The Second Ring Party
59 views
Skip to first unread message
Keith Henson
Oct 17, 2014, 2:11:43 PM10/17/14
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thomas and Annita were very early JRR Tolken fans. They loaned the
books to friends in the early 1960s when they were available only as
imported hardbacks from the UK.
(The story of how the books came to wild popularity in the late 60s is
partly told here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_A._Wollheim#Wollheim_as_editor_and_publisher
)
The Harlans were widely connected in hiking and rescue circles. Annita
organized monumental Ring parties for their wide circle of friends
based on the Tolkien books. I was not involved with the first of
them, but I heard stories about it, particularly from Dan Jones
(Legolas) for years. The second one I was asked to put on the
technical pyrotechnics. The chosen scene was "The Siege of Isengard,"
where the Ents duke it out with Saruman’s orcs. The Ents finally
diverted a river to end the battle.
I had arranged with an old friend, Tommy Walker, for the use of a
large lot he owned. It was, in those days, just outside the city
limits of Tucson at the corner of Prince Road and Country Club. The
lot was next door to where he lived and not far from the banks of
Rillito Creek (which once in a while is a raging river). It was dry
the night of the party. The Ents' side of the battle had to make do
with a giant slingshot mounted on a jeep and a couple of trash cans
full of water balloons. (There was obviously a liberal interpretation
of the books for these parties.) Jim and Loma Griffith were on the
Ent side of the battle.
The Tolkin book made mention of "a spray of liquid fire" and lots of
smokes. A 5-gallon propane bottle with a foot-and-a-half piece of
1/4-inch copper tubing puts out an awesome amount of flame for a short
time. Some of you have seen me light a barbecue with this setup, but I
was always using *gas* and not liquid which is 600 times as dense.
This was not that long after high school. I still had 20 or 30 pounds
left of a hundred pound can of zinc dust we had used to make zinc and
sulfur rockets. (There are stories about rockets that I have to tell
some day as well.) For smoke, I made up a few large cans of zinc and
sulfur with other chemicals added to slow it down a bit.
The lot had a small abandoned house right in the middle of it. This
was to be the attacked point. The windows were out of the building,
but the flat roof was sound and protected by a parapet about a foot
high. That afternoon Tommy Walker’s kids warned the nearby neighbors
that there was going to be this huge costume party/battle and they
should come out and watch.
Come the appointed hour 7:30 or 8 pm, dark in any case, we placed our
evil smoke-pot devices on the ground near the abandoned house. I took
the propane bottle to the roof. When the Ents started attacking,
people on the ground lit the smoke buckets. I lit the propane bottle
on the roof, turned the bottle upside down and opened the valve wide.
The liquid propane came out of the tubing at about 150 psi. It went up
about 15 feet and spread out at least 6 feet across before it mixed
with enough air and slowed down enough for the flame to burn back. It
was not easy for me to see how high the flame went, but others say it
was maybe 60 feet high. This huge flame illuminated the dense smoke
clouds from the zinc and sulfur. I could clearly see perhaps 50-75
members of the cast and another hundred neighbors in the light of this
huge flame.
I had backed off as far as I could get on the roof. The roar of the
flame was awesome, the heat incredible. I could see the roof tar start
to bubble near the propane bottle from the radiant heat. Meanwhile,
water balloons were whizzing through the air. Fortunately none hit the
bottle (mental note, next time be sure the bottle is in a stand where
it can’t be knocked over). Helen Price (as Grima Wormtongue) was on
the roof as well.
I am sure the bottle didn’t last more than two minutes, though it sure
seemed longer. Finally, it ran out of liquid. There was a *Whoof* as
the flame blew out and a descending whistle as the remaining gas in
the bottle ran down.
With the roar of the flame gone, you could hear sirens off in the
distance. I had already realized that our pyrotechnics had gotten out
of hand. People must have called the fire department from miles away.
I tossed the bottle off the roof and someone hid it in the bushes way
back from the scene. Others had already grabbed the smoke pots and
moved them away. Sparks from one smoke pot had started a few weeds
burning at the corner of the house. The tiny fire was quickly stomped
out.
By the time the sheriff got there, there was no fire just a whole
bunch of people in costume. A few with wooden swords and trash can lid
shields were still mock fighting. By this point, there must have been
150 neighbors who had come out to watch the fun.
A minute later the Rural Fire Department pulled up with this huge
tanker. A bunch of them went looking all over the place. They found
the tiny patch of burned weeds. They were mystified about how a few
weeds could have caused all these calls about something that looked
like an oil well on fire.
Tommy Walker was a subscriber and on good terms with the Rural Fire
Department. They took his reassurances that the situation was under
control. The Harlans knew many of the Sheriff Deputies so they were
able to placate the officer without actually telling him what had gone
down. He was *sure* something weird was going on, but could not figure
out a good reason to arrest any of this nutty looking group in
costumes. Consisting for the most part of university professors and
grad students, it was not your garden variety gang rumble.
Eventually the sheriff left and the party moved on to the refreshments
stage, miles from the “scene of the crime.” (As I recall it was at
Annita's parents place.)
Annita was worried about the legal consequences throughout the party
that night and I don’t know how long afterwards. Thomas Harlan used
his connections weeks or months later to find out that the fire
department's visit was classed as needless for a fire in a
wastebasket.
The third party (years later) that called for heavy pyrotechnics (the
Battle of Helms Deep) was moved way out of town. I should write it up
sometime. Thomas (Pippin) organized a fourth some years later that I
know very little about.
At this remove, I can only bracket the dates approximately. Perhaps
someone with notes or a better memory for times can put dates on the
parties?
And if anyone else remembers those parties, please post.
Keith Henson
books to friends in the early 1960s when they were available only as
imported hardbacks from the UK.
(The story of how the books came to wild popularity in the late 60s is
partly told here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_A._Wollheim#Wollheim_as_editor_and_publisher
)
The Harlans were widely connected in hiking and rescue circles. Annita
organized monumental Ring parties for their wide circle of friends
based on the Tolkien books. I was not involved with the first of
them, but I heard stories about it, particularly from Dan Jones
(Legolas) for years. The second one I was asked to put on the
technical pyrotechnics. The chosen scene was "The Siege of Isengard,"
where the Ents duke it out with Saruman’s orcs. The Ents finally
diverted a river to end the battle.
I had arranged with an old friend, Tommy Walker, for the use of a
large lot he owned. It was, in those days, just outside the city
limits of Tucson at the corner of Prince Road and Country Club. The
lot was next door to where he lived and not far from the banks of
Rillito Creek (which once in a while is a raging river). It was dry
the night of the party. The Ents' side of the battle had to make do
with a giant slingshot mounted on a jeep and a couple of trash cans
full of water balloons. (There was obviously a liberal interpretation
of the books for these parties.) Jim and Loma Griffith were on the
Ent side of the battle.
The Tolkin book made mention of "a spray of liquid fire" and lots of
smokes. A 5-gallon propane bottle with a foot-and-a-half piece of
1/4-inch copper tubing puts out an awesome amount of flame for a short
time. Some of you have seen me light a barbecue with this setup, but I
was always using *gas* and not liquid which is 600 times as dense.
This was not that long after high school. I still had 20 or 30 pounds
left of a hundred pound can of zinc dust we had used to make zinc and
sulfur rockets. (There are stories about rockets that I have to tell
some day as well.) For smoke, I made up a few large cans of zinc and
sulfur with other chemicals added to slow it down a bit.
The lot had a small abandoned house right in the middle of it. This
was to be the attacked point. The windows were out of the building,
but the flat roof was sound and protected by a parapet about a foot
high. That afternoon Tommy Walker’s kids warned the nearby neighbors
that there was going to be this huge costume party/battle and they
should come out and watch.
Come the appointed hour 7:30 or 8 pm, dark in any case, we placed our
evil smoke-pot devices on the ground near the abandoned house. I took
the propane bottle to the roof. When the Ents started attacking,
people on the ground lit the smoke buckets. I lit the propane bottle
on the roof, turned the bottle upside down and opened the valve wide.
The liquid propane came out of the tubing at about 150 psi. It went up
about 15 feet and spread out at least 6 feet across before it mixed
with enough air and slowed down enough for the flame to burn back. It
was not easy for me to see how high the flame went, but others say it
was maybe 60 feet high. This huge flame illuminated the dense smoke
clouds from the zinc and sulfur. I could clearly see perhaps 50-75
members of the cast and another hundred neighbors in the light of this
huge flame.
