Jay chauffeured us on an auto trip eastward where we discovered several historic sites all the way to Eagle River and beyond.  We found the area to be hit hard by the economic downturn, but the people are still gracious, informative and eager for us to come and experience their world.  I am sorry to report, for those who attended the 2005 Midwest, the Ice Cream Shop at Silver City and the Oreo Eating Bear are no longer there.  Another big change is the position of the bridge in the Town of Ontonagon.  The new bridge now spans over the Ontonagon River on the west side of town, complete with a lighted sidewalk for those midnight strolls. We found the town to have an IGA grocery store, Ace Hardware, a couple restaurants and several bait shops.  The closest Wal-Mart and Shopko are in Houghton, which is about 1 hour away.  If you want to know all the sites to see while you are there, you must go to the Chamber of Commerce office on River Street. Vikki has secured tons of informational flyers and brochures for just about anything that may peak your interest. The area is beautiful, the history is abundant and the town is excited that we are bringing the 2010 Midwest National Rendezvous to their community.  What more could we ask for?  If you just can't wait to see the area before July of next year, your opportunity awaits.  Please let Father Thomas know which work weekend you will lead

 

A BIG THANKS,TO "Plum Creek" (a major Forest Land holding company that deals in Pulp and Lumber) is going to "donate" to our event 10 cords of wood.  This is a considerable savings for our event!  

 

 The Pestka Construction Company
              

We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Pestka Construction Company and specifically to Mr. Norm Pestka for the use of the land for our Rendezvous, the  use of various equipment we needed in site preparation, and for all the other ways in which he and his company employees have given to us in helping to making our event possible.

 

 

Hey Father Thomas,
    Great News!  I got in contact with my friend David Gilbertson who just so happens to be the Wisconsin State Rep. for the very impressive, "Coalition Of Historic Trekkers".  He told me he would be glad to come up to the 2010 Midwestern and bring along as many C.O.H.T. guys as he could with him and do that scout with me.  I told him you would probably advertise the fact that the C.O.H.T. would be in attendance at the Midwestern and he told me he had no problem with that at all.  I'm thinking this will no doubt, bring quite a few more, rather hard-line, living history/reenacter types up to the event.  I imagine he'll also more than likely do some recruiting for the C.O.H.T. while he's there as well.  Please stick this information in your up coming adds and I'm sure it will be a real feather in our caps that these guys are going to be there at the rendezvous with us.
 

 

  MIDWEST RENDEZVOUS ANNOUNCES A "PERIOD STYLE HISTORIC SCOUT"
                      INTO THE PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS STATE PARK TO BE LEAD
                                  BY JOHN CURRY AS PART OF THE 2010-EVENT
                                               
        The Midwest Rendezvous is proud to announce we will be offering
a "Period Style Historic Scout" into the Porcupine Mountains State Park as part of our
2010-Event.  Mr. John Curry, who lead our 2009 Scout, will once again
be on hand to lead this adventure.  John will also be presenting a Pre-Scout
Seminar describing The Role of the Early Long Hunters in Early American
History and will offer guidance to participants on the equipment needed for a
successful Scout. John is currently working in cooperation with the C.O.H.T. and in conjunction with the A.M.M. to develop an historically correct scenario for this particular event.   
        The Porcupine Mountain State Park is 60,000 acres of "primitive
refuge" and participants should be prepared to see wildlife of all types (including
the possibility of bears).  Park regulations allow hikers free access to
all areas of the park, and hikers are free to deviate from the established
trails, if they so desire.  This unique historic adventure will be a two-day one-night scout
(due to the Parks regulation on fires being built only in their Steel Fire-Rings)
with participants being dropped off at the start-point and picked-up at the
conclusion of the scout.  Participants will be advised as to what they
will need to survive the experience, should be dressed in appropriate
"period garb" and will be expected to carry a period style shooting
gun. (Compliance with all Michigan Hunting Regulations will be required!)
A maximum of 12 participants will be allowed on the scout, so anyone desiring
to register for the experience should contact Booshway Father Thomas at
<frtaf@centurytel.net> or by calling 715-667-5362.  Registrations will be
taken on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information or to
receive a pre-trek brochure/map one can also contact Father Thomas.


