So for Valentine's Day I did what I wanted. One of the nice things about being single, I can do whatever I want without any repercussions or guilt trips.
Anywho, 4:30am the alarm clock goes off and I slowly make my progress. I have all my gear packed, just have to get dressed. 5:00-my ride shows up. We 3 make our trek to Fort Obie to meet up with the other 8 of us traveling together. We stop in Dubuque about 7:30 for breakfast. About the time we hit Dickeyville, WI it starts snowing. And we continue to drive through snow until we get north of Tomah, WI. Sorta slow going for a while, but not terrible.
About 1:30 we arrive in Chippewa Falls at the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. to get our free beers. A couple of the guys with us don't drink beer, so they are giving me their free coupons-and I proceed to get a little bit of a buzz.
The next stop is in Spooner for Alcohol and food. Finally, we arrive at Winter Camp.
The next 48 hours is a continious party. Catching up with lots of old friends, and meeting some new ones. Lots of drinking. Singing Sea Shanties. Just an all around good time.
Saturday morning was the Dead Bourgeois (Booshway) Meeting. For the year 2008 I am the Bourgeois of the Ouisconsin and Old North West Company. Basically-a glorified publisher. I run our meetings and publish our newsletter every month. Since I am the new Bourgeois I had to attend the meeting. It was sorta interesting.
Then at noon, we had a meeting of Perseverance 1836 Lodge in one of the out cabins. This is a regularly constituted plural membership Masonic Lodge, based in Wisconsin. It is the first regularly constituted traveling lodge in the U.S. since the Civil War. I am currently the Junior Warden of this lodge. It was a cold muther. There was ice on the floor of the cabin.
About 4:00, was the Company meeting. The outgoing Bourgeois, the Token Mexican (one of the guys I went to Florida with), started the meeting, then turned it over to me with The Official Coronation of King James IV. The previous three Bourgeois have all been named Jim, so it was brought up at a meeting and passed by a majority vote that I change my name. So, anyway. I was standing off to the side, with a couple of the guys who traveled with us behind me. When Token Mexican introduced me, they come up behind me and hang the Bourgeois Flag on my shoulders.
The flag is wool, with the ONW Co. symbol on one side, and a target on the other.
Then from the other side of the room, another travel companion brought out a Burger King Crown with and piece of paper taped on it reading "Ouisconsin and Old North West Company King James IV" and placed it on my head.
Only one thing in the meeting bothered me. There is a somewhat unspoken issue between the Northern Guys (early members from Wisconsin) and Southern Guys (those of us from Illinois, and Wisconsin guys who agree with us on most issue and don't give a flying monkey f*^k about politics). Well, one of the Wisconsin guys made a speech about it being a WISCONSIN organization and that is what it should be. Even though we have members in something like 23 states. I promptly answered the speech with a simple statement. "We are ONE Company." Not bound to one state or region. I was Pissed.
After the meeting, the cabin transforms for the Beaver Club Dinner. Steaks, baked potatoes, beans, peas, bread, ice cream, flaming plum pudding, tarts. A meal fit of a king. Contagion has a good picture of it posted.
After dinner, we set up the raffle. Bring a prize, take a prize. $5 a ticket. And this funds the newsletter for the year. All sorts of good stuff. Custom knives, canoe paddles, silver pipes, handcrafted boxes, beeswaxed bags, black powder, scotch, rum, fine prints, the mystery box.
I put on a canoe paddle that I crafted and painted our symbol on. When my name was drawn, I picked up a sketch print of the Fort at Michilimakinac.
Then Sunday morning, we were awoken very early, and on the road by 4:45 for a drive back through more snow.
We had a good crowd and it was good time.
(Not everyone who was there is in the picture)
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5 comments:
It was fun. I didn't realize you were the one that got the picture of Fort Mackinac. That was a nice picture.
As for the meeting, there are politics in everything. It'll be interesting to see how far this goes before there's an unbreachable rift.
I knew that first picture looked familiar. I should have read first and looked at pictures second.
Leinenkugel's = yum. As long as it's not berry.
Contagion-Yes, it is a very nice sketch of Michilimakinac. The frame job on it need a bit of work. It was just held in by tape-not glaziers points, but I can fix that without any trouble. Plus, I think I will put in a piece of glass to protect it-especially if I hang it in my shop.
It is just too bad we can't keep the politics out of the ONW. The thing about a rift going through, the majority will probably side with the "Southern" guys. During the speech that bothered me so much, I watched (along with several other who I talked to afterwards) a lot of guys just sitting a shaking their heads or rolling their eyes.
Barmy-I love the Leinie's Lodge-just wish they would have built it with compound joinery versus metal plate connections-would have looked even cooler.
Leinie's is one of the best beer's available. I even got to have some Northwood's Lager-they made one batch of it and it was in the store in Spooner. I have never had the Berry. It is the only brew that has been in production since I turned 21 that I haven't tried. Haven't tried the Apple Spice either, or the Summer Shandy. Favorite is probably the Big Butt Dopplebock. Sunset Wheat is awesome, too. I am even a Leinie's Lodge Member. Get the quarterly newsletter and such.
Long live King James IV! Sounds like a hoot, except for that whole political thing...
ONW Co. is in 23 states? Why would anyone in their right mind even think to call it a *Wisconsin* organization then if you're in 23 states?!
*shakes head*
I agree. Leinie's is the best and I absolutely love Northwoods. Honey Weiss is also one of my favorites. It's that Berry Weiss that sucks. Tastes a bit like cough syrup to me. My mother's fave is Big Butt and she gets it every year. I think it was the name that initially sold her on it ;)
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