I had backed off as far as I could get on the roof. The roar of the
flame was awesome, the heat incredible. I could see the roof tar start
to bubble near the propane bottle from the radiant heat. Meanwhile,
water balloons were whizzing through the air. Fortunately none hit the
bottle (mental note, next time be sure the bottle is in a stand where
it can’t be knocked over). Helen Price (as Grima Wormtongue) was on
the roof as well.
I am sure the bottle didn’t last more than two minutes, though it sure
seemed longer. Finally, it ran out of liquid. There was a *Whoof* as
the flame blew out and a descending whistle as the remaining gas in
the bottle ran down.
With the roar of the flame gone, you could hear sirens off in the
distance. I had already realized that our pyrotechnics had gotten out
of hand. People must have called the fire department from miles away.
I tossed the bottle off the roof and someone hid it in the bushes way
back from the scene. Others had already grabbed the smoke pots and
moved them away. Sparks from one smoke pot had started a few weeds
burning at the corner of the house. The tiny fire was quickly stomped
out.
By the time the sheriff got there, there was no fire just a whole
bunch of people in costume. A few with wooden swords and trash can lid
shields were still mock fighting. By this point, there must have been
150 neighbors who had come out to watch the fun.
A minute later the Rural Fire Department pulled up with this huge
tanker. A bunch of them went looking all over the place. They found
the tiny patch of burned weeds. They were mystified about how a few
weeds could have caused all these calls about something that looked
like an oil well on fire.
Tommy Walker was a subscriber and on good terms with the Rural Fire
Department. They took his reassurances that the situation was under
control. The Harlans knew many of the Sheriff Deputies so they were
able to placate the officer without actually telling him what had gone
down. He was *sure* something weird was going on, but could not figure
out a good reason to arrest any of this nutty looking group in
costumes. Consisting for the most part of university professors and
grad students, it was not your garden variety gang rumble.
Eventually the sheriff left and the party moved on to the refreshments
stage, miles from the “scene of the crime.” (As I recall it was at
Annita's parents place.)
Annita was worried about the legal consequences throughout the party
that night and I don’t know how long afterwards. Thomas Harlan used
his connections weeks or months later to find out that the fire
department's visit was classed as needless for a fire in a
wastebasket.
The third party (years later) that called for heavy pyrotechnics (the
Battle of Helms Deep) was moved way out of town. I should write it up
sometime. Thomas (Pippin) organized a fourth some years later that I
know very little about.
At this remove, I can only bracket the dates approximately. Perhaps
someone with notes or a better memory for times can put dates on the
parties?
And if anyone else remembers those parties, please post.
Keith Henson
Beth Meacham
Oct 18, 2014, 10:03:06 AM10/18/14
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thank you so much for this "you are there" reporting of a legendary event!
Beth
Keith Henson
Jan 22, 2018, 3:30:51 PM1/22/18
to Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Hi folks, it's been a while.
Can anyone reconstruct the date of this ring party? To the year and month would be good enough.
I need this to report as if I were there in a blog set 55 years in the past.
Much thanks if anyone can help.
Best,
Keith
Can anyone reconstruct the date of this ring party? To the year and month would be good enough.
I need this to report as if I were there in a blog set 55 years in the past.
Much thanks if anyone can help.
Best,
Keith
Thomas Harlan
Jan 22, 2018, 4:16:57 PM1/22/18
to Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
I'd like to know too, if anyone remembers dates of *any* of the Ring Parties.
Third edition of same, Battle of Minas Tirith, is set for May 20 of this year... in a county park with massive old WW2 gun emplacement bunkers not far from our current casa.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/43b7902f-c894-465c-b7d1-06d98c7e4f89%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Gary Stiles
Jan 23, 2018, 1:05:03 AM1/23/18
to Thomas Harlan, Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Hi all,
The first ring party I went to was the third one identified below, the battle of Helms Deep. The date for that was November 19, most likely in 1967 based on some other records I have. I'm sure of the date because I found my original invitation to it, as signed by Eowyn of Rohan at Dunharrow at the Dawning. The next party was the one in Davidson Canyon (?) southeast of Tucson under the highway and railroad bridges, which I recorded as February 1969 but could have been in March 1969. Then on October 25, 1969 there was a ring party up in the Catalinas that was Frodo's march from Hobbiton to Rivendel. Finally, I was invited to a ring party on March 17, 1973 which I didn't attend.
Hope this helps, and I'll keep digging thru my old papers to see if I have any other info - Gary
From: Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com>
To: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>
Cc: Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2018 1:17 PM
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxk6EQ-3vBH4YELA%3D6wrra490%3DcaeSmF-OKzKBeZtq8FYg%40mail.gmail.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxk6EQ-3vBH4YELA%3D6wrra490%3DcaeSmF-OKzKBeZtq8FYg%40mail.gmail.com.
Thomas Harlan
Jan 23, 2018, 10:06:47 AM1/23/18
to Gary Stiles, Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Gary!
awesome to hear from you!
Cheers, Thomas (Pip)
On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 10:05 PM, Gary Stiles <gkst...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Hi all,The first ring party I went to was the third one identified below, the battle of Helms Deep. The date for that was November 19, most likely in 1967 based on some other records I have. I'm sure of the date because I found my original invitation to it, as signed by Eowyn of Rohan at Dunharrow at the Dawning. The next party was the one in Davidson Canyon (?) southeast of Tucson under the highway and railroad bridges, which I recorded as February 1969 but could have been in March 1969. Then on October 25, 1969 there was a ring party up in the Catalinas that was Frodo's march from Hobbiton to Rivendel. Finally, I was invited to a ring party on March 17, 1973 which I didn't attend.Hope this helps, and I'll keep digging thru my old papers to see if I have any other info - Gary
Cc: Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com>
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxk6EQ-3vBH4YELA%3D6wrra490%3DcaeSmF-OKzKBeZtq8FYg%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Gary Stiles
Jan 24, 2018, 1:37:46 AM1/24/18
to Thomas Harlan, Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Thanks Thomas, I hope all is well with you. Are you still up in Vancouver?
In retrospect, I'm a bit surprised your parents didn't keep records & memorabilia on the ring parties.
Gary
To: Gary Stiles <gkst...@sbcglobal.net>
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 7:06 AM
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 7:06 AM
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/ msgid/friends-of-annita-and- tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxk6EQ- 3vBH4YELA%3D6wrra490%3DcaeSmF- OKzKBeZtq8FYg%40mail.gmail.com .
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/ optout.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxnNb6cVWN6y0oQY2%2BYAvOTi5jSTVo4fxTAvvS4Ah%2BL1yQ%40mail.gmail.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxnNb6cVWN6y0oQY2%2BYAvOTi5jSTVo4fxTAvvS4Ah%2BL1yQ%40mail.gmail.com.
tenn...@aol.com
Jan 24, 2018, 10:22:51 AM1/24/18
to gkst...@sbcglobal.net, tho...@throneworld.com, hkeith...@gmail.com, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Team:
The only one that I'm relatively certain of is the Catalina Mt. one which ended up at Alfred Curtis's cabin where recall mead, stew and wonderful bread!
You can probably make a public access request at the PCSD - Records Section to get more details about dates and the deputies write-up of the more "notable events."
Ron Benson
The only one that I'm relatively certain of is the Catalina Mt. one which ended up at Alfred Curtis's cabin where recall mead, stew and wonderful bread!
You can probably make a public access request at the PCSD - Records Section to get more details about dates and the deputies write-up of the more "notable events."
Ron Benson
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Stiles <gkst...@sbcglobal.net>
To: Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com>
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 23, 2018 11:37 pm
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
From: Gary Stiles <gkst...@sbcglobal.net>
To: Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com>
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 23, 2018 11:37 pm
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
Thanks Thomas, I hope all is well with you. Are you still up in Vancouver?
In retrospect, I'm a bit surprised your parents didn't keep records & memorabilia on the ring parties.
Gary
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com>
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/379503705.54170.1516775861528%40mail.yahoo.com.
Thomas Harlan
Jan 26, 2018, 11:34:40 AM1/26/18
to Gary Stiles, Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Gary,
we're in Port Angeles, WA now - we had been in Victoria, BC for seven years. But my wife's mom is here and needs more daily support that we could provide a ferry-ride away.
I have a few photos, and grandpa Tom wrote up some memoirs which included his view of the Ring Parties, etc. But not so much...
