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Pirate Fest, June 2013 - Put-in-Bay, OH
Photo: Jim Shipley
The Doctor is... In...
Chapter 4th: Of Saturday morning and what happened; Beginning with the ship's surgeon arising and going out for breakfast; Chatting with the Park Hotel Staff and learning quite a lot of hotel and island history; Meeting desk clerk Kelsey; Getting Anes to tie his head scarf; Helping to set up Site B; Some details of the displays which Site B sported this year and Flapjack's tale of Friday night.
I was up with the sun, primarily because the curtains in the rooms at the Park Hotel are made of fairy wings which, while they look nice and Victorian in keeping with the hotel's theme, do not keep the daylight out very well. I mentioned this to the manager of the hotel (whom I spoke with at length as you'll see shortly) and he assured me that this was one of the things he hoped to add next year. I assured him I would be a huge supporter of such an expenditure. (I am the person who installed a light-blocking shade in the condo in Key West where I always stay for the Fort Taylor Pyrate Invasion after all.)
I got up, showered and wandered across the street to Pasquales for breakfast. May I just say that this is one of the wonderful things about the Park Hotel - it's right across the street from a fine breakfast. They even put a side door in the lobby,
The Lobby of the Park Hotel
possibly for this very reason.
I returned to the hotel after breakfast with the intention of chatting with the girl who ran the hotel front desk. She remembered me from last year and knew me by name, so I thought I should feature her in this Journal. Before I got the chance to really talk to her, however, the hotel manager appeared and we got to talking.
His name was Phillip, but everyone seemed to call him 'Tip' (including event organizer Ty). He had started with the Park Hotel last year and decided to emphasize the Victorian aspect of the hotel. The Park Hotel takes pains to maintain the Victorian-era decor with the original fireplace and antiques placed in the lobby and rooms which hearken to the hotel's history.
Tip told me that the hotel had been on ongoing business concern since the 1870s, always operating as a hotel. This made it the oldest on-going operating business in Put-in-Bay. (He noted that the tavern next door, The RoundHouse Bar, had opened their doors around the same time, but they had not always been a bar. According to the RoundHouse website, it started out as a restaurant and Tip explained that it had also been an Ice Cream Parlor and Tea Shop for a while.)
Mission and Tip in the Lobby of the Park Hotel
I mentioned that I had been to Put-in-Bay for the first time in the late 70s or early 80s and didn't remember it being the mecca of bars and kitschy shops that it is today. Kip laughed and agreed that it was not like that at that time. Before the JetExpress ferry service started bringing people over, the best way to get to the island was on the Miller Boat Line, whose last boat leaves at 6pm. "All the businesses closed shop at 6pm because the visitors disappeared with the last ferry."
Skip Duggan, a former Miller Ferry line captain, purchased the Parker Boat Line in 1989 and started the JetExpress line. Skip determined that the only way to turn the Parker company into a competitive business was to purchase faster boats that would get people to the island faster. The trouble was that the type of boat he needed cost 3 million dollars, which he didn't have.
So Skip got together with three businessmen on the island, raised the funds and bought the boat. This allowed him to offer more trips. He also expanded the schedule so that the last boat left around midnight. Suddenly there was a night life on Put-in-Bay! It took awhile to catch on as a resort destination. As Tip explained, entertainer Pat Daley was playing a set one night when everyone started leaving at midnight. The bar didn't close until 1:30 pm, so he thought he had done something wrong until someone explained that the last ferry left at 12:15.
Kelsey at her post in the Park Hotel
Tip had to go deal with some hotel business, so I turned my attention back to Kelsey. This was her second year working at the hotel and she said she really enjoyed it. She particularly liked the Pirate Fest because "it's fun and not out of control like Christmas in July." The past few years I had been here, they set up a life-sized pirate statue for the event. He was here again this year, but there were a lot of other things around as well.
Kelsey explained that this was because they had found a secret stash of pirate decorations. The week before Pirate Fest weekend, she asked the head housekeeper, "Hey, can you bring down the pirate?" The pirate was then brought down, along with a whole box of decorations, so they decided to put them up. (Who knew anyone manufactured a whole box's worth of pirate decorations for purchase?)
Anes and Another Housekeeper
As if on cue, the housekeepers appeared. I asked where the workers lived, because I had seen some of them coming over with me on the JetExpress the first year I had come to the event. Kelsey explained that some workers stayed on the mainland, but she stayed in to dormitories that were available to island workers. She currently lived with two Bulgarians who were brought over on the same program as the twins and Tonika. Kelsey liked this because she got to learn a little Bulgarian. "Like what?" Anes - a friend of Kelsey's from the dormitory - came over to help answer this.