 


 

Things You Can Learn

At The 2010 Midwest Rendezvous

By Sue Crase, Scribe

The staff of the 2010 Midwest Rendezvous spent this fall and winter talking to presenters and demonstrators from all over this great land who have agreed to share their knowledge and love of history at our event. So far, we have planned a variety of classes, competitions, demonstrations, and seminars for your pleasure and education. Opening Ceremony is Friday, July 30th and we can’t wait. So far, our programs include Napiers Bones: a 17th Century Calculator, Animals of the Fur Trade (a seminar specifically for kids), 1600-1800 Chess Play, Wild Herbs & Plants of The Great Lake Region and the History of Wampum. We have demonstrations on Quill Work, Calligraphy, Needle Tatting, Leather Working, Birch Bark Articles, and Herbal Medicinal Uses lined up. Larry Chowning will be holding his Ladies Silver Soiree where he discusses the History of Trade Silver. We also have a Coppersmith, a Glass Blower and a Blacksmith coming to demonstrate their skills with hand-made articles available for sale. If historic people are your interest, you can learn about Denis da la Ronde: Commandant of Lake Superior, the Early French Explorers of the Lake Superior and The Jesuit Rings. Interested in the Ontonagon area? Bruce Johanson, Ontonagon Historical Museum Curator, will present a talk on the Fur Trade History of Ontonagon.

Some of you have heard of or been on treks with John Curry. John will be presenting a Pre-Scout seminar describing The Role of the Long Hunters in Early American History and will be leading a Period Style overnight trek into The Porcupine Mountains. He will offer guidance to participants on the equipment needed for a successful scout. The scout will be a cold camp and he expects to travel approximately 3 miles into the Porcupine Mountain interior. John Curry has authored several books, is a Muzzle Blasts columnist and Long Hunter Expert. David Gilbertson and members of the Wisconsin Coalition of Historic Trekkers as well as members of the American Mountain Men will be coming to lend a hand and check out the endless acres of forested land to discover. AMM members have written articles in all eight issues of the "Book of Buckskinning", and have penned innumerable articles for magazines concerned with the mountain men and the fur trade era. To learn more about Historic Treks, check out www.historicaltrekking.com and www.ottmagazine.com.

Part of our goal is to encourage people to hold rendezvous events in their neck of the woods. We are fortunate to have NRLHF Midwest Delegates and previous Booshways sharing their experiences, wisdom and the responsibilities of planning, organizing and hosting a rendezvous by presenting a New Booshway and Key Staff Orientation. For those who want to have a safe shooting range for your home club, we are offering a Field Range Officer Class. By taking this class from licensed instructors, you can lead your club or organization into safe range habits. We also will offer a Youth Muzzle Loading Safety Class for new shooters conducted by a licensed instructor. Speaking of shooting, Mike "Littlefoot" Jorgenson has planned, yet another, challenging Woods Walk. His creativity and ingenuity in planning and carrying out a challenging walk has been the talk of the rendezvous circuits these past couple years. The sanctioned Blue Jacket Shoot will be held here, where shooters compete against other NRLHF rendezvous shooters. The winning shingles from each rendezvous gets sent to the NRLHF board and the top shooter from all 5 national rendezvous submissions gets a trophy to proudly display.

Since it’s inception in 1980, The Midwest Rendezvous has passed a Coupe Stick on to each Head Dog Soldier. It has recently been refurbished and has a story all its own. Learn about The History of the Midwest Coupe Stick as well as an insight into The Future of the Midwest Rendezvous. This event is generally held in a 5 state region, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota and this will be our 2nd year in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Father Thomas has released the 1st edition of "The Midwest Rendezvous History and Lore: 30 Years Later", an attempt at recording significant events and peculiarities that made each Midwest Rendezvous unique in its own way. The future of the Midwest Rendezvous depends on those who represent us on the national level. Throughout our event, you will have the opportunity to meet our Midwest Delegates, Rita and Jennifer, and discuss your ideas and thoughts with them. Each delegate is elected for 2 years of service and a booshway is elected each year. We will introduce any candidates for the 2010-2012 delegate position and for the 2012 Booshway at our opening ceremony. Throughout the week, talk to those candidates who want to host your event and represent you at the NRLHF level. Then place your vote in the elections to be held from 9 - 4 on Wednesday.

It is our goal to host an enjoyable Midwest Rendezvous for you, the participants, and for the visitors who are curious and enchanted by this historic hobby we all love to do. Remember, the visitors of today could be historic enactors of tomorrow. This is why we share our knowledge, our enthusiasm and our advice to those who want to join us in our adventure. Several historic vendors have already made plans to bring the supplies and accouterments we use in our hobby as well as your favorite café or tavern to feed our physical hunger after a long day of play. No rendezvous is complete without music and we are no exception. (The Celtic Grass) Players from Nashville, TN will be coming to entertain us, to share their love of song and dance and their newly released tapes of traditional music. Our event is taking place on what the locals call "Beaver Flats", an original rendezvous site bordered by the Ontonagon River and Lake Superior. The site has easy access to portage your canoe to the river via "the Mullet". Early loggers used this area to bring logs off the Ontonagon River, on their way to the saw mills. Enjoy the programs we have lined up, the camaraderie of new and old friends and this beautifully historic country of the Fur Trade Era.

 


 

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Respectfully Submitted,

Sue Crase, Scribe