Cheers, Thomas
On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 10:37 PM, Gary Stiles <gkst...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Thanks Thomas, I hope all is well with you. Are you still up in Vancouver?In retrospect, I'm a bit surprised your parents didn't keep records & memorabilia on the ring parties.Gary
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>; Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan <friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com>
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxnNb6cVWN6y0oQY2%2BYAvOTi5jSTVo4fxTAvvS4Ah%2BL1yQ%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Keith Henson
Jan 27, 2018, 10:21:48 AM1/27/18
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
I think you will find this most informative.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 2:22 PM
Subject: RE: The Second Ring Party
To all,
Well, I found my old diary and all is made clear, especially the
discrepancy between Mama’s 1967 calendar and my 1966 diary entry of
which I am attaching a detailed account from my perspective as a 13
year old participant. Understand that the original of this PDF is on a
6 7/8” x 8” piece of paper with the handwritten equivalent of about 6
pt. type at best.
The reason for the discrepancy is that on Sunday, November 19th 1967,
we attended a second Ring Party in which I was Pippin again. After all
the excitement of the 1966 party, the ’67 event was a real let-down
for me. I will attach it but if you can read it, you are doing better
than me. Since it is a 5-year diary, the entries are one after
another, vertically. I have attached the square continuation of the
story below the Sunday 1967 entry but I think the red words at the top
border are part of that second party description too. Apparently, we
went hiking in the morning until about 2:00 pm, then went home,
showered, dressed and went to Anita and Tom’s house. For me, it seems
like there was a lot of waiting around and I seem to have not been
present at the biggest battle. Basically, I was depressed to start
with and very disappointed with the party. I know that there was
another really good one several years later in which I played Frodo
and it had to have been November 1969 or after because Steve, who I
met in September 1969 remembers me going to it. I haven’t found a
corresponding diary entry for that however.
I hope that this helps in any reconstructions of the events!
Roxy
From: helen...@gmail.com [mailto:helen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:41 PM
To: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Cc: Helen Price <helen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
Also to all—entries from 1967 purse calendar: Nov.17-18: Sew like
mad, evenings—tunics & cloaks for Rohirrim: Bill (Eomer), Connie &
Char, jacket for Roxy (Pippin), cloak for me. Nov.19: recon with Jon
Earle; made swords—PARTY - with fire dept! Lovely
On Jan 23, 2018, at 11:19 AM, Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com> wrote:
To all,
Attached in an album page from my 1966 scrapbook with photographs of
Mama (Helen Price), Connie and Charlotte Price in our costumes taken
by me (Roxy…Pippin) right before leaving for the party. Mama says it
was November. I have a note that says “Details in diary” so when I get
home from work I can dig that out and send a copy. It should be
interesting. I would have been 13 years old, throwing water balloons
at my mother (Wormtongue)! It was a day I will never forget!
Roxy (Price) Sinex
From: helen...@gmail.com [mailto:helen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 9:02 AM
To: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Cc: Helen Price <helen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: The Second Ring Party
Roxy - I think this is the one where orcs kidnaped you (as Pippin) and
Merry from the little park near Harlans’ house; maybe you can add
detail and solid dates. It was November, I think 1967.
Mama
Begin forwarded message:
Date: January 22, 2018 at 1:30:51 PM MST
To: Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
<friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 2:22 PM
Subject: RE: The Second Ring Party
To all,
Well, I found my old diary and all is made clear, especially the
discrepancy between Mama’s 1967 calendar and my 1966 diary entry of
which I am attaching a detailed account from my perspective as a 13
year old participant. Understand that the original of this PDF is on a
6 7/8” x 8” piece of paper with the handwritten equivalent of about 6
pt. type at best.
The reason for the discrepancy is that on Sunday, November 19th 1967,
we attended a second Ring Party in which I was Pippin again. After all
the excitement of the 1966 party, the ’67 event was a real let-down
for me. I will attach it but if you can read it, you are doing better
than me. Since it is a 5-year diary, the entries are one after
another, vertically. I have attached the square continuation of the
story below the Sunday 1967 entry but I think the red words at the top
border are part of that second party description too. Apparently, we
went hiking in the morning until about 2:00 pm, then went home,
showered, dressed and went to Anita and Tom’s house. For me, it seems
like there was a lot of waiting around and I seem to have not been
present at the biggest battle. Basically, I was depressed to start
with and very disappointed with the party. I know that there was
another really good one several years later in which I played Frodo
and it had to have been November 1969 or after because Steve, who I
met in September 1969 remembers me going to it. I haven’t found a
corresponding diary entry for that however.
I hope that this helps in any reconstructions of the events!
Roxy
From: helen...@gmail.com [mailto:helen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:41 PM
To: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Cc: Helen Price <helen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
mad, evenings—tunics & cloaks for Rohirrim: Bill (Eomer), Connie &
Char, jacket for Roxy (Pippin), cloak for me. Nov.19: recon with Jon
Earle; made swords—PARTY - with fire dept! Lovely
On Jan 23, 2018, at 11:19 AM, Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com> wrote:
To all,
Attached in an album page from my 1966 scrapbook with photographs of
Mama (Helen Price), Connie and Charlotte Price in our costumes taken
by me (Roxy…Pippin) right before leaving for the party. Mama says it
was November. I have a note that says “Details in diary” so when I get
home from work I can dig that out and send a copy. It should be
interesting. I would have been 13 years old, throwing water balloons
at my mother (Wormtongue)! It was a day I will never forget!
Roxy (Price) Sinex
From: helen...@gmail.com [mailto:helen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 9:02 AM
To: Roxana Sinex <rox...@sinexdesign.com>
Cc: Helen Price <helen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: The Second Ring Party
Roxy - I think this is the one where orcs kidnaped you (as Pippin) and
Merry from the little park near Harlans’ house; maybe you can add
detail and solid dates. It was November, I think 1967.
Mama
Begin forwarded message:
Date: January 22, 2018 at 1:30:51 PM MST
To: Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
<friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
To post to this group, send email to
friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/43b7902f-c894-465c-b7d1-06d98c7e4f89%40googlegroups.com.
<Ring Party 11.66.pdf>
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/43b7902f-c894-465c-b7d1-06d98c7e4f89%40googlegroups.com.
Loma Griffith
Jan 27, 2018, 4:13:36 PM1/27/18
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Hi all. Hard to believe how many of us are still here to remember, and then again how few actual factual details I can come up with. I married Jim in 1963 and the first ring party I went to was an eye opener. I remember costumes, battles and food and drink afterwards, but little else. All in honor of Legolas' birthday. I do better remembering Helms Deep. There was one where they got to actually set a house on fire with permission of the fire dept. Really? And one I didn't see in Peppersauce cave, tho that may have been a different type event. One in the storm drains across mid town Tucson. What more? Will get Jim's memory on it. Much better than mine. We miss those who are no longer. But their art and good deeds stay with us.
Go see the movie "Coco"
Cheers,
Loma, the ent wife
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB75Sv0eZqAWiPPy3V4Pc-b0xjCyJXUSxNGKGQvwbBraDA%40mail.gmail.com.
> <Ring Party 2 on 11.19.67 diary.pdf>
Go see the movie "Coco"
Cheers,
Loma, the ent wife
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
> <Ring Party 11.19.66 diary.pdf>
> <Ring Party 2 on 11.19.67 diary.pdf>
Keith Henson
Jan 27, 2018, 6:15:12 PM1/27/18
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 1:13 PM, Loma Griffith <lomagr...@gmail.com> wrote:
snip
>I do better remembering Helms Deep.
I was technical pyrotechnics for the Helms Deep in 1997 and the
previous one in 1996.
I really should write up Helms Deep (from my view) for completeness.
Merle Wheller and I (and perhaps someone else?) worked a few hours
that afternoon to build the wall. It was made of those old style wire
and slat lettuce crates lined with close fitting cardboard boxes which
we filled with sand. There was a couple of strands of primacord
between each layer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacord
As I recall, the wall was 8-10 feet high, considerably over my head.
The defender's side (upstream) had a step in it so the defenders could
look out over the top. It wasn't very long because we only had around
10 or 12 feet to fill between a couple of tall boulders. I don't know
if anyone took pictures.
We had to pause the battle on the wall to fire some flash powder
(substitute for lightning) on the wall and fire the primacord. This
wasn't entirely satisfactory since it took too long between the flash
and the wall going down. But the primacord really did a job on the
wall, instantly reducing it to a heap of sand.
