Spring Speaking Schedule for Dave, Kate, and Jim

[RJNorton]

Dave T. has posted about his upcoming spring speaking schedule including dates for Kate and Jim. Best of luck to all three of you!

http://boothiebarn.com/2016/03/12/come-s...ring-2016/

[Eva Elisabeth]

I second Roger - kudos to all your awesome endeavors!!!

[L Verge]

Reading Dave's schedule of events made me realize how fast time flies -- and how age does us in. From 1976 to about 2005, that is how my schedule and that of Joan Chaconas's used to look as we galloped all over the region "spreading our knowledge" on the Lincoln assassination as well as the history of the region, D.C., and even Victorian antiques. I've given up counting how many times we escorted the Booth Escape Route Tours with James O. Hall, Mike Kauffman, Bob Allen, or John Howard at the microphone, but it is well over 300. I gave up when the knees could not longer climb the bus stairs. Joan still does about one a year (at age 85 - and she'll kill me for saying so).

On Friday, April 8, I will be using a wheelchair lift to get on the bus for the Surratt conference tour into Southern Maryland. That's my hometown area, and I hope to lend a personal touch to some of the tour as I commandeer the microphone once again. Joan and Bob Allen will be taking the Sunday tour into parts of Central Maryland that were affected by the approaches to Gettysburg. She and I have put together a unique booklet/brochure entitled Down The Backroads of Civil War Maryland to accompany the narration.

I'm posting this to encourage others of us out there to do everything they can to pass their knowledge on to others, and especially to the younger generation, before we all get too old. I'm 72, and I tell people that, as long as I have my brain and my mouth, I'll continue to be a history teacher (and sometimes an irritant). Roger and HerbS are two good examples of former teachers continuing to spread knowledge, and I'm sure that there are more of you out there. Mike Kauffman started on the lecture circuit when he was about 20. He is now in his 50s and still going. Don't just leave it to the young to do all the talking.

I'm delighted to see that Dave and Kate are developing a school program on our subject. We need to reach our children at an early age in order for them to learn and appreciate their heritage throughout their lives. However, we also need to reach out to mature audiences because I have found from working at Surratt House that many people do not become interested in their own history and that of the U.S.A. until well into adulthood.

On March 19, two of my staff from Surratt House will be spending four hours at a county library participating in a Passport to History program for children and adults. The event was packed last year, and a great turnout is expected again. My ladies will then hustle back to the museum to work the special talk on the life of Julia Wilbur, a young lady from New York who was sent by the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society to Alexandria, Virginia, and D.C. to assist with the rush of contraband and newly freed slaves to the nation's capital. Teaching is a lifetime profession, and you don't have to have a degree to be good at it.

[Anita]

Thanks Dave, Kate , Jim and all the others mentioned here for all you do to share your knowledge and passion. It's a gift to be able to educate and inspire others.

[Jim Garrett]

Over the past few years, I have discovered first hand, how little the vast majority of people know of history, particularly the events of the Lincoln Assassination. The great news is that there is a great thirst to learn about the rich and colorful history that is all around us. I am very fortunate that I am now in a spectacular position to be able to share my knowledge with people from not only all over the country, but indeed, from all over the world.

[Dave Taylor]

Roger,

Thank you for shout out regarding the events Kate, Jim and I have coming up. Since I put that up I've received another speaking engagement as part of Charles County's Garden Tour. I'll be spending Saturday, May 28th at Thomas Jones' home of Huckleberry showing people around and telling them about the history. It should be a lot of fun.

Though I know only a few on the forum live in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area, I also want to put out a blurb for Historic Port Royal's upcoming John Wilkes Booth escape route bus tour through Virginia. The event is happening on Saturday, April 30. The tour will last from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and will take participants around the different spots in Virginia that are connected to Booth's escape. I am a board member for Historic Port Royal (we are the local historical society) and we are using the Virginia Booth tour as a fundraiser for our group and our three museum buildings. We have our main museum, The Port Royal Museum of American History, which is open every Saturday from 10 - 4. We also recently completed a doctor's office museum, and a one room schoolhouse museum for school groups. Needless to say that for a small historical society, we have a lot to keep up and maintain.

Mike Kauffman was approached to give this Booth tour and told us he would love to help us out. We're hoping that he'll be our guide as planned, but Mike gets so busy that we will have to wait until the last minute before we'll know for sure if he can do it. I'm on deck to give the tour if Mike can't make it.

