Robert Thomas
Saturday, Sept. 27, 1997
We arrived at the Gettysburg Fire House at 7:30 AM. The doors were not scheduled to open until 8:00 and already there were 50 or 60 people waiting outside. After the flurry of registration, we began the opening ceremonies. Each tour guide (Wayne Motts, Dr. Carol Reardon, and Keith Toney) gave overviews of their respective tours after which Bill Johnson explained the rules with a lot of stress put on staying on time. Goals were announced to complete the monument fund and raise repair and endowment funds for the Longstreet headquarters marker.At 9:45, our troops boarded their horses (buses) and struck out for the first set of tours. The troops arrived back at the Fire House at 11:45 to partake of a grand lunch prepared for them by the fire house staff. At 1:20, they again boarded their buses for the last two rounds of tours. The participants returned at 5:30 pm to take a short rest, get their dinner, and freshen up before returning to the fire house for the "Court of Inquiry" drama. At 8:00 pm, "Longstreet's Court of Inquiry" began. The drama was set in August, 1863. The inquiry went off even better than we expected with General Lee being the star of the show.
After the drama, the sales tables and auction was reopened, photograph opportunities were made available with the cast and the tour guides and Dr. Piston was available to answer questions.
Sunday, Sept. 28, 1997
The doors opened at 9:00 am and the LMF staff presented a slide program after announcing the winners of the auction. Gary Casteel presented a slide program on the clay enlargement and the casting process. Dr. William G. Piston presented a great program on how Gen. Longstreet's image has changed from 1965 to 1997. I closed the seminar.Money raised was $23,000 and two goals were accomplished. The fund was finished and the repair and endowment funds were raised for the headquarters marker.
I would like to extend my appreciation to all the participants who made this third and final campaign so successful. I would also like to extend my wholehearted gratitude to the state representatives who assisted in the planning and operation of this seminar: Ruth & Joe Klement, Terry Toepke, and Maria Lagonia. I would also like to express my appreciation to the wives and families of the committee members whose participation and hard work made this seminar successful.
Last but certainly not least, I send my grateful thanks and love to the Longstreet Memorial Committee members who have worked so hard to complete a project that they were "dragged into". They are: Bill Johnson, Joe Leggett, T.J. Holden, and Billy Bates. You guys are the greatest!
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