|
Volunteer Railroaders
& Staff
1. Linda B.
2. Mike M.
3. Blake J.
4. Lisa S.
5. Melanie B.
6. Donald B.
7. Ron C.
8. George R.
9. Mary S.
10. Jim B.
11. Buck V.
12. Clint L. Jr
13. Jeanie L.
14. Jason R.
15. Noah R.
16. Joseph S.
17. David Ham.
18. David H. Sr
19. Sam E.
20. Andrew A.
21. Angela A.
22. Dewayne S.
23. Kira S.
24. Ayden S.
25. Wimbley V.
26. Glen A.
27. Ben S.
28. Nick P.
29. Chris S.
30. Gavin R.
31. Stacy B.
32. Tim P.
33. Mike B.
34. Judy
35. Ashland
36. Terry B.
37. Chuck L.
38. Don F.
Recap
The 3rd Annual Long Leaf Fall Festival and Steam Up was held on Friday
and Saturday, October 20 and 21, 2023. The International Small Scale
Steam Up Institute once again brought their tracks and live-steam trains
for enjoyment by all. Around this Steam Up was a host of great vendors,
activities, rides, and demonstrations. All of this success was due to
the hard work of many folks who we’d like to thank. This recap cannot
list everything that was accomplished to make the festival a success,
but we’d like to say thank you to everyone for all the work they did,
both big and small. Live music from local bands played in the planer
mill; jumpers and slides were available in a play zone for children;
face painting; blacksmithing and machine demonstrations were done in the
machine shop; tours took place in the sawmill, Naval Stores building,
Engine House, car knocker shed, around locomotives 400, 106, and 202,
the Clyde skidder, and the McGiffert log loaders; handcar rides on the
Engine House lead tracks; rides in a 1926 Model T car; and train rides
aboard our Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf M4 Doodlebug.
Thank you to our festival and museum leadership, and the museum staff.
Linda Bordelon, Mike Miller, and Doug Rhodes put in many hours of
planning and preparation leading up to the festival.
Thank you to all our festival sponsors, including Patriot Golf Carts and
Power Sports in Woodworth, who lent two utility carts for use during the
festival.
Thank you to Acadian Ambulance, the Village of Forest Hill, and the
Rapides Parish Sheriff Office for having emergency personnel on-site. We
were well-prepared for any incidents and that feeling brought much
relief to museum & festival leadership!
Thank you to Glen Armand for bringing and driving his 1926 Model T car
as a fundraiser for the museum. The car was a hit and was a memorable
experience! Thank you to Kira Smith, Jeanie Ladner, and Judy for
handling the Model T station.
Thank you to our railroad volunteers who operated trains aboard M4 for
the weekend, made equipment repairs when issues arose, flagged Long Leaf
Road crossing, gave hand car rides, gave tours around the railroad
maintenance complex, and many other needed tasks: Jason Rose, Joseph
Swan, David Hearne, Mike Miller, Wimbley Vu, Ayden Smith, Gavin Robert,
Nick Pardue, Ben Smith, Andrew Austin, Dewayne Smith, Clint Ladner Jr,
Mike Brown, David Hamilton, and Tucker Baker. Just over 200 passengers
enjoyed the recently finished M4 interior during 20 trains run during
the weekend. Person after person remarked that the interior looked
fantastic and the craftsmanship was highly praised. Thank you to Glen
for his leadership and donated skill and talent that brought the M4
interior across the finish line. Thank you to our many volunteers and
donors who worked to improve M4 before the festival.
Thank you to Chuck and Don for cleaning up the sawmill Friday and
preparing it for tours. They spent all day Saturday giving tours in the
sawmill with many folks seeing the recent repairs and restoration work
completed by Chuck, Don, and Joseph in this historic building.
Thank you to Tim Potier for blacksmithing in our historic machine shop,
giving the look and feel of a trade that was present in the shop for
many years. The handmade nails he handed out were great keepsakes for
festival attendees.
Thank you and well done to Mike Miller and Robin Johnson (museum staff)
for a well-received locomotive 106 birthday party! The cake and napkins
with 106 on it were awesome, and the paper plates looked just like the
builder’s plate. The “builders plate” plates are now sought-after
collector’s items! Locomotive 106 is undergoing a cosmetic restoration
under Mike’s leadership with the help of many volunteers and supporters.
100 years ago in October 1923, she came out of the Baldwin Locomotive
Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and many a great photo was taken of
106 during the festival. Wimbley, Ben, Nick, and others had cleaned up
106 well in advance of the festival.
Thank you to Jeanie Ladner who provided a great lunch for the festival
volunteers.
Thank you to Dr. Mary Streigel and Dr. Chris Stacy who handled the
museum information table during the festival.
Thank you to Sam Echols, George Ramsey, and Donald Baker for supervising
the parking area and to Donald for bringing a side-by-side all-terrain
vehicle for efficient parking management.
Thank you to Angela Austin who drove the “limousine” golf cart shuttling
festival attendees and volunteers to where they were needed, and for
keeping first aid kits distributed and stocked throughout the museum
during the festival.
Thank you to Ron Chance, Buck Vandersteen, Stacy Bloomquist, Lisa Smith,
and Melanie Baker for running the gate/admission both Friday and
Saturday.
Stacy Bloomquist is commended for her fine work putting together a
festival map handout that included locations, activities, and links/QR
codes to the museum website for donations, memberships, and
volunteering. These handouts were very well done!
Thank you for Ashland for great help in the gift shop, managing numerous
transactions. Linda also spent considerable time in the gift shop
throughout the weekend. A job well done!
Thank you to Terry Boswell for children face-painting. We could see the
handiwork during the festival.
Thank you to William Vanderlick for bringing his grist mill and milling
fresh corn meal on site.
With the festival now complete, our sights return to various projects
around the museum, including building maintenance and repair, equipment
repairs and upgrades, and many projects on the railroad. Please continue
to stay connected to museum news so you can see the announcement for
next year’s festival, primarily the third weekend of October for
consistency year-to-year. We hope to see you at Long Leaf soon!
-Tucker "Who Dat" Baker
RR&G Road Master
|