Though this tour will be similar in some regards to the Surratt Society tour (which I will be giving the week before on April 23), we will only be visiting Virginia sites. Included in this tour and not on the Surratt tour is a house tour of Belle Grove, the birthplace of James Madison located in Port Conway. It is currently being operated as a gorgeous bed and breakfast which Kate and I actually stayed at last year. We will also be taking a brief walking tour of Port Royal, Kate and I will be re-enacting a scene on the porch of the Peyton House, and we will be stopping and visiting the Port Royal Museum of American History to see our Garrett farm artifacts. This is in addition to the normal drive bys of Elizabeth Quesenberry's house and the Garrett farm site, and a tour of Dr. Stuart's home, Cleydael.

The cost for this tour is $65. This price includes a boxed lunch which will be eaten in St. Peter's, a historic church in Port Royal.

I hope those of you who live in the area will think about signing up. It's going to be a great day of history and you'll be helping Historic Port Royal maintain our wonderful museums and our growing collection.

Here's the link with the information on how to sign up: http://www.historicportroyal.net/booth-tour/

[Thomas Kearney]

I'll be there. Hope to see everyone on the bus 4/30!

[Dave Taylor]

I just wanted to bump this thread with the news that Mike Kauffman is confirmed as our tour guide for the April 30th Booth tour through Virginia.

https://boothiebarn.com/2016/04/21/john-...-virginia/

Get your tickets before their gone!

[Thomas Kearney]

Got my ticket this morning! I will be live tweeting for those who can't make it. I hope to see some of you there.

[Miss_Bellatrix]

(04-23-2016 04:19 PM)Thomas Kearney Wrote:  Got my ticket this morning! I will be live tweeting for those who can't make it. I hope to see some of you there.

Thomas, I'll be following along on Twitter. Wish I could be there in person! I think it'll be a great tour.

[Thomas Kearney]

Some of us were tweeting about today's tour. Check it out:

https://twitter.com/Tek2012Tek

[L Verge]

(04-30-2016 05:55 PM)Thomas Kearney Wrote:  Some of us were tweeting about today's tour. Check it out:

https://twitter.com/Tek2012Tek

Thanks for posting the pictures, and I'm glad that the tour was a full-bus success. Between Mike, Dave, and Kate, there was enough knowledge on that bus to keep the Lincoln assassination field going for decades and beyond.

I was especially happy to see the interior photo of Belle Grove, which is now operated as a bed and breakfast-special events venue. The owners have invited the Surratt Booth Tours to stop there each time, but we have declined so far because our tours are already 12-hours long.

It's a great old house, and Madison was born in another house on the property. The tiny little village once known as Port Conway (opposite Port Royal on the Rappahannock) took its name from the Conway family. Madison's mother was a Conway. Unfortunately, there's nothing left of the village.

My first visit to Belle Grove was one of those wonderful times when you drive up a driveway just to take a peek and end up being invited for a full tour by the then-owner. Great story from about 35 years ago that I will tell sometime later

[Thomas Kearney]

Dave Taylor is already planning ahead for 2017. Of all the speaking engagements, this looked interesting:

Date(s): Friday, March 3, 2017
Location: Port Tobacco Courthouse (Port Tobacco, MD)
Time: 6:00 pm
Speech: An Evening with John Wilkes Booth
Speaker: Dave Taylor
Description: Dave will attempt a first person renactment as John Wilkes Booth.
Cost: TBD. The event is to benefit the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco and the Friends of Rich Hill.

Dave, are you gonna do this reenactment with or without a mustache? Because I found a fake mustache pack that comes with a mustache that looks like JWB. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fake-Mustaches-4pk/35715798

I used that fake mustache to make bets in 2010 at the Maryland State Fair.

Other than that, I think this is an excellent event. I hope to see it in person.

[Gene C]

I found this interesting picture of John Wilkes Booth.
Maybe you can find a fake mustache like that on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Large-Fake-Mustac...s=mustache

[Thomas Kearney]

(12-01-2016 11:31 AM)Gene C Wrote:  I found this interesting picture of John Wilkes Booth.
Maybe you can find a fake mustache like that on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Large-Fake-Mustac...s=mustache

that picture led to the discovery of the lost "Sam Letter" in December 2016 by Thomas Kearney.

Wilkes,

I went into the bathroom yesterday and saw I was out of mustache cream. Have you been using it? This is going to result in my third trip to R------d this month. And also I got a $300 bill from Candy Crush for in app purchases I don't recall making. Are you behind this? If so, I'm out of this plot.

Sam