Between the two of them, I learned
Gort Waits Stoically
how to say and write two words. "Kovostava?" - which means "What's up?" and "Nishto", which is one of the words used to prevent Gort from destroying the earth. No, wait... 'Nishto' is the response to 'Kovostava?' and it means "Nothing."
I went back up stairs to climb into my Surgeon garb and get ready for the day. While there, I noticed the linen closet door was opened and it was filled with images and notes from staff members past. Having been introduced to the service staff, I took a photo of it so that I could share it with you all. (I know you live for this sort of stuff.) Then I came back down to the lobby. Per usual, I could not tie my head scarf properly, so I enlisted Anes to do it as you see below.
 The Note Board Comprising the Inside of the Linen Closet |
 Anes Helping Mission to Tie his Head Scarf |
From there it was back to Site B to help set up. Yes, once again, your surgeon helped to put up canvas. I know this is hard to believe, but there is photographic proof, as you see below. Dan Curtis had brought a very large piece of canvas and poles, requiring a full crew to hold up while it was being set.
 Photo: Mission Michael Colossimo |
 Photo: Mission Harrison Pease & Dan |
 Photo: Sos Boss Mission and Harrison - Notice the Crew Far Left Doing Nothing? |
Photo: Terry Smith - It was all on the Street Where We Lived
Connected to that was a covering Mark and Jennie Gist generously provided for my surgical set-up and next to that was their fly. We keep expanding our display each year, which is I think is fantastic. We had a mini-village set up on either side of a diagonal sidewalk this year - a far cry from the Girl's and Boy's tents of 2010.
Let's visit the encampment in order, as if we were wandering down the sidewalk starting at the street corner of Delaware and Hartford Avenues (across from the Boat House Bar & Grill.) We begin with the boats, because right on the corner was the Persephone (pronounced 'purse-ev-hown'), owned by Nathanael Logsdon. Across from that was his booth, which we'll get to in a second, and behind that were Mark Gist's two boats, the Firefly and the Green Black Sheep.
 Photo: Terry Smith The Persephone and Logsdon & Co Tent. |
 Photo: Mission The Firefly and |
In between all the boats was the Logsdon & Co. store, presumably so he could keep half an eye on them. Nathan was selling a variety of items that would appeal to the thronging crowds. His sign read Logsdon & Co., which was a new one to me. I am guessing that this was the event store branch of Taylor-Rose Historical Outfitters which he runs.
 Photo: Mission The Public Gather to Buy Fine Logsdon & Co Wares |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Nathan Wheels and Deals at Logsdon & Co. With A Group of Short, but Discriminating Buyers |
 Photo: Terry Smith Andrea & Nathan. 'Visa, Mastercard & Cash Accepted. The Flintlock is for Shoplifters.' |
Continuing down the sidewalk, the Blue Lion Coffee store appeared next on your left. This is the booth I had helped set up on Friday. This was the first year Walter and Dawn Loomis were at the event. When I asked them if they thought it was going to be a good event for them, Walter said, "Either way, it is a pirate event. We like pirate events." I purchased some chocolate-covered coffee beans from them which is all the sugar and caffeine you really need... for a week. (I ate them in a day. Yummy.)
 Photo: Michael Colossimo The Blue Lion Coffee Emporium |
 Photo: Terry Smith Shop Owners Walter & Dawn Loomis |
 Photo: Terry Smith "Mmm. Coffee..." |
Michael C. - Manning Shananigens... Wayyy in the Back.
Next door to Blue Lion was Shananigens in Leather - Trish and Shannon's leather shop. Trish was hard at work all weekend in the store. In fact, she told me that she had only managed to get away from the shop for two hours while they were open!
When she did get away one of those times, she left Michael
The Lonely Ostrich
Colossimo in charge of things. He reminded me of the the ostrich in the end of the Foghorn Leghorn cartoon Mother was a Rooster where Foghorn and Dog managed to knock each other out and the ostrich says to the audience, "They left me all alone!" The shot of Michael is also a rare one in that there were usually people in the booth as I remember it. It was quite a popular tourist destination in our little village.
 Photo: Terry Smith Trish with a Customer in Shananigens |
 Photo: Terry Smith Why does Shannon always look like he's up to something? |
 Photo: Terry Smith Trish at Work |
Kate Chopping Ice with a Sword, Which Maggie Seems to Be Encouraging
After Shananigens, we arrived at Dan's large fly tent, which I had helped set up. It had three stations under it because it was so large. The first station was the food tent, which was not really open to the public, but was visible since the food on the table was all pretty well period correct. I'm not entirely certain who was involved with keeping this stocked and tempting, but I had seen Kate Bagley, Maggie Babcock and Sarah Mudd preparing fruits, cheeses and meats during the weekend. Kate even used the dramatic tools to help prepare this station. (I think she may work part time at Benihana.) So that served as a display and a snack.
