ADLOCVTIO
NEWSLETTER OF THE TWENTIETH LEGION
Vol. XX, no. iv, April 2010



MARCHING THROUGH TIME

    Our first *big* event of the year will be April 17-18, Marching Through Time.  The Legion will be encamped at Marietta Mansion in Glenn Dale, MD, with about 30 other historical groups.  Get your gear out and make sure it's all there and not too moldy, eh?
    
    As in previous years, you may drive into the camp area on Friday or on Saturday morning until 9:30 AM, but by 9:30 am on Saturday all vehicles must be offsite. Parking is available at the Glenn Dale Community Center, 11901 Glenn Dale Boulevard; it is on the left about a mile north of Marietta on Route 193.  There will be a continuous shuttle running from the site to the parking area. Everyone parked at the Community Center must put their name and license plate information on the list posted in the Pole Barn (in the middle of the camp area). That list will be sent to the Park Police. Any vehicle not listed will be towed and any fees incurred are the owner’s responsibility.   Many of us park along the road outside the site, which is "at your own risk".  Please use caution especially at the intersection of 193 and Bell Station Road--there have been accidents there in the past!

    Public hours are from 11 AM to 4 PM both days.  Please try to be there by 10 AM.  Note that there is no Pass in Review scheduled for this year, but our field demonstration is usually right after opening, so it would be nice if we had more than 2 guys for that!   Some "marching rations" will be provided, along with drinking water, and there will also be a food vendor for more substantial fare.

    Otherwise, nothing new about the general rules and regs.  Weapons must be under control of a reenactor at all times, and certainly visitors should never handle any *sharp* implements.  Do not leave weapons unattended.  Best to leave weapons in camp when roaming around the site.  Feel free to tour the house, but no hobnails may be worn inside.

     This is one of our major events of the year, so I hope to see a great turnout and lots of fun!  Please let me know your plans.  Thanks!




LUPERCALIA--IN MAY?

The annual party of Legio XX is going to be Saturday, May 15 at Allison and Richard Campbell's house.  It may not technically be Lupercalia, but blame that on Caesar and his new calendar: everything off by three months.  Those who have been here know that this is a fun party: we shifted to May so we could open up the porch and spread out further!

Further information will follow.  Roman and barbarian costume encouraged but not required.  We certainly have spares, but if you're inventive, we'll accept it.  About 5pm to whenever.

More to follow, including directions.

May 15 is actually the Roman holiday Mercurius.  This is traditionally the birthday of the Patron of Merchants (this day is also sacred to Maia, his mother).  Merchants draw water from the aqua Mercurii--a sacred spring tied to Mercurius--in jars cleansed by fumigation.  With a bough of laurel, the merchant then sprinkles both his merchandise and himself with water from the jars.  Mercurius is closely associated with merchants and traders, and they hold this day as a feast day.



MODELERS SOCIETY SHOW

    We have again been invited to send a contingent to the Northern Virginia annual show of the International Plastic Modeler Society on May 22.  Last year's activities included a rather lengthy awards ceremony, which the organizer assures us will NOT happen this time!  This is an indoor event running from 9 AM to 4 PM at Fairfax High School in Fairfax, VA.  Details and directions here:

http://www.novaipms.org/html/mc10.html 

    Please let me know if you are interested.  Thanks!



ROMAN DAYS!! --by Deb Fuller

Friday I had a meeting with the staff at Riversdale, the new site for Roman Days.  As I mentioned before, they are listing RD as "Rome at Riversdale" on their calendar but it will still be centered around the same RD that we all have come to know and love.  The street address is: 4811 Riverdale Rd, Riverdale, MD 20737, http://www.riversdale.org/ 

Dates are set for the first weekend in June, 5-6.  Hours will be 10-4 on Saturday and 12-4 on Sunday.  The reason for the shorter hours on Sunday is that Riversdale is that is their normal operating hours and they are worried about getting enough volunteers to staff the grounds for both days.  Not to worry!  This means we have extra time on Sunday
so we can all sleep in a little bit, do some drill or just hang out and socialize.  The public usually doesn't start showing up in force until noon on Sundays anyway.

Arrival and set-up is on for all day Friday.  Friday night is also open for "caligae camp" and pizza social if there is enough interest.  I'm assuming there is since it seemed to go really well 2 years ago at Marietta.  The nice thing about Riversdale is that it is more urban and there is a pizza joint around the corner so Allison and I won't have to go on a major expedition to get stuff.  (Wasn't there someone else that went along on the great pizza trek as well?)