>There was one where they got to actually set a house on fire with permission of the fire dept. Really?
Not exactly. We didn't actually burn anything but a 5-gallon
container of propane and a mess of zinc dust and sulfur. It's the
write up at the top of this thread.
But I vividly remember after tossing the propane bottle off the roof
and scrambling down the ladder, wooden sword in hand and trash can lid
for a shield, running into this Ent Wife (Loma) who ripped my shield
away. All this to the wail of sirens coming closer and closer.
> And one I didn't see in Peppersauce cave, tho that may have been a different type event. One in the storm drains across mid town Tucson.
I wasn't at that Ring Party, but I know those storm drains very well
indeed. Carl Noggle once fired a 1 1/4 inch pipe canon in the middle
of one. Set the air in the whole tube to oscillating, felt to the
ears like going up and down several thousand feet till it died out
after half a dozen to a dozen cycles at perhaps 5 seconds each.
There is another story about those storm drains and a pipe bomb that
involved Karen Abrahamson (wife at the time), two guys (Zippy Zalta
and Vegetable Christopher who were renting from me when I owned a
place on the corner of 8th and Waren close to the UofA)---and the
cops.
And in turn, there is a longish story about marijuana, Vegetable, and
the Peace Corp, but that would drift too far from Ring parties.
> What more? Will get Jim's memory on it. Much better than mine. We miss those who are no longer. But their art and good deeds stay with us.
> Go see the movie "Coco"
Long as we are mentioning movies, don't miss "Darkest Hour." It is
just excellent.
Keith
snip
>I do better remembering Helms Deep.
previous one in 1996.
I really should write up Helms Deep (from my view) for completeness.
Merle Wheller and I (and perhaps someone else?) worked a few hours
that afternoon to build the wall. It was made of those old style wire
and slat lettuce crates lined with close fitting cardboard boxes which
we filled with sand. There was a couple of strands of primacord
between each layer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacord
As I recall, the wall was 8-10 feet high, considerably over my head.
The defender's side (upstream) had a step in it so the defenders could
look out over the top. It wasn't very long because we only had around
10 or 12 feet to fill between a couple of tall boulders. I don't know
if anyone took pictures.
We had to pause the battle on the wall to fire some flash powder
(substitute for lightning) on the wall and fire the primacord. This
wasn't entirely satisfactory since it took too long between the flash
and the wall going down. But the primacord really did a job on the
wall, instantly reducing it to a heap of sand.
>There was one where they got to actually set a house on fire with permission of the fire dept. Really?
container of propane and a mess of zinc dust and sulfur. It's the
write up at the top of this thread.
But I vividly remember after tossing the propane bottle off the roof
and scrambling down the ladder, wooden sword in hand and trash can lid
for a shield, running into this Ent Wife (Loma) who ripped my shield
away. All this to the wail of sirens coming closer and closer.
> And one I didn't see in Peppersauce cave, tho that may have been a different type event. One in the storm drains across mid town Tucson.
indeed. Carl Noggle once fired a 1 1/4 inch pipe canon in the middle
of one. Set the air in the whole tube to oscillating, felt to the
ears like going up and down several thousand feet till it died out
after half a dozen to a dozen cycles at perhaps 5 seconds each.
There is another story about those storm drains and a pipe bomb that
involved Karen Abrahamson (wife at the time), two guys (Zippy Zalta
and Vegetable Christopher who were renting from me when I owned a
place on the corner of 8th and Waren close to the UofA)---and the
cops.
And in turn, there is a longish story about marijuana, Vegetable, and
the Peace Corp, but that would drift too far from Ring parties.
> What more? Will get Jim's memory on it. Much better than mine. We miss those who are no longer. But their art and good deeds stay with us.
> Go see the movie "Coco"
just excellent.
Keith
Ivan Benson
Jan 28, 2018, 10:41:33 AM1/28/18
to Loma Griffith, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
I was a hobbit for the one at Peppersauce Cave but I don't know the year.
Sent from my iPhone
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CB6F34F1-21EA-4161-A419-471AEAC49768%40gmail.com.
Sent from my iPhone
Loma
Jan 28, 2018, 2:54:24 PM1/28/18
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thanks, Keith, for the memories and the data, too.
I was so terrified of your pyrotechnic prowess that I was way too far from the wall to see much of its destruction.
Jim and I saw Darkest Hour, and both pronounce it great. Jim reports that they only seemed to have sacrificed fact for good movie making in a couple of places, and that the portrayal of Churchill was spot on.
Cheers,
Loma
Sent from my iPad
I was so terrified of your pyrotechnic prowess that I was way too far from the wall to see much of its destruction.
Jim and I saw Darkest Hour, and both pronounce it great. Jim reports that they only seemed to have sacrificed fact for good movie making in a couple of places, and that the portrayal of Churchill was spot on.
Cheers,
Loma
Sent from my iPad
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB4Rm2VKZHg2EsTKmvvJB6xZeOWD%3DgJ2BtxtN-3TA-fcNA%40mail.gmail.com.
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
Joseph Quiroz
Jan 30, 2018, 10:55:55 AM1/30/18
to Thomas Harlan, Gary Stiles, Keith Henson, Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Wow Pippin, this is dredging up soon wonderful memories. I don’t think I have any pics of the parties but I remember several of them in the 60s. I do remember the spray of liquid fire and the scurrying around and worried looks when the sirens started.
Another one where there were worried looks was the Battle of Helms Deep where I believe there was an impressive display involving primer cord. I think that was also where we were running around in flowing capes doing battle with wooden swords and trash can lids and there were a lot of red lanterns. Suddenly, out of the gloom of night we heard the thunder of a train coming down the tracks through our battlefield, we heartily saluted the train with our swords and cries and the train made even more noise as it screeched its brakes. Suddenly, someone said “Hey, don’t red lanterns mean danger to a train?” Uh oh..
Fortunately the train kept going, but we were very watchful of newspapers for some time for any reports of strange activity out in the desert.
Another great Ring event was the banquet in Peppersauce Cave in which a whole sucking pig (with an apple in its mouth) was carried in.
Yeah. those were good parties. I was probably around 13 or 14 at the time so my memories are shrouded in gossamer curtains. But the feeling of doing something really special with Thomas and Annita as my mentors and guides is still with me. Tom went with me to buy my first pair of Redwing hiking boots with Vibram soles. That was at a time in Tucson when if you saw a Vibram soleprint somewhere, you could be pretty sure is was someone you had been hiking with.
Joe(y) Quiroz
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxksYxpCkMGkK1g%2Bd8851mAsMp6NUjkG2_T%2Bm5%2BnfwAP8A%40mail.gmail.com.
Keith Henson
Jan 31, 2018, 7:16:59 PM1/31/18
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
"I was technical pyrotechnics for the Helms Deep in 1997 and the
previous one in 1996."
Sorry, Nov. 1966 Siege of Isengard (with the big flame) and Nov 1967
previous one in 1996."
for Helms Deep. Typos.
Loma wrote:
>I was so terrified of your pyrotechnic prowess that I was way too far from the wall to see much of its destruction.
make much of a disturbance. This one just broke the boxes of sand and
they slumped. By that time I had been making things go boom for over
ten years, sometimes professionally. Nobody was hurt in my
adventures, though in a few early cases it was more luck rather than
good planning.
I am tempted to post some of those adventures from the early 60s here,
particularly "Blasting in a Cave," and one that happened in the
backyard of the Druid Student Center on Speedway. Although they were
peripheral to the Harlans, they involved some of their friends.
Best wishes,
Keith
Thomas Harlan
Feb 25, 2018, 8:01:16 PM2/25/18
to Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan
Hello all,
as it happens there will be a third-generation Ring Party this May, which we are hosting as a family duty to carry on beloved traditions. We will be doing Minas Tirith, sadly without Dan Jones to put into mortal danger.
In the last two that we've done, at the feasting afterwards, there has been a call for tales of the Elder Days and what happened at *other* Ring Parties.
Since Keith has kindly provided some memories, I will print them out and read them round the fire, after a long day of battling and speechifying and general mayhem.
If anyone else has any stories to contribute, please post them to the list and maybe I will make a small book of them.
Ivan, didn't you get kidnapped that one time? In your own words please...