To temper the fact that the public couldn't get to the luscious goodies, some of the boys would occasionally play at games at a little table toward the front of the tent, which made up a second station. (When I say 'occasionally', that's just what I mean. The boys found other things to do - or rather, not to do - as we'll see.)
 Photo: Mission The Ever-Popular Food Table for the Reenactors |
 Photo: Sos Boss Jay Babcock and Jim Playing Cards. The Pistol is to Keep it Fair. |
Of course, what would Dan's fly be without Dan under it? He had set up a display of weapons, which he explained quite well from what I heard. Of course, it is always a good idea to get someone who is willing to take the mantle while you wander off to visit the food table, use the bathroom or screw around. Since weapons are a favorite 'guy' thing to talk about, George filled in for Dan some of the time and, well, he seems to have gotten a very attentive crowd. What a lucky guy, that George...
 Photo: Sos Boss Vince Giacalone, Terry Smith and Dan |
 Photo: Mission Dan Explaining the Ramrod |
 Photo: Mission George Regales a Gaggle of Girls With Guns |
Across
Flapjack on the Sos Boss Collective's Table. Why my hat is there, I don't know.)
the way from the weapons display (say, that rhymed) was the Sos Boss Collective booth. I have referred to it as the Kid's Booth in previous Journals, but it actually contains several different franchises under its canvas roof. It's the S-Mart of the pirate world.
Carla was making bead necklaces with kids who were able to sit still for that long on a red blanket next to the booth. At least I think that's what she was doing... I couldn't stand still long enough over there to find out for sure.
Becci was signing Letters of the Marque, certifying those interested 
Shop Smart...
so that they could take ships of the opposing nations. (Opposed to which nation, I don't actually know. I'm going to presume that it was England.)
Dave was... well, sometimes Dave was working with Becci. I found a photo of him holding a small pirate standard, which does not seem all that productive to me. Of course, I also found a photo of Ed Rembert and Vince holding up wanted posters for Blackbeard, which seems even less useful than holding the flag. (I think Dave was coming under questionable influences. He seemed to be hanging with the Wrong Crowd. With Becci leaving, Carla's going to have to keep a sharp eye on him or he'll soon be engaging in Wrong Crowd behaviors like smoking a pipe and wandering the camp aimlessly, spending his time chatting with other people who are smoking a pipe and wandering the camp aimlessly, all the while waiting for the battle to start so he can fire his gun. Then she'll have to work the booth alone and I won't have a substitute for the surgery booth!)
 Photo: Mission Carla Making Necklaces |
 Photo: Jim Shipley Becci Signing Letters |
 Photo: Jim Shipley Dave...uh... Holding a Flag |
 Photo: Terry Smith Ed and Vince Doing Nothing Useful |
Actually,
Photo: The Bagleys
Lob, Having Hair of the Dog
Carla may really have her work cut out for her because someone else was hanging with the wrong crowd this weekend. Yes, Sos Boss Collective pirate mascot Flapjack had accompanied Lob on his binge tour of the bars of Put-in-Bay last night. Flapjack was drinking from the cup of woe this morning. He went around the campsite moaning... well, not moaning, exactly. Flapjack doesn't appear to speak to anyone except Carla as far as I can tell. (And we only know that he speaks to her because she told us so...) But Flapjack was miming that he would be moaning if he could. He sat listlessly behind the treasure box on the Sos Boss S-Mart table, munching on green beads for some reason. (My cat eats grass when she's not feeling well. I'm sure it's the same sort of thing.)
For his part, Lob was silent for almost the entire morning, which is always a good thing. He was seen in the company of Michael Bagley's not-very-period mug that Michael claims to have gotten as an all-you-can-drink-all-day place at some indeterminate event. Uh huh. When Flapjack finally started feeling human... uh, make that monkey... again, he thought he might go out again with Lob tonight, but Lob would have none of it. "Silly hat chubby monkey cramp Lob's style. Lob no gets chicks with Flimflam, except porcelain ones." (Then he threw up in the chick mug.)
 Photo: Sos Boss Flapjack, Looking Worse for Wear |
 Photo: Sos Boss Flapjack Eating Green Beads |
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Lob, Kissing the Porcelain Mug |
But back to our tour! After the Sos Booth, Richard of Put-in-Bay had set up a little stand where he was selling some of the cigars he had gotten on his travels. I have mentioned this before, but Richard goes around the world buying cigars which he brings back home both for his own use and to sell to local cigar store sellers. Apparently he had decided to branch out and sell them at this event. (I don't quite know if cigars figure into the Golden Age of Piracy or not, but since Richard was a pirate reenactor on Put-in-Bay long before anyone thought of having an event, it was all good.) I spoke with him on Saturday night and he seemed very pleased with his business that day.
