Harvard IL Event

[ewj]

Did anyone on this list attend the TSG event at Harvard IL in August 2006?

If so, can you give us some feed back on this event - both good and bad.

Any picutes would be greatly appreciated.

[FrigidAdam]

Elliott,

After our discussion in the parking lot at Rosemount, I will try to see if i can dig up anything fome some Illionis friends of mine. The whole Sodder and Shims on the muzzle break just scares me, and makes me want to bring a Med bag to events where that "Tiger" is going to be.

Best Regards
Adam

[FrigidAdam]

Tovarish Sasha,

I put my odds on smooooovvv, I will even give "tiger" the handycap of a Rampaging Circus Elephant.

Adam

[crazydima]

Tovarischi,

I talked with some TSG fellows this past weekend and the muzzle brake is cast aluminum.

That may be a bit tricky to get it to properly affix to Soviet steel.

Sincerely,

Dima

[crazydima]

Tovarischi,

By the way....the other forum shut down the topic when the discussion started to talk about the flying muzzle brake.

So much for safety concerns.

Sincerely,

Dima

[milty]

As a gentle reminder here is one of the basic stylistic faults in both logic and rhetoric (oh the joys of a classical eduction) is in making ad hominem attacks - of if you prefer, attacking the arguer and not the argument. In my book that devalues anything you might have to say.

The flaws in logic are on your end. ;D Putting aside for now the fact that they are not well liked by a lot of HRS members as it is(their roles in the Palmer & Scherrer debacle only added to their "popularity") , it is a well known fact that your buddies Blaze, Bollow & Steph have a long running antagonistic "relationship" with the people that ran the event, as well as, the TSG. A lot of people, HRS & TSG members alike, are aware of your buddies history & agendas. Whatever they write or say, we know that we have to "Take it with a grain of salt." As I previously posted, it's nothing but "typical political fantasy based hit piece" designed to start some kind of HRS vs TSG pissing contest.


As an officer of the HRS I feel that it is appropriate to follow up concerns raised to me by my members. The Harvard event is under review by the Board of Directors of the HRS and this is part of the fact finding process.


Since you are on a "fact finding" mission:

Why was incorrect information(POC's, etc.) printed in the Edge???

Herr Bollow belongs to quite a few groups/forums where the correct information was posted & discussed. He even contacted some of the TSG officers asking if they "can guarantee his safety" at the event, as well as, for additional information. So why did list Jon Stevens as the POC??


With regards to the German units in the photos:

They have for many years attended the Lowell, Rockford & other HRS events. If they are sooo baaad....why let them participate??? Do you plan on taking that up with them at the next Rockford event?


While we're on the subject of German units & impressions:


MB wrote:

"Tom England is living in a fantasy world. He doesn't know the first thing about the Deutsches Heer and has no business in the hobby. For him to be wearing loads of rank and medals, and purporting to have a unit is absurd. He doesn't even have a proper uniform, let alone UNIT MEMBERS! The guy has been to about 5 events total. He's completely delusional.

"Attached is a photo of him (the fat guy in grey civil war trousers) and his camp is on the right. The Boy Scout tent painted as a psychedelic nightmare is his. It's so bad that the TSG asked him to take it down!!"

The tent in question is the same tent that Dave Fornell used at Rockford last year. Don't recall reading ANY posts from MB (or others) ripping on Dave.

Speaking of Dave Fornell:

He showed up dressed as a GI on Sunday. He has time to show up at an event but doesn't have time to call for a BOD meeting.........

Milty

[crazydima]

Tovarischi,

"As a gentle reminder here is one of the basic stylistic faults in both logic and rhetoric (oh the joys of a classical eduction) is in making ad hominem attacks - of if you prefer, attacking the arguer and not the argument. In my book that devalues anything you might have to say"

That phrase popped up on the Mid-West forum as well. Funny how it gets around.

Sincerely,

Dima

[tarawajon]

A few corrections and comments comrades.

Blaze, Bollow, and Steph do not have any official capacity in the HRS. Mike Bollow was the editor but is not now. They have their own opinions that are not necessarily the opinions of the HRS.

There is no agenda against the Harvard event. In fact Harvard was going to be closed to a number of HRS members but in the best interests of cooperation the event was opened to pretty much all current members of recognized WWII reenacting orgs.