Cheers, Thomas (the younger one)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-har...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB7%3DCn6mz9Ke3uO5btMXi48rWqbqSy7XxURJnLuhRqPG8w%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Keith Henson
Mar 6, 2021, 1:06:52 AM3/6/21
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
The Harlans were friends of the characters who lived at the Druid
Student Center (1189 E. Speedway) from the fall of 1961 when we first
moved into the place. It was next door to where A.E. Douglass
(originator of tree-ring dating) lived but I think Carl Noggle knew
them. I think we had been there only few weeks when Thomas and Annita
came by with Pippin who was only a couple of weeks old. If Thomas the
younger can remember when he was born, that would pin it down. :-)
(After the dating confusion of the Ring Parties, I am not confident
about my memory of dates.) Anyway, a few years ago on this thread, I
said I would post a couple of stories. Here is the first
Tales from the Druid Student Center days.
One Sunday afternoon back in the early 60s we were hanging around in
the dusty backyard of the Druid Student Center. Sometime before we
had chipped a hole in the lid over the cesspool that the kitchen sink
(nothing else) drained into. (The house at 1189 E. Speedway had been
built in 1906 as I recall.)
Why chip a hole? It was to make washing out the coatimundi cage easy.
Why a coatimundi? Long story.
The cesspool was about 15 feet deep and 6 feet in diameter. It had a
concrete lid on it that was perhaps 6 inches thick and had a foot of
dirt over it. The hole we chipped was three inches in diameter and
well away from the edge. We keep the dirt from falling in with a tin
can sleeve.
I had a mirror and flashed sunlight down into the hole . . . .and
realized that I had found the mother lode of the two-inch long
cockroaches we were plagued with.
Well, that's easily fixed! Grabbed a propane bottle with a few feet
of copper tubing on it, lit up a bushel basket sized fireball on it,
stuck the end of the tubing into the hole, and turned the fire up to
"roast roaches."
Half a minute later, the flame had burned all the air out of the hole
and the fire backed up and came out of the hole.
I turned off the gas and backed off ten feet. The fire burned down
from a few feet high to a very short flame, and then since air had
come down the pipe from the kitchen roof vent, the flame vanished
inside the cesspool into the rich mix of propane and air.
Whoosh! A 4-5 foot flame came out of the hole for a few seconds as
the combustible mix of propane and air burned. The flame ended and as
the gas cooled, there was a big sucking sound. Soon as that ended,
there was a roar as the newly mixed propane and air burned, sending a
12-foot flame out of the hole.
About this time, I had dropped the propane bottle and was sprinting
for the back door. A giant sucking sound ended with another flame
coming out of the hole, this time making a thunderous roar like a 747
engine on full throttle. I was face down just inside the door, but
Roy Noggle who was out in the front yard said the flame was at least 6
feet in diameter, 30 feet high and looked like an oversized
Bernzomatic torch
There was yet another huge inhalation. The progression had been such
that this flame would have been the end of the world, but the hole had
run out of gas.
Out in the backyard, the dust was settling. Small cracks radiated out
the cesspool where dust had been blown out by the brief overpressure.
There were a few fried roaches drifting down. The ceiling over the
kitchen sink was dripping water that had been blown out of the trap.
All things considered, it was an amusing afternoon at the Druid Student Center.
A number of years later (1985) we poured 200 pounds of propane down a
mineshaft and dropped in a flare, but that's another story.
Best wishes,
Keith
On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 4:16 PM Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
Student Center (1189 E. Speedway) from the fall of 1961 when we first
moved into the place. It was next door to where A.E. Douglass
(originator of tree-ring dating) lived but I think Carl Noggle knew
them. I think we had been there only few weeks when Thomas and Annita
came by with Pippin who was only a couple of weeks old. If Thomas the
younger can remember when he was born, that would pin it down. :-)
(After the dating confusion of the Ring Parties, I am not confident
about my memory of dates.) Anyway, a few years ago on this thread, I
said I would post a couple of stories. Here is the first
Tales from the Druid Student Center days.
One Sunday afternoon back in the early 60s we were hanging around in
the dusty backyard of the Druid Student Center. Sometime before we
had chipped a hole in the lid over the cesspool that the kitchen sink
(nothing else) drained into. (The house at 1189 E. Speedway had been
built in 1906 as I recall.)
Why chip a hole? It was to make washing out the coatimundi cage easy.
Why a coatimundi? Long story.
The cesspool was about 15 feet deep and 6 feet in diameter. It had a
concrete lid on it that was perhaps 6 inches thick and had a foot of
dirt over it. The hole we chipped was three inches in diameter and
well away from the edge. We keep the dirt from falling in with a tin
can sleeve.
I had a mirror and flashed sunlight down into the hole . . . .and
realized that I had found the mother lode of the two-inch long
cockroaches we were plagued with.
Well, that's easily fixed! Grabbed a propane bottle with a few feet
of copper tubing on it, lit up a bushel basket sized fireball on it,
stuck the end of the tubing into the hole, and turned the fire up to
"roast roaches."
Half a minute later, the flame had burned all the air out of the hole
and the fire backed up and came out of the hole.
I turned off the gas and backed off ten feet. The fire burned down
from a few feet high to a very short flame, and then since air had
come down the pipe from the kitchen roof vent, the flame vanished
inside the cesspool into the rich mix of propane and air.
Whoosh! A 4-5 foot flame came out of the hole for a few seconds as
the combustible mix of propane and air burned. The flame ended and as
the gas cooled, there was a big sucking sound. Soon as that ended,
there was a roar as the newly mixed propane and air burned, sending a
12-foot flame out of the hole.
About this time, I had dropped the propane bottle and was sprinting
for the back door. A giant sucking sound ended with another flame
coming out of the hole, this time making a thunderous roar like a 747
engine on full throttle. I was face down just inside the door, but
Roy Noggle who was out in the front yard said the flame was at least 6
feet in diameter, 30 feet high and looked like an oversized
Bernzomatic torch
There was yet another huge inhalation. The progression had been such
that this flame would have been the end of the world, but the hole had
run out of gas.
Out in the backyard, the dust was settling. Small cracks radiated out
the cesspool where dust had been blown out by the brief overpressure.
There were a few fried roaches drifting down. The ceiling over the
kitchen sink was dripping water that had been blown out of the trap.
All things considered, it was an amusing afternoon at the Druid Student Center.
A number of years later (1985) we poured 200 pounds of propane down a
mineshaft and dropped in a flare, but that's another story.
Best wishes,
Keith
On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 4:16 PM Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
Loma
Mar 6, 2021, 10:52:07 AM3/6/21
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thanks, Keith!
This makes my Giant Adventure of yesterday (my first trip into Trader Joe’s in 6 months) seem a bit tame. Good to remember the wild oats sown.❤️
The entWife
> On Mar 5, 2021, at 11:06 PM, Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Harlans were friends of the characters who lived at the Druid
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB5axyo3eoJB%2Bx9hjz7u49Fy7mjN8mNdXPeXQRA1ud4AuQ%40mail.gmail.com.
This makes my Giant Adventure of yesterday (my first trip into Trader Joe’s in 6 months) seem a bit tame. Good to remember the wild oats sown.❤️
The entWife
> On Mar 5, 2021, at 11:06 PM, Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Harlans were friends of the characters who lived at the Druid
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB5axyo3eoJB%2Bx9hjz7u49Fy7mjN8mNdXPeXQRA1ud4AuQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Thomas Harlan
Mar 6, 2021, 11:33:08 AM3/6/21
to Loma, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
And nary a propane bottle in sight...
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/21DAFA91-D3DA-4F5F-8138-C7856595838F%40gmail.com.
Dave Griffith
Mar 6, 2021, 12:31:12 PM3/6/21
to Thomas Harlan, Loma, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
I would think Keith could have gotten into some trouble in a modern Walmart had they existed... I think of the stories I hear of complete Meth labs being created in the aisles of Walmart by intrepid chemists.... the folks caught using the bbq's the cook the steaks from the food aisle, etc etc.
I heard my mom, Loma, telling Betty Harris this morning about someone tunneling under the Hensen's house.... suspect there are many more tales to come.
good fun.
dg
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvx%3DVd%2BgDsWRhAk_SRQMmp6TZf57GG4491_1ArPmAn__4iw%40mail.gmail.com.
tenn...@aol.com
Mar 6, 2021, 1:58:40 PM3/6/21
to lomagr...@gmail.com, hkeith...@gmail.com, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thanks Keith for the story of the origin of Haz Mat teams and OSHA!
