Invasion!

Hey Folks,

Greetings again from Watertown.  The town's motto is, "There's always something happening in Watertown" and it's absolutely true.  This weekend the town was invaded by Axis and Allied troops for the 12th annual World War II re-enactment.  Two battles (at 1200 hrs and 1430 hrs) were fought on the town square.  Spoiler alert- the Allies won both of them. 

It really is amazing what this little town pulls off on a regular basis.  The best thing though is that it doesn't get so commercial that it loses it's character or credibility.  All of these events are free to the public.  This one in particular was only attended by 50 or so locals.  The ladies and troops dressed in period clothing for the re-enactment actually outnumbered the spectators.  The event was put on not for profit but just for the enjoyment of the participants and education of the spectators.  Not one vendor was in sight and in the end Main Street was rolled back up until next time. 

The participants actually arrived the night before and camped next to the railroad pavilion.  Each side, Americans and Germans, set up period accurate camps and braved a low of 17 degrees.  Yeah, these are die-hard re-creators.  When I arrived shortly before the big battle they were gathering for briefings, still keeping close to the campfires. 

The 12 noon start of the battle had to be delayed a few minutes until the local bank on the square closed for the day.  No shots could be fired until then due to the risk that the goings on would be a diversion for a potential robbery.

After "Mr. Drysdale" gave the all clear, the invasion began.  The Germans had taken a position behind the library and Vance law office and the Americans occupied the square.  After an impressive assault with machine gun fire and even artillery, the Allies were pushed back all the way past the pizzeria, almost to the hardware store.  The Germans, while in the process of taking down the Stars and Stripes, were attacked from their flank and the square was liberated by the Allies.

German camp

Provisioning from the Highway 70 grocery store

American camp

Preparing for battle

Guys and gals

Briefing

The Axis troops arrive...

...then the Allies

The battle begins

The Stars and stripes are captured

Counter attack

The German commander surrenders

Old Glory returned to her rightful place

Like I said, there's always something going on in Watertown.   Weekend after next, the square will be transformed into the North Pole complete with workshop, elves and the Big Man himself. The Polar Express excursion train will pull into town from Nashville and Santa will hold court.  Margo and I will not be here for that one as we'll be at Mom and Mel's for Thanksgiving, but I'm sure the local kids won't miss it for anything. 

Life in Watertown

Hey Folks,


We've been quiet of late.  Not from lack of anything to say but mainly from just getting into a routine of work and daily living.  Things here in rural Tennessee have been clicking along though.  But don't fret (as they say here), we are getting prepared to take a few trips real soon- one to Mom's house in Eastern Tennessee for Thanksgiving and then to Florida for Christmas. What's a traveling circus to do in the meantime?  Well, just enjoy the local flavor of our current assignment.

Take a load off on the Watertown square

I do have to say, working here is like night and day from Salt Lake to Middle Tennessee.  In SLC I was roaming the sidewalks and cut grass of the neighborhoods.  Here, it's following the gas line down the side of 2 (sometimes 1) lane country roads and up very long (sometimes a quarter mile or more) driveways with a fair amount of cross country woods thrown in.  There's an occasional small town that comes up then it's back into the woods and across farmer's fields.  Not bad duty if you like that sort of thing, and I do, as long as any critters larger than I am steer clear.  It seems cows and goats are quite interested when a stranger climbs their fence and walks through their yard - the latter acting more like friendly dogs, but with horns, and the bovine not as friendly and with bigger horns.  I've found a wave of the hat takes care of the cows and the goats I let hang out with me until I reach the next fence and climb out.  The donkeys and horses keep a good distance mostly.  Dogs are to be feared in the city but I have yet to come across a mean dog out here in the country.  They meet you half way up the driveway and tag along usually until you finish the house - grateful for the company I guess.

About as country as it gets.  My office.

No, wait!  It gets even more country......

We've been enjoying our little town of Watertown.  They stay quite busy at City Hall coming up with events to showcase the place and bring in people from Nashville on weekends.  A few weeks after we arrived they had the "Mile Long Yard Sale."  It stretched all the way down Main Street, actually for a longer distance than the official name.  Preparations start on the Wednesday prior and the whole town turns out.

Mile Long Yard Sale

A few weekends later they put on the "Great Watertown Train Robbery."  An excursion train from Nashville arrives (loaded with tourists) to the sound of gunfights in the street.  The Mayor speaks.  There's local bluegrass music and all of the merchants welcome everyone with open arms.  The train loads back up and returns to Nashville then the sidewalks get rolled up again until the next event.  I see on the town's website there's a World War II reenactment on November 15th for Veterans Day - we'll need to check that one out.

Excursion train from Nashville

A little bit of bluegrass

Outlaws come to town

They take the payroll

 

The mayor (right) negotiates...

....to no avail

Halloween was held on the town square with the merchants handing out donated candy.  The local churches also had planned activities.  It seems this is the way trick or treating has been going for the past few years and Watertown has embraced it.  There certainly was a large turnout even though it was quite cold with a north wind.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pics; we just headed to our favorite Mom and Pop pizzaria, Nona Lisa's, accompanied by our friends Don and Sandy, with entertainment provided by the many costumed characters, ghouls and goblins. Don and I have been sharing assignments since meeting in Williamsburg last January.

As the holidays approach we're looking forward to seeing family and friends - and getting LuLu out to stretch her legs. She almost knows the way to Mom's by heart.  We'll have the traditional fare and a reunion with my brother and his wife.  After that, it's back to Watertown for a few weeks of jumping fences and fending off the local wildlife then on to sunny Florida.  Our flamingos are looking forward to thawing out and we'll finally get to meet that new grandchild, Anna Kate.