There were some legitimate concerns about some safety issues, the main ones being the muzzle break flying off the tank during the battle and non-reenactors on the battlefield. This would make any insurance company have a coronary. Insurance for reenacting has almost tripled in the last few years and many carriers would not even touch reenacting with a ten foot stick. Both organizations will have to be much more vigilant about safety now.

There definately is no HRS attempt to attack the TSG. We all attend the same events and want to keep those events open to all in both the TSG and HRS as long as the participants pass the safety and authenticity checks. We all want to go home in one piece and also to look like actual WWII troops to honor our veterans.

When there is a problem with safety at an event it is in everyone's best interests to identify it and prevent it from happening again. I cite the problems at the recent Odessa event in NY. Remember there is no reenactor VA hospital.

In regards to Rockford, it is not run by the HRS or the board of directors. It is run by individual members of the HRS and 2nd Panzer. I am sure there will be safety and authenticity checks as this is the biggest event for WWII reenacting in the midwest. Everyone there trys to look their best, both TSG and HRS. I have a number of things I have to tighten up on my uniform this week.

About the tent, I don't think it was at Rockford last year as the 353rd was located in the hotel. I would say that it does need a new coat of paint. The former owner of the tent was not Dave F. either.

As for Dave, he can speak for himself. You might even see him at Rockford.

I am not sure why I am listed as the POC as I never had anything to do with the planning or executing of Harvard. That was an error by the former Edge editor. It may have been that someone else in the same outfit I am in, was on the planning committee for the event. I would have gone but I was out of town on a trip that had been planned for three years. If I am home next year and there is a Harvard event I will definately go. I would be glad to be on the planning committee.

I know Tom E. He is very enthusiastic about WWII reenacting and is trying hard but he is still pretty new at this. He does need to progress in his impression which I am sure will come. His unit, 9P. is small but Rome was not built in a day, as some like to point out.

I would like to add that I appreciate the moderators allowing this discussion unlike our other favorite proboard for WW2. ;D ;D
I have no intention of an "ad hominem" attack and I respect that others will not either.

Comrade TarawaJon

[crazydima]

Tovarisch Stevens,

It appears that folks were enjoying the blood in the water and taking part in the "pile on." This does dismay me at times.

I too know Tom and he is a good guy and is very enthusiastic. Yes he is new to the hobby and has things to work on but the attacks on him by the likes of MB and others was just deplorable and truly immature. But that seems to be the norm for those kind of folks.

Unlike other forums I will not lock, or delete threads unless some really nasty foul exchanges take place.

Too often mods are too heavy handed and miss out on the whole flavor of what the forums can do for the hobby.

Just like anything it can be used for good or evil and we all have to be aware of this. Sometimes we all need to vent and since the otehr forums won't deal with it then I guess we can.

Stagnation bores me.

Sincerely,

Dima

[ewj]

Don Drake and I talk at length today about the Harvard event.

Since we are both reasonably new in our positions in the respective organizations, we were able to start off with out any 'history'.

My questions have been resolved and I do not believe that there was many problems as some of the reports my have suggested.

Let move on.

[Volker]

As the TC of the Tiger,I will chime in here about the muzzle break incident.This problem was due to poor engineering on the part of the original england company that did the conversion.
As the new owners of the tank we were unaware of this flaw until the incident.Upon inspection of the broken pieces we found that THEY only shimmed and soldered the break onto the old barrel.
That flaw has been resolved by drilling,tapping and inserting bolts through the break into the steel of the barrel.
The gun has now been heavily tested with much heaver rounds than what we normally use and has not come off or shown any signs of stress or wear.In conclusion this flaw has been fixed and will not be an issue at future events.
Panzer Vor
Volker

[ewj]

crazysasha said:

The only real problem I heard about was the "Tiger Tank" shooting off the muzzle break. I would say that before that tank would be allowed back on the field and shooting its main gun somebody should really check it out. An aluninum muzzle break does not attach well to Soviet steel especially when it has to handle the muzzle blast of a round going off. I would say that problem should be addressed before moving on.
Just a thought.
Sasha

ewj said:

Don Drake and I talk at length today about the Harvard event.

Since we are both reasonably new in our positions in the respective organizations, we were able to start off with out any 'history'.

My questions have been resolved and I do not believe that there was many problems as some of the reports my have suggested.

Let move on.

I've assured that they had cleared a line in front of the gun barrel as a 'no-go' zone - rather like Civil War does with artillery.

I'm surprised that the engineering wasn't checked first - but it worked in the movie ok.