Ron Benson
-----Original Message-----
From: Loma <lomagr...@gmail.com>
To: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>
Cc: friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sat, Mar 6, 2021 8:52 am
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
From: Loma <lomagr...@gmail.com>
To: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>
Cc: friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sat, Mar 6, 2021 8:52 am
Subject: Re: The Second Ring Party
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB5axyo3eoJB%2Bx9hjz7u49Fy7mjN8mNdXPeXQRA1ud4AuQ%40mail.gmail.com.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/21DAFA91-D3DA-4F5F-8138-C7856595838F%40gmail.com.
Carl Noggle
Mar 7, 2021, 7:19:30 AM3/7/21
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Hey --- This is the
aforementioned CN.
A. E. Douglass lived in the actual Druid Student Center house. That's why it is preserved. Check the bronze plaque in the yard. Unfortunately this plaque CARRIES NO MENTION of the druids who lived there, the great deeds done, the yellow journalism created there, etc., etc., etc. This terrible slight should be corrected. We need to organize a committee to decide what would be the best way to take action. Perhaps a group could meet to organize this committee. Members of this group should be elected from the druids at large. Someone should organize this election to get the ball rolling. Do we have volunteers to set up the steering council for this election?
Lothar, Sacker of Cities, Wielder of In Sombre, multiplier of kennings, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam
A. E. Douglass lived in the actual Druid Student Center house. That's why it is preserved. Check the bronze plaque in the yard. Unfortunately this plaque CARRIES NO MENTION of the druids who lived there, the great deeds done, the yellow journalism created there, etc., etc., etc. This terrible slight should be corrected. We need to organize a committee to decide what would be the best way to take action. Perhaps a group could meet to organize this committee. Members of this group should be elected from the druids at large. Someone should organize this election to get the ball rolling. Do we have volunteers to set up the steering council for this election?
Lothar, Sacker of Cities, Wielder of In Sombre, multiplier of kennings, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvx%3DVd%2BgDsWRhAk_SRQMmp6TZf57GG4491_1ArPmAn__4iw%40mail.gmail.com.
Keith Henson
Apr 15, 2021, 1:31:10 AM4/15/21
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
> i am tempted to post some of those adventures from the early 60s here,
Thanksgiving 1965
I had just gone back to school (University of Arizona) after being out
for a few years. I had been working for a geophysics company in
Tucson (Heinrich). When I left they gave me almost two cases of
dynamite to get rid of, leftovers from some (seismic?) project that
used it. (I had disposed of excess dynamite for them a time or two
before.)
The apartment in Tucson where I was living had both a cast iron
bathtub and a shower, so I kept the boxes in the bathtub. This was
long before having dynamite would get you labeled as a terrorist.
(Using the bathtub had a purpose. Powder magazines should stop stray
bullets.)
Before I found time to get rid of the dynamite, some local cavers
(mostly friends of the Harlans) heard that I had it. They got in
touch with me and asked if I would consider blasting in a cave.
The cave was Joerger Cave Shaft (named after Carl Joerger who found
it). It was a vertical cave about 400 feet deep with a tight crack at
the bottom and air blowing out of the crack. The idea was to open the
tight spot at the bottom and see how much more cave was below. (There
were no cave formations to damage.) The entrance drop alone was 130
feet. After that, there were alternating tight spots and tall rooms.
In those days, people rappelled into vertical caves and came out on
cable ladders. A few years later, they gave up using ladders and
started using rope-climbing clamps. It is harder and slower to climb
ropes, but you don’t have to carry both to the cave. I think this
started at Golondrinas (Cave of the Swallows) in Mexico where the
entrance drop is 1200 feet.
The local cavers got this expedition together--must have been close to
a dozen people. The expedition included well-known local cavers
Dwight Hoxie and Pete Huntoon. There were 3 or 4 women cavers
including my first wife of a few months, Karen Abrahamson (now sadly
died of cancer). This expedition was the second or third time I had
been caving.
In several vehicles, we drove 75 miles from Tucson. We went through
Ft Huachuca, up to Gate 7, (long closed) down to the first drainage to
the right, and walked up into the mountains to the cave entrance.
It was a difficult hike up taking all the ladders, ropes, rappels
gear, lamps, dynamite, caps, fuses, food, water, etc. The route was
through thick brush and sharp karst. Once we reached the cave, it
took hours of rigging each drop and lowering supplies to the next one
to get to the bottom.
The first day we tried a small mud-packed shot and fired it from the
surface. Some previous expedition had left the wire we used. It is
still there as far as I know. The shot was so far down and the cave
was such a good muffler that a few sticks were almost inaudible. By
that time, it was late so we went back to the cars for the night.
This also let the fumes from the dynamite dissipate. Next day we got
back in to see what it had done. From the amount of rock knocked off,
it was clear it was going to take all we had and maybe more.
I had three gunnysacks with us that were 5 to 6 feet long.
The room just before the crack was a tight squeeze to get into. Once
in it, it was maybe 12 feet by about 3-4 wide and had a lot of dirt on
the floor.
We drove an expansion bolt in the wall over the crack and hung the
sacks in the crack. The crack was about 6 inches wide and several
feet long off the end of the room. It went down 3-4 feet before it
opened out into another room. We then spent much of the next 5-6
hours loading dirt into the bottom two feet of all three bags. We
loaded dirt into the two end ones, dynamite and caps into the center
bag, then about 2 feet of dirt on top. This is called “stemming” and
it is the only way you can get dynamite to move rock without drills.
We were running out of time for the weekend when we got it all loaded
up. We lit two multi-hour fuses made by splicing dethermalizer fuse
(rope) into dynamite fuse. We used a short piece of Jetex fuse (no
longer made http://www.jetex.org/motors/fuse.html). Then we bugged
out. Even with the spur of lighted fuses behind us, it took us about
3 hours to haul all the ropes, ladders and packs out of the cave. It
was late at night and pitch black when we got to the surface. The
weather was freezing cold out of the cave; this was November at 7,000
feet up in the mountains. (It was cold in the cave summer or winter.)
The people on the surface had built a substantial fire to keep warm.
The cave went straight down into a steep hill, but there was a flat
spot in front of it. That's where they built the fire. It had burned
down to coals.
The two fuses were backups in case the electric cap in the dynamite
failed. I really didn’t want to have to go back in to deal with a
misfire.
When everyone was out and were stuffing ropes and ladders into packs
and getting ready for a long hike in the dark back to the cars, I
said, “Everyone ready?”
They all said, “Yes,” and I touched the wires to a 6-volt battery.
There was this sharp *thump* through the rock and a second after the
thump there was this huge rush of air out of the cave going perhaps
150 miles an hour. The combinations of tight spots and big chambers
acted like a huge muffler, so there was not a lot of noise, just this
giant rush of air.
The Venturi effect from the rush of air sucked the coals from the
burned-down fire into the jet and they went up way up--over a hundred
feet and rained down all over everybody. People were jumping this way
and that and shaking burning coals out of their packs. Fortunately,
we didn’t set the woods on fire.
We left without knowing if we had blown out the tight spot--planning
to come back soon as we could. Then the guy that owned most of the
cable ladder decided he didn't want to go back again and would not
loan out his ladder. To get back into the cave and satisfy my
curiosity about how well the blast had done, I had to make 500 feet of
cable ladder. Being an impoverished student at the time, I made it
out of salvaged aircraft control lines. I could get the cables for
almost nothing from the aircraft scrap yards on the east side of
Tucson. I used plastic pipe (instead of the usual aluminum tubes) for
the rungs.
It was lighter than commercial cable ladder. I could not afford the
crimping tool usually used so I glued the rungs on the cable. This
being somewhat unconventional, I tested a sample at the U of Arizona’s
Civil Engineering lab.
The rungs would slide on the cable with about 700 pounds on a step. A
short test cable with glued ends and thimbles broke at 1200 pounds. I
figured that was good enough.
I don't remember exactly when we got back to the cave; I can't see how
I could have got the ladder built by Christmas but I might have.
Perhaps it was over the Christmas break.
I only found three other people who had the time to go look. They
were John Bradner, climber and hiker and known for testing climbing
bolt anchors, Phil Beisel, climber and all-around good guy, both well
known in Harlan circles and John McLean, a geologist. He had the
station wagon we used to get there.
We had to walk a lot further this time because snow had blocked the
road in places. I think it took us over 12 hours to get up the hill
and down into the cave to the former tight spot. It was still kind of
tight, but the blasting had opened the crack to the point some people
could squeeze through.