 Photo: Sos Boss Richard at His Table |
 Photo: Mission Shmoozing a Customer |
 Photo: Terry Smith A Close Up of the Cigars Nestled in Their Box |
Photo: Terry Smith - Mission Explains... Something
Across the way from Richard was your author's display of surgical tools. From my perspective, it was a very active weekend and I got lots of good questions and comments. I don't know why I am still surprised at this - Put-in-Bay has been unfailingly good as far as public interest goes and the traffic seems to improve year after year.
I had a number of new cupping glasses and gallipots this year. These had been purchased for a surgeon's plaster box that I am having Captain Jim make for me. Unfortunately, the box wasn't finished in time for this event.
Carla was also very good about spelling me so I could get away from the table and go out and see what else was going on around me so that I could share it all with you. She actually scolded me at one point for not getting out more often.
 Photo: Mission Carla as Surgeon Assistant |
 Photo: Mission The Contents of the Surgical Table This Year |
 Photo: Sos Boss Mission and His Public |
Mary Diamond also set up in the back corner of the fly where I had my table. I asked her why she was hiding and she said she had forgotten her something - I believe it was her seal for wax - and wanted to sit in the background and make quills since she couldn't seal letters. Occasionally someone would wander back to see what she was doing and she would explain it. Sometimes Cheeky Actress would sit with her and assist here as well. (But if you've met Cheeky, you know she couldn't sit in the background for very long. She was also seen in the company of the Wrong Crowd at times.)
 Photo: Mission Mary at Her Writing Table, Making Quills |
 Photo: Terry Smith Mary and Cheeky Discuss Something While Working on Quills |
Photo: Terry Smith - Some of Mark's Navigational Equipment Including charts, Parallel
Rules,
Dividers,
Mariner's Astrolabes,
a Quadrant and a Cross Staff
The last display, which was set up next to my tent, was Mark and Jennie Gist's navigation and cannon display.
Their focus seemed primarily on the navigational equipment, although Mark's cannon was set up off to the side in case the opportunity to fire upon the playground equipment presented itself.
I'm kidding, of course! It was so that Mark could run groups through a proper cannon firing drill. I don't recall seeing him do that this year, however, so it really served more as a prop from what I could tell.
 Photo: Mission Jennie Addresses a Crowd |
 Photo: Terry Smith Jennie and Mark Gist at Their Navigational Table |
 Photo: Terry Smith Mark Sights the Sun |
Faire Wynds Displays - Include Raree
There was one other period display that wasn't really a part of our crew, but since they work hard at being period accurate, I thought I would put them in with us: the Faire Wynds Entertainments. As at previous Put-in-Bay events, Eric ("The Professor") and his wife Susan ("the Lady Penelope") were loudly announcing their show every half hour or so and doing it well enough to gather quite the sizeable crowd - as you can see below. Their entertainment featured fire tricks, grisly tales, jokes, anecdotes and other skits and shows.
They had added a little display this year, which you can see at left, featuring the sorts of sideshow wonders which were used to get the crowd's attention. I include it primarily for Raree, The Rat that Carried the Plague, because a) it was sort of funny and b) the plague was considered a medical phenomenon (well, sort of) and so it was distantly related to my display. Distantly.
 Photo: Terry Smith Susan and Eric of Faire Wynds |
 Photo: Mission The Crowd Gathered Round the Faire Wynds Display to Be Amazed and Amused |
Photo: Terry Smith
M.A. d'Dogge Reveals the Habit of the Highly Ineffective Wrong Crowd
And that was pretty much the display. This page seems to get longer and longer every year. The reenactors spent the morning and early afternoon working the displays and booths, with the exception of the Wrong Crowd who sort of hung around the displays and booths and tried to look busy. Fortunately, someone showed up to give this group guidance. Unfortunately, it was Billy and M.A. d'Dogge.
They would have brought their gibbet ride with them and set it up like they did last year, except the axle on the trailer broke shortly after they left M.A. d'Dogge's house at 4:30 in the morning.
Billie did manage to bring his harpoon however, which he told me was for harpooning mermaids. He carefully set it up and then rested after all that work. (Well, he did have to help M.A. d'Dogge get the trailer back home and unload it and reload the Jeep, so I guess we can give him a pass.)
 Photo: Michael Colossimo Billie Beach Explains His Mermaid Harpoon to Stephen Priddy |
 Photo: Jim Shipley Billie and Vince Toast the Wrong Crowd |