Gathering 2009 will be our 11th anniversary. It will be held on Saturday, June 6. at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds, Paris KY. Mapquest to Falmouth, KY We will start the day with an early morning guided tour of Capt Henry Bird's War Road. This is the road he and his men cut on their way to attack Ruddell & Martins Forts. We'll begin at 8 AM on Saturday, June 6, with a breakfast at The Assembly Cafe in Falmouth, KY. At 9am the tour starts as we walk to the nearby forks of Licking River to the spot where Bird and his men landed. Here they built shelters to store supplies. During the tour we will see Kinnett Tavern. This was an inn and stage coach stop built in 1793, just 13 years after our ancestors passed through. We will then follow his path by car to Boyd station and Bird's Crossing on the South Licking. This will be a motorcade and you would be supplied Radios to hear the explantion of the sites. You would be able to walk on the rermains of the old trail that many of your ancestors walked on. You will be able to view the ford where they crossed the river. This is the ford where supposedly Bird lost one of his small canons. The motorcade would then continue south along the road to Cynthiana and on to Paris. This road follows very closely the old road. If you would like to make reservations for this trip please let Don know so we can make plans. Email him at Hdlee9936@aol.com or call Don Lee at 1-859-654-3848. If no answer leave a message on my recorder. Mapquest to Paris, KY Detailed Mapquest to Fairgrounds Next on the agenda is a visit from Irish Maggie & Parson John. Many of our ancestors arrived on the shores of America as indentured servants. You won't want to miss this moving presentation of a Frontier Kentucky era indentured servant. Article & video, Maggie the indentured servant Follwing the presentation will be the pot luck lunch & visits to the two fort sites. Please be aware that the April reenactment near Lexington, KY has been canceled for 2009 due to finances & storm damage. We are hoping that will be held again in 2010. The 2007 & 2008 Ruddles & Martin Stations Gatherings were held at The Historic Village of Ruddells Mill. Here is last year's report: On Friday, June 13 there will be a time for preparation and setting up equipment and tents, etc. Volunteers are welcome, so come on out and help. Our Gathering 2008 will be held on June 14 and 15. It will be a joint reunion with Historic Ruddles Mills, Inc., in the Village of Ruddles Mills, Kentucky. Our usual meeting will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 14 in the Ruddles Mills Christian Church shelterhouse across the street from the Church. We will conduct a business meeting to discuss the business of the association. The meeting will conclude with a lunch served at noon or there about. Antique and a flea market vendors will be set up in the village. At 3:30 p.m. there will be a tour of historical houses. Remember Ruddles Mills is one of the oldest continual settlements in Kentucky. First there is the Stephens House built before 1790 and hosted by owners BC and Beth Wyatt, then there is a tour of the Trabue House, two story log home built by Isaac Ruddell about 1790. This home has been totally and beautifully restored by the present owner Frank & Lally House. Frank is a master gun maker and personally made the blacksmith nails to match the original nails used by Isaac Ruddell. Frank also handmade the shakes for the roof with a drawknife. As I said Frank and Lally are very versatile and talented people. Frank made the weapons used in the Movies, Mel Gibson's "The Patriot," "Pirates of the Caribbean " and Russell Crow's "Master and Commander, far side of the world." Frank was Master Armor on "The Patriot" and made the rifles and pistols you see Mel Gibson use in the movie. Mel is a friend and has been a guest in their home. at 7:30 p.m. Frank and Lally will host a barbecue dinner under the trees on the grounds of Trabue House. This is a chance of a lifetime. The historic House tour and Dinner will be by "Ticket only." So you need to make arrangements to purchase tickets. We are doing this for security and privacy reasons. Sunday morning, June 15, 8:30, a.m. we will serve a Ham Breakfast at "The Foley Home." Start your day with The smell of ham, eggs and coffee served by Hostess and Historic Ruddles Mills President, Michelle Foley. at 1 p.m. "The Dedication" of the Isaac & Elizabeth Ruddell Monument in the Mouth of Stoner Cemetery. afterward we form a motorcade and proceed to a tour of the Ruddell & Martin Station Fort sites. Come join us for two exciting fun filled days. Don Lee, President RAMSHA 859-322-6809 In the spring of 2007, we had a special event at a NEW reenactment of the 1780 attack on Ruddles Station. We had fifty RAMSHA members attending. Jon was there both as a reenactor and also representing the Simon Kenton family. Bill Overbey & Jon manned the booth for RAMSHA, representing the John Conway family. The location was a beautiful new Kentucky State Park park called Boone's Station. This is the farm that Daniel Boone and his family established during and after the frontier era. This site has more reenactment information: http://fortboonesboroughlivinghistory.org/html/boone_station.html Here is the script for the drama/reenactment. Here are some photos: http://fortboonesboroughlivinghistory.org/html/april_2007.html Previous year's meeting topics for discussion included Jon Hagee'spresentation on: A Ruddles Station boy held captive for over a decade who even foughtalong with his Shawnee captives against Simon Kenton. Another fort attacked at the same time as Ruddles and Martins. Was the fort attacked twice, in the Spring as well as the Summer of1780 and what damage was done? We were unable to visit Martin's Station due to construction. In 2004, our own Jon Hagee made a presentation on the Early Frontier,including clothing, gear and other artifacts. In 2003 we were entertained and informed by Simon Kenton and SimonGirty/Shawnee authority Barbara Lehman of Urbana, Ohio who made apresentation on the Munger/Girty connection as well as background onthe Shawnee, who participated in the capture of Ruddles and Martin'sStations. In 2002 ArchaeologistNancy O'Malley brought us exciting news from the Ruddles Station siteand we enjoyed a uniformed flintlock salute by the Sons of theAmerican Revoution. In 2001, Donald Drewrey who dresses 1780'sentertained us with period music and storytelling. Here is a report from the 2002 Gathering. Wewill meet at the 4H fairgrounds on US 27 about 3 miles south of Cynthiana, KY,for a great day of fun. Bring a dish or drinks. Invited are descendants of participants of the historic event,reenactors and friends of Ruddles and Martins Stations HistoricAssociation (RAMSHA). If you want to be scheduled a block of time to share with the group, contact Don Lee. Here is a list of area lodging, dining and other points of interest, etc. Questions to Don Lee at (859)654-3848 or RAMSHA1780@aol.com.