I stood on the section of ladder we had lowered through the tight spot
and bashed a lot of shattered rock off with a rock hammer. I didn’t
want to get beaned by falling rocks. This turned out to be a dumb
move since some of the falling loose rock broke out a bunch of plastic
rungs on the ladder. The missing rungs made it a bit dicey to get
back up. (The people above had to pull hard on my safety rope in
order for me to get over the missing rungs.)
We had added about 80 feet to the cave. There was another tight spot
at the new bottom, but this one had so much dirt in it that it didn't
look promising. The room was smaller than the air movement had
suggested. We never did find where the air was coming from.
The blast had knocked out 1.5-2 cubic meters of rock. There was a
pile of broken rock on the floor of the new bottom room. Under that
pile are a few sticks that went between the bags and fell into the
dark when we were loading the dynamite.
The cave is the deepest I know about in southern Arizona. (There are
some very deep cracks in Northern Arizona.)
I replaced the busted rungs on the section that had been in the
deepest part of the cave. I was back there with the ladder on
expeditions twice or maybe three times after that. A friend of mine,
Merle Wheeler (also known to the Harlans), mapped the cave. I used to
have a map copy; I might still but if it is in my papers, I have not
seen it for decades.
Southern Arizona Rescue Association used my ladder for rescue and body
recovery operations. The first time was when an informal caver fell
to his death down the 165-foot Hell Hole in Onyx cave. It was on loan
to them for decades. They found it useful about once a year when
guiding a Stokes basket up the San Pedro overlook on the road up Mt.
Lemon. People were always slipping down there when it was covered
with ice. Eventually, they went to other ways and a few years ago
gave the ladder back. Last year I gave the ladder I had and my
remaining climbing gear to a caving group in the LA area.
Thomas Harlan discussed this cave with me from the standpoint of a
cave rescue. Fortunately, nobody has gotten hurt in it that I know
about. A good thing because a rescue from the bottom of that cave
would be a major effort and an injured person might well die of
hypothermia before the rescue people could get them out.
Keith Henson
April 2021
PS. Looking around on the net, I found this:
http://grandcanyonhistory.org/uploads/3/4/4/2/34422134/butch_farabee_oral_history_part_1_april_20_2019.pdf
It’s an interview with Charles “Butch” Farabee and names people many
people familiar to this group. There is a short bit about this
adventure, search for Huntoon.
> particularly "Blasting in a Cave," and one that happened in the
> backyard of the Druid Student Center on Speedway. Although they were
> peripheral to the Harlans, they involved some of their friends.
Blasting in a cave
> backyard of the Druid Student Center on Speedway. Although they were
> peripheral to the Harlans, they involved some of their friends.
Thanksgiving 1965
I had just gone back to school (University of Arizona) after being out
for a few years. I had been working for a geophysics company in
Tucson (Heinrich). When I left they gave me almost two cases of
dynamite to get rid of, leftovers from some (seismic?) project that
used it. (I had disposed of excess dynamite for them a time or two
before.)
The apartment in Tucson where I was living had both a cast iron
bathtub and a shower, so I kept the boxes in the bathtub. This was
long before having dynamite would get you labeled as a terrorist.
(Using the bathtub had a purpose. Powder magazines should stop stray
bullets.)
Before I found time to get rid of the dynamite, some local cavers
(mostly friends of the Harlans) heard that I had it. They got in
touch with me and asked if I would consider blasting in a cave.
The cave was Joerger Cave Shaft (named after Carl Joerger who found
it). It was a vertical cave about 400 feet deep with a tight crack at
the bottom and air blowing out of the crack. The idea was to open the
tight spot at the bottom and see how much more cave was below. (There
were no cave formations to damage.) The entrance drop alone was 130
feet. After that, there were alternating tight spots and tall rooms.
In those days, people rappelled into vertical caves and came out on
cable ladders. A few years later, they gave up using ladders and
started using rope-climbing clamps. It is harder and slower to climb
ropes, but you don’t have to carry both to the cave. I think this
started at Golondrinas (Cave of the Swallows) in Mexico where the
entrance drop is 1200 feet.
The local cavers got this expedition together--must have been close to
a dozen people. The expedition included well-known local cavers
Dwight Hoxie and Pete Huntoon. There were 3 or 4 women cavers
including my first wife of a few months, Karen Abrahamson (now sadly
died of cancer). This expedition was the second or third time I had
been caving.
In several vehicles, we drove 75 miles from Tucson. We went through
Ft Huachuca, up to Gate 7, (long closed) down to the first drainage to
the right, and walked up into the mountains to the cave entrance.
It was a difficult hike up taking all the ladders, ropes, rappels
gear, lamps, dynamite, caps, fuses, food, water, etc. The route was
through thick brush and sharp karst. Once we reached the cave, it
took hours of rigging each drop and lowering supplies to the next one
to get to the bottom.
The first day we tried a small mud-packed shot and fired it from the
surface. Some previous expedition had left the wire we used. It is
still there as far as I know. The shot was so far down and the cave
was such a good muffler that a few sticks were almost inaudible. By
that time, it was late so we went back to the cars for the night.
This also let the fumes from the dynamite dissipate. Next day we got
back in to see what it had done. From the amount of rock knocked off,
it was clear it was going to take all we had and maybe more.
I had three gunnysacks with us that were 5 to 6 feet long.
The room just before the crack was a tight squeeze to get into. Once
in it, it was maybe 12 feet by about 3-4 wide and had a lot of dirt on
the floor.
We drove an expansion bolt in the wall over the crack and hung the
sacks in the crack. The crack was about 6 inches wide and several
feet long off the end of the room. It went down 3-4 feet before it
opened out into another room. We then spent much of the next 5-6
hours loading dirt into the bottom two feet of all three bags. We
loaded dirt into the two end ones, dynamite and caps into the center
bag, then about 2 feet of dirt on top. This is called “stemming” and
it is the only way you can get dynamite to move rock without drills.
We were running out of time for the weekend when we got it all loaded
up. We lit two multi-hour fuses made by splicing dethermalizer fuse
(rope) into dynamite fuse. We used a short piece of Jetex fuse (no
longer made http://www.jetex.org/motors/fuse.html). Then we bugged
out. Even with the spur of lighted fuses behind us, it took us about
3 hours to haul all the ropes, ladders and packs out of the cave. It
was late at night and pitch black when we got to the surface. The
weather was freezing cold out of the cave; this was November at 7,000
feet up in the mountains. (It was cold in the cave summer or winter.)
The people on the surface had built a substantial fire to keep warm.
The cave went straight down into a steep hill, but there was a flat
spot in front of it. That's where they built the fire. It had burned
down to coals.
The two fuses were backups in case the electric cap in the dynamite
failed. I really didn’t want to have to go back in to deal with a
misfire.
When everyone was out and were stuffing ropes and ladders into packs
and getting ready for a long hike in the dark back to the cars, I
said, “Everyone ready?”
They all said, “Yes,” and I touched the wires to a 6-volt battery.
There was this sharp *thump* through the rock and a second after the
thump there was this huge rush of air out of the cave going perhaps
150 miles an hour. The combinations of tight spots and big chambers
acted like a huge muffler, so there was not a lot of noise, just this
giant rush of air.
The Venturi effect from the rush of air sucked the coals from the
burned-down fire into the jet and they went up way up--over a hundred
feet and rained down all over everybody. People were jumping this way
and that and shaking burning coals out of their packs. Fortunately,
we didn’t set the woods on fire.
We left without knowing if we had blown out the tight spot--planning
to come back soon as we could. Then the guy that owned most of the
cable ladder decided he didn't want to go back again and would not
loan out his ladder. To get back into the cave and satisfy my
curiosity about how well the blast had done, I had to make 500 feet of
cable ladder. Being an impoverished student at the time, I made it
out of salvaged aircraft control lines. I could get the cables for
almost nothing from the aircraft scrap yards on the east side of
Tucson. I used plastic pipe (instead of the usual aluminum tubes) for
the rungs.
It was lighter than commercial cable ladder. I could not afford the
crimping tool usually used so I glued the rungs on the cable. This
being somewhat unconventional, I tested a sample at the U of Arizona’s
Civil Engineering lab.
The rungs would slide on the cable with about 700 pounds on a step. A
short test cable with glued ends and thimbles broke at 1200 pounds. I
figured that was good enough.
I don't remember exactly when we got back to the cave; I can't see how
I could have got the ladder built by Christmas but I might have.
