Here's the whole lowdown:
Coming up next is a real fun gathering, the 1880’s Town. This will take place at Garnett on the 3rd through the 5th of October. For those that haven’t been there before, here’s a quick rundown of what happens:
When you arrive, you will receive an envelope, which will contain a persona you can use, or you can choose your own. You will receive some of our local currency (Bear Bucks) and perhaps some other items of value. The idea is that you have to make a living in our little boom town of Wight’s Station. You can earn money by shooting buffalo, for instance, if you have enough money to afford an outfit. You might also get killed by bandits or Indians, but that’s the risk you have to take. There will be other means of earning a living, some of which will require shooting or other Old West skills. If you’re good at poker, you might be able to live as a gambler. You could also end up broke.
But you will almost certainly have to do something to earn money, as boomtown prices are high, and vagrancy will not be tolerated!
We couldn’t get Bob and Glynda with their chuckwagon this time, but that gives us the opportunity to try something different. We’re setting up Mike Tatham as “Rotten Luck Mikey” in the big tent as a saloon and restaurant. Instead of everybody eating when the bell rings, you will be able to go to the restaurant whenever you like, and partake of whatever is on the Bill of Fare. You’ll pay for this in Bear Bucks, of course. Likewise with your drinks.
Other services will be available in town, such as a doctor, a laundress, a bath house, and whatever else we can come up with. There will be a Hide Buyer trying to skin you out of those buffalo hides you got, and a Stock Buyer to cheat you on any stray horses or cattle you might obtain. There will be a Bank available, to loan you money at exorbitant interest rates.
If you haven’t caught on yet, sharp dealing way past the point of criminality is the standard for Wight’s Station. The Bank gets held up every time, although it’s only been done successfully once. (Inside job, honest help is hard to find.) Prices can change rapidly and wildly.
In a town like this, I wouldn’t be surprised to find bounty hunters and Pinkerton agents, earning their salt by apprehending various villains.
If there should happen to be a dispute between any of the residents, they can both go to the Dueling Tree and shoot it out. The winner can take the losers money, and the loser has to go get another envelope, and start all over again. Of course, even the winner in a gunfight can end up getting shot, and might have to see the doctor to get patched up.
So, you see, this is all sort of like playing Cowboy Monopoly. We’ve never really figured out a way to keep score, although there is often betting on who ends up with the most money. But everybody has fun, and the more folks we have the better the whole scenario works.
Bring all your guns and plenty of ammunition, you may not need them, but you might want to rent them to somebody else. Don’t bring any of your own food or alcoholic drinks, since that would be cheating. (Unless you want to “donate” liquor to the saloon/restaurant, so you can get served your favorite beverage.) Bring your own water and soft drinks.
While we will be buying and selling with Bear Bucks all weekend, attending this function will cost you $45 in real Yankee dollars, and $25 for additional family members. But for that you get meals from lunch Friday to breakfast Sunday, and drinks Friday and Saturday night. Pretty good deal, I reckon.
You’ll want to camp, of course, as most of the fun will be after dark. And, as the Mayor of Wight’s Station, I will be glad to sell you a lot to pitch your tent on. In fact, instead of camps being scattered around randomly, I would like to have all the tents set up in two rows, going east from the cabins. This will give us more of a boom town atmosphere.
That’s all for now. Our next gathering will be November 1st and 2nd at Duck Creek. More information on that will be in the next newsletter. Hope to see everybody at Garnett.
Grizzle Bear
913-321-3502
Rob-b@swbell.net
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