Jarboe Reunion

Saturday we left the house at 6:15 AM in order to go eat lunch - in Kentucky.  It was time for the Annual Jarboe Reunion in Wilmore KY. We had a great noon potluck and plenty of time to visit with Jarboe cousins and their families.  Some of us stayed the night in the area and traveled two more hours east, to Jackson, KY to attend church where Dwight's cousin, Sam, is pastor. We returned home Sunday evening - glad to sleep in our own beds!



It was also Mom's birthday. Here she and Dad are enjoying her giant musical (chicken dance) Birthday card.

                                                   Dwight and some of the cousins


Marvin (Dwight's brother) and Paula



Cousins Esther and Carolyn





 



For additional pictures click here

My Short Air Force Career

Saturday, September 18th, there was an airshow at the Coshocton County Airport.  There were four excellent aerobatic acts with normal stunt planes, however the final act was a flight demonstration of a U.S. Air Force Thunderbolt II.  The Thunderbolt II is more commonly known as the A-10 Warthog.

Two Warthogs came, one for the demonstration and a backup plane.

When it was time for the A-10s to head to their next show, it was discovered that one of them had a leaking hydraulic line in the left main landing gear system.  The plane was put in MMS Aviation's hangar "C" which had been cleared to house the other show planes.  The crew repaired the plane there.

Monday morning we all had to take a look.

The A-10s are based in Tucson, Arizona and two mechanics from their squadron are on hand at the demonstrations.  They were responsible for the repair, but they called in hydraulic specialists from an Air Force base in Springfield, Ohio to help.  The Springfield base is about 135 miles west of Coshocton and are an F-16 fighter training operation.

The blue jumpsuited guys are from Tucson, the others are from Springfield.

Tuesday afternoon, the hydraulic repair was complete and the system was checked.  The airplane was raised on jacks so the landing gear could be retractred and the hydraulic system could be purged of any air that remained due to the line repair.  All the equipment (jacks, power supplies, tow bar, etc.) was trucked from Springfield.

All the wheels are off the ground.

Once all was ready for the gear retraction test, aka "gear swing", one of the Tucson crew told me, "Sir, I need you in the cockpit.  Empty all your pockets first."  He didn't have to repeat himself.  (Empty pockets mean there will be nothing to fall into the cockpit to get lost and jam controls at some inopportune time.)

Honorary crewman on the job.

Briefing by the real crew.

Landing gear retracted normally and no leaks--that's what we want!

I better keep my day job.  They don't think I served long enough to qualify for a pension, even if I am old enough.

My appreciation for and admiration of the professional military men and women who serve our Country was reinforced this week.  Getting acquainted with Mark, Dino, Jeff, Tim, was a true privilege.  (There were three other fellows from Springfield here, but I don't remember their names.) 

There you have it!  My whole military career consists of raising and lowering the landing gear on an A-10 Warthog two times.

Jen

We were happy to celebrate our daughter's Birthday last week.  We are pround of the lovely wife and mother she has become.  Both Jen and Jason had busy work weekends, so we were happy to have the kids for the night. A wonderful opportunity to "spoil" the grandkids!

Jen with Javin



The Robinsons



More about the Fair at New Boston

On September 4th Rena, Scott and I went to the Fair at New Boston near Springfield, Ohio (see previous post).  This Colonial era fair draws a lot of reenactors from quite a distance.  Among those who travel to Springfield from South Central Kentucky are Gerry and Maria Barker.  The Barkers take horses and oxen to reenactments throughout the year to demonstrate how they were the "trucks" of that time period.  Especially fascinating to me was the team of oxen.

The wagon is patterned after wagons available in the late Eighteenth Century.  The wooden bucket suspended from the rear axle contains (surprise!) axle grease.  Gerry has just finished hitching the four oxen to the wagon for the morning's trek through the fair.

Notice that the left rear ox is holding Gerry's hat for him.

In the afternoon, I watched Gerry hitch the oxen to the wagon.  He talked to them in a normal tone of voice, just as he would have to a person.  The front left ox is the lead ox and Gerry talked to him the most.  Gerry had no halters or ropes on the oxen to move them into place.

Gerry just talks to "his boys" as they move into position.  The oxen regularly do real work, including logging, not just giving demonstrations like this.

The wagon tongue got hooked to the yolk of the rear pair first.

All ready to haul something, Gerry takes a few minutes to tell fair goers about the use of oxen in general, and a bit about his boys as well.  Perhaps this is what an "eighteen wheeler" looked like in 1780.  There were many interesting things to see at the Fair at New Boston and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  But, for me, seeing Gerry work with his oxen was worth the price of admission by itself.  (Now, if I haven't used all the proper terminology, please keep in mind that I'm an aircraft mechanic from a different century and don't know better.  I like history, though.) - Dwight

A Visit to the Eighteenth Century

Yesterday Rena and I left Coshocton, drove to Columbus where our son, Scott, joined us, and we continued to a place near Springfield, Ohio.  The event we attended is called The Fair at New Boston and is a Colonial-era reenactment held each Labor Day weekend.

My brother, Frank and his wife, Carol, portray people typical of those who lived in the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries.  Frank is known as Parson John and portrays a preacher.  At many of the events he and Carol attend, Parson John holds a church service on the Sunday morning of the reenactment using music and a sermon typical of the time period.

Scott, Frank and I at the Fair

Carol portrays an Irish indentured servant named Maggie.  This year Maggie gives demonstrations as to how laundry was done.  She's a popular person at the reenactments, bantering back and forth with other reenactor with her quick "Irish" wit.  Not many people portray the servant class, with most preferring to be artisans, merchants, military personel, entertainers, or gentle folk.

Carol and Rena visit a moment between loads of laundry

A wealthy couple talk with a fellow who appears to be a French trapper-trader

A fire-eater at the fair

As is the case with many reenactments, there was a military battle involved.  We were at the Indian encampment when they were preparing to do "battle" with the British. 

Back safe and sound in the Twenty-first Century,

Dwight

Click here for more pictures of the Fair at New Boston

Happy Birthday Javin

Our grandson, Javin, turned 7 years old on August 31.  Since that was on a Tuesday (a school day) , we had an early celebration on the weekend before.

Get those candles blown out!

OOOH, I wonder what this is!

Some assembly required. Javin and Dwight put his new toy crane together.

For more pictures click here