"Rainy" Report from Ft. Richardson's Event, April 16 -17, 2010"

Fort Richardson is a nice fort located in Jacksboro, Texas, a small town north of Ft. Worth.

I was the only woman who showed up, so I registered as the lone "Lady of the Garrison" -- there was a local quilters group and a woman who had a display on the far side of the parade grounds. One local couple set up a small display on the porch of the Officer's Quarters, but they only do this one fort event since their daughter works there. I was alone in the house with my sewing machine.The house is furnished with lots of furniture, china, and small things that the kids were welcome to touch anything since nothing was expensive.

Friday's Education Day was a success, with over 850 well-behaved kids coming through. The many groups passed through the house rather quickly, so I was just the house docent. I gave each group a quick overview, invited them to check out the items that interested them and then put it back for the next person to see, to not go through the barrier upstairs and to please not play the piano unless they knew how to since I had to listen to it. I got a few chuckles on this last remark.

Frazier Bros. sutlers arrived late afternoon and set up shop in half the house. The meals served to participants were good and substantial. Really nice people running the event. However, about 9:30 Friday night the rain began and didn't stop. At breakfast the next morning, it was still raining, puddles were ankle deep and no vehicles were allowed on the grounds. One man checked the Internet on his phone and saw that a heavy storm front was stalled with Jacksboro right in the middle. Several of us decided to leave, but the rain made collecting our gear very slow and difficult.

I would have liked to stay if the day had been dry. The event was very enjoyable except for the rain.

---Stella G

Pictures from John Cobb