Thursday, December 27, 2007

Crossing of the Delaware a bust



According to the Inky this year's re-enactment of George Washington's Delaware River crossing was scuttled because of the swift current much to the dismay of the the thousands of spectators and the Revolutionary War re-enactors who trained for months. (Tip of the Tricorne
to Chris)
.
A local version of this historic event has been in the planning for years but for some reason it has never gotten off the ground or the shore. At a meeting of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society about 10 years ago the Senator from Noxen (aka the Rain Man) proposed we do our own local tribute to President Washington's greatest victory by organizing a crossing of the Susquehanna River to attack Pittston. Beside the practical considerations, such as none of us has ever rowed a boat on the river or had the right clothes, there was an objection to attacking a city known for it's Italian heritage. But a quick check of the phone book found a target in Dusseldorf's Restaurant (now out of business) and a consensus decided that any place that served bratwurst with red cabbage deserved a cannon ball in the front door.
We immediately voted that el Presidente of the Committee Pope George Ringo would assume the role of General Washington. Finding cannons and guns became the job the Senator from Plains with regular commenter Forest Gump to assist him by finding boats. Soccer Mike would lead the ground troops and I bravely volunteered to stay on shore and help everybody into the boats.
.
Somehow the planning has been bogged down.
.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If this plan ever gets off the ground, be sure to alert the media. We don't want to miss history in the making. Of course, be aware, that we can never guarantee coverage, but we will put it on our list of things to do.

Anonymous said...

It would have not worked very well this year since there was no ice to navigate through; autheticity is a must.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should bypass Pittston and attack the Courthouse.

Anonymous said...

Re:Anon; the Courthouse is a splendid idea; you can combine the best of the Boston Tea Party and the Crossing all in one.