New for RD10 - one major addition to RD will be tying the ancient classical period to the Federal period (c. 1800-120ish).  Riversdale is a c. 1800 mansion and is interpreted pretty much exclusively for that period.  The staff is very creative about programs and isn't completely locked into that era but their programs have to somehow tie into the mansion and time period.  No problem.  As well all know, the Federal period was all about the neo-classical revival and there are loads of ways to tie ancient Greece and Rome.  (In other words, you guys will be able to chuck your spears at the Celts to your
heart's content but we might have some people in other period funny clothes wandering around.)

The schedule for both days will basically be the same as previous years but we'll have to fill time for the two house tours that Marietta ran.  These Federal programs will help fill those slots.  We'll probably have some other activities going on around the camp as well.  So if anyone has good research on classical influences on early America, please send them my way.  The staff is really easy to work with and is open to new and cool ideas so we have the opportunity to do some really neat stuff here.

For example, we had the idea for an "architecture scavenger hunt" for the kids where they try and find examples of Greek and Roman architecture on the mansion.  This will not be hard  as the mansion has a great columned portico on the front which will make a great stage!  BUT, if any of you have an urge to make models of Greek and Roman buildings (*cough*RANDY*cough* ;), go right ahead!!  Another addition will be adding Federal costume to the end of the fashion show to show how the two eras tie together.

So, I'm excited!!  Is it June yet?

Questions?  Comments?  Have you all asked for time off yet so you can come to Roman Days 2010?

Deb

http://romandays.wikispaces.com/  



CELTIC FESTIVALS

    June 12-13, the weekend after Roman Days, we are invited to encamp at the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg, Virginia.  We've done this one a couple times, are we up for it again?   http://www.potomaccelticfest.org/    

    We also have an invitation to the Virginia Scottish Games, September 4-5 at Great Meadows, The Plains, Virginia.  http://www.vascottishgames.org/  We had a pretty good time at that one, last year, so keep it in mind.

    Alec Cunningham has information on a number of other Celtic/Scottish festivals, so contact him if you are up for any of these:

Southern Maryland Celtic Festival, April 24 (one week after MTT)
Frederick Celtic Festival, May 8
Colonial Highland Gathering, Fair Hill, MD, May 15
Williamsburg Highland Festival, October 2
Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival, October 23-24



REENACTOR YARD SALE

Got a basement full of kit you're not using?  Need a few extra bucks for that new musket, uniform, suit of Armor?  Looking for a new uniform, or suit of Armor?

Come to the Reenactors' Yard Sale (Multi-period)

June 19, 2010 (Rain date June 20, 2010), 10 AM - 4 PM

The Yard Sale will be at:
9611 Baltimore National Pike
Myersville, MD 21773

$10 Vendor Registration Fee (non-refundable)
Fees due by May 8; all proceeds will benefit a local historic site (TBD)

Mail checks to: Mea Clift
9502 Harmony Road
Myersville MD 21773

or feel free to send via paypal to domi143 AT yahoo DOT com--please put "Reenactors' Yard Sale" in the payment notes

Please also RSVP to: meapet AT gmail DOT com so we know that 1- your Money is coming and 2- we have a space for you!

Site per vendor: 8' x 8'
Bring your own blanket (the place we're having it on is a bit of a hill, so we're asking more for blankets than tables.)

[Quintus notes: Not a Legio XX event, but should be worth seeing, especially for us multi-era types!]




MORE DISTANT EVENTS

Castra Aestivia V Tillsonburg, Ontario Canada May 29 & 30, 2010 (Memorial Day Weekend)

The event is located just south of Tillsonburg in Ontario which is 2 hours drive from Port Huron or 3 hours from Detroit and about 2.5 hours from Buffalo. The event features military leadership, black smithing, patrols, drill, archery, pilum, sling and rock throwing competitions at a recreated Roman marching camp. For more information contact royals1 AT rogers DOT com



CALENDAR

   May 15 --Lupercalia Party at Campbells' house
   May 22 --IPMS show at Fairfax HS
   June 5-6-- ROMAN DAYS
   June 12-13 --Potomac Celtic Festival, Morven Park Equestrian Center, Leesburg, VA
   September 4-5 --Virginia Scottish Games
   September 11 --Hartwood Days Fair, Fredericksburg, VA

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ADLOCVTIO is the Official Newsletter of the Twentieth Legion, supposedly published on the Ides of each month.  I am Quintus, aka Matthew Amt, the Legion's Commander and Editor of the Newsletter, matthew_amt AT yahoo DOT com, http://www.larp.com/legioxx/