Perhaps it was over the Christmas break.
I only found three other people who had the time to go look. They
were John Bradner, climber and hiker and known for testing climbing
bolt anchors, Phil Beisel, climber and all-around good guy, both well
known in Harlan circles and John McLean, a geologist. He had the
station wagon we used to get there.
We had to walk a lot further this time because snow had blocked the
road in places. I think it took us over 12 hours to get up the hill
and down into the cave to the former tight spot. It was still kind of
tight, but the blasting had opened the crack to the point some people
could squeeze through.
I stood on the section of ladder we had lowered through the tight spot
and bashed a lot of shattered rock off with a rock hammer. I didn’t
want to get beaned by falling rocks. This turned out to be a dumb
move since some of the falling loose rock broke out a bunch of plastic
rungs on the ladder. The missing rungs made it a bit dicey to get
back up. (The people above had to pull hard on my safety rope in
order for me to get over the missing rungs.)
We had added about 80 feet to the cave. There was another tight spot
at the new bottom, but this one had so much dirt in it that it didn't
look promising. The room was smaller than the air movement had
suggested. We never did find where the air was coming from.
The blast had knocked out 1.5-2 cubic meters of rock. There was a
pile of broken rock on the floor of the new bottom room. Under that
pile are a few sticks that went between the bags and fell into the
dark when we were loading the dynamite.
The cave is the deepest I know about in southern Arizona. (There are
some very deep cracks in Northern Arizona.)
I replaced the busted rungs on the section that had been in the
deepest part of the cave. I was back there with the ladder on
expeditions twice or maybe three times after that. A friend of mine,
Merle Wheeler (also known to the Harlans), mapped the cave. I used to
have a map copy; I might still but if it is in my papers, I have not
seen it for decades.
Southern Arizona Rescue Association used my ladder for rescue and body
recovery operations. The first time was when an informal caver fell
to his death down the 165-foot Hell Hole in Onyx cave. It was on loan
to them for decades. They found it useful about once a year when
guiding a Stokes basket up the San Pedro overlook on the road up Mt.
Lemon. People were always slipping down there when it was covered
with ice. Eventually, they went to other ways and a few years ago
gave the ladder back. Last year I gave the ladder I had and my
remaining climbing gear to a caving group in the LA area.
Thomas Harlan discussed this cave with me from the standpoint of a
cave rescue. Fortunately, nobody has gotten hurt in it that I know
about. A good thing because a rescue from the bottom of that cave
would be a major effort and an injured person might well die of
hypothermia before the rescue people could get them out.
Keith Henson
April 2021
PS. Looking around on the net, I found this:
http://grandcanyonhistory.org/uploads/3/4/4/2/34422134/butch_farabee_oral_history_part_1_april_20_2019.pdf
It’s an interview with Charles “Butch” Farabee and names people many
people familiar to this group. There is a short bit about this
adventure, search for Huntoon.
Terry Gustafson
May 3, 2021, 4:46:28 PM5/3/21
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
That's quite a story, Keith! Thanks for keeping me in the group. I don't review my Gmail often. It's fun to find old friends there when I do. I'm 84, still hanging out in this body. Hello to all from the old days! I've forgotten most of what happened then. 😊 Best wishes to you all,
Terry Gustafson
(802)333-9332 (with Betty Jo Black)
Strafford, Vermont
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB6b8xNenWkysGXaAQmgm%2B1NON%2Bej9S9fCVAuH_L1Yj0pg%40mail.gmail.com.
Thomas Harlan
May 3, 2021, 5:14:07 PM5/3/21
to Terry Gustafson, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Glad you are still with us, Gandalf!
Cheers, Pippin (and his elf-lady wife and two hobbitses)
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPKi7qGrrvTsQZSySY%2BbFp%2BGzgQC_bMtq3LwdsGXZjEi_v2BBQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Keith Henson
May 3, 2021, 9:17:31 PM5/3/21
to Terry Gustafson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Hi Terry,
Glad you enjoyed it. If you have any stories about or peripheral to the Harlans, they would be highly welcome.
Wow, Vermont.
Best wishes,
Keith
Keith
Joseph Quiroz
May 4, 2021, 12:16:40 AM5/4/21
to Terry Gustafson, Keith Henson, Thomas Harlan, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
So good to hear from Gandalf the Grey.
Cheers,
Joey the Little
(As called by Strider)
Odd syntax courtesy of spellcheck
On May 3, 2021, at 3:14 PM, Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com> wrote:
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxkHsPjq--Tw85zRjbJ%2Bmesb51KKn9-AMD_2E31%3DDKA8XQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Keith Henson
Oct 16, 2022, 3:37:45 PM10/16/22
to friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/16/ancient-tree-secrets/
For those who hit a paywall:
"In the archive of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, a core sample
from an unnamed tree gathered by Schulman in the 1950s was found years
later to be more than 4,800 years old. Tom Harlan, a
dendrochronologist at the lab who had worked with Schulman, discovered
the sample but did not reveal the tree’s location before his death in
2013. But Salzer and a colleague recently used old notes to find what
they believe is the tree, though they have not yet been able to
determine its age. As with Methuselah, the tree’s location is being
kept secret."
Keith
For those who hit a paywall:
"In the archive of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, a core sample
from an unnamed tree gathered by Schulman in the 1950s was found years
later to be more than 4,800 years old. Tom Harlan, a
dendrochronologist at the lab who had worked with Schulman, discovered
the sample but did not reveal the tree’s location before his death in
2013. But Salzer and a colleague recently used old notes to find what
they believe is the tree, though they have not yet been able to
determine its age. As with Methuselah, the tree’s location is being
kept secret."
Keith
Dr. Christine Hallman
Oct 16, 2022, 5:29:40 PM10/16/22
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for sharing.
Christine
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Friends of Annita and Tomas Harlan" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to friends-of-annita-and-t...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAPiwVB6PNZa%2BWdRTxbV2CoWeFp%2Bsd%2B%3D%2BHbx2OQiyo3m0OOj_PQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Christine Hallman, PhD
Professor of Geography & Sustainability Studies
Professor of Geography & Sustainability Studies
Dept of Geography & Political Science, Chair
703 N. Grand Ave., Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK 74464
Thomas Harlan
Oct 16, 2022, 5:36:19 PM10/16/22
to Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Dang it! That's supposed to be SECRET.
Rosalind Newren
Oct 16, 2022, 5:51:54 PM10/16/22
to Thomas Harlan, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
I recently met Thomas Swetnam who was with the tree ring lab. I would assume he had this info as well as he still is involved with dendrochronolgy??
Unfortunately I do not have his contact information. I understand he lives in Jemez Springs, NM
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 16, 2022, at 3:36 PM, Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com> wrote:
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxniWRBMmzgh3pM-fz6eMCvFZtt40Jd8SYZgycNiPazsiA%40mail.gmail.com.
Swetnam, Thomas W - (swetnamt)
Oct 16, 2022, 6:25:34 PM10/16/22
to Rosalind Newren, Thomas Harlan, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Hi Rosalind, I’m on this group list!
I think I recall meeting you in ABQ recently…. Are you Anita’s cousin?
I still work on tree-rings, but now mostly as a hobby in my little “lab” here in the Jemez Mtns.
Of course, I have followed BCP studies for decades. I was lucky to visit the groves with Wes Ferguson and Tom Harlan (senior). And I was honored that they both showed me which one was Methuselah. My lips are sealed!
I miss my dear friends and colleagues Tom & Anita and Wes. And now I worry about the bristlecones, with rising temperatures. As you probably have heard, something around 20% of the largest giant sequoias have been killed in the past 3 years by wildfires.
Best regards to all, and take care, Tom Swetnam
From: friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rosalind Newren <rjne...@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 3:52 PM
To: Thomas Harlan <tho...@throneworld.com>
Cc: Keith Henson <hkeith...@gmail.com>, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com <friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [EXT]Re: Mention in the Washington post
External Email
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/19A4F0AD-B62B-4D62-8953-3BC0383D74B7%40gmail.com.
Bob Hamilton
Oct 16, 2022, 9:28:03 PM10/16/22
to Thomas Harlan, Keith Henson, friends-of-annita...@googlegroups.com
Let’s hope it’s SAFE
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/friends-of-annita-and-tomas-harlan/CAFHPvxniWRBMmzgh3pM-fz6eMCvFZtt40Jd8SYZgycNiPazsiA%40mail.gmail.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages