Gathering at Five Medals Revisited

Today I was able to go with Cameron and his fifth grade class to the Gathering at Five Medals.  It is a reenactment camp from the period of the revolutionary war until the 1820's.  This is the second year in a row that I was able to go with his class and once again I was very impressed with it.  Cameron and I were more prepared this year for the amount of merchants and items being sold.  There were many of the same tents and a lot of the same demonstrations.  We all like the cannon and musket shooting.  They reassured us that there were no bullets just gun powder.  The cannon was loud, but all of the students enjoyed watching it fired.

Cam had a great group filled with his friends - Conner, JJ, and Gabriel.  They waited on each other, pointed out the parts they found fascinating and had a lot of fun.  We were able to tour the Woodland Indian tents before lunch.  The class had been studying them and they enjoyed witnessing their life first hand.  By the time we toured their tents the boys were also colored with the remnants of the rock candy they had purchased at the candy tent.  Cam's teeth were completely purple.

Everyone had a sack lunch and I loved watching them trade foods and remark on each others lunch choices.  Cameron said that if there was a "best lunch" award he would definitely win it as his Grandma Jane packs the best lunches.  I would agree as she even made me a peanut butter sandwich complete with fruit and a black jack for a treat.  After we ate we had about an hour to make any final purchases and revisit an encampments that we wanted to.  The boys did some trading until we realized that Conner's rabbit fur was missing.  Luckily, Cam remembered the last place we saw it and when we went back to check another group heard our inquiries and let us know that they had it.  We felt blessed to have it back.

Cam and I left from Five Medals for home happy that the day had been successful even though the weather had been interesting - one minute rain, the next hail all along with a lot of sun, wind and cool temperatures.  He loved reviewing his purchases - a shell necklace, copper leaf, bird whistle, fire starter and wooden tomahawk.  I was very happy when I drove home that we had made the choice to switch Cam to Bethany Christian.  I was impressed all day with how well behaved his class was compared to some of the other schools.  I was also glad that Cameron has adjusted so well.  It has taken a lot of work on his part but it definitely has been worth the effort.