Out of the Mouths of Babes

Nearly every weekend NERO had volunteers baking in the sun. Well, actually I started work each morning around 5am and stopped by 2pm. I would then move into the forest and work on other projects till my body screamed. The deck came together rapidly. I could not complete the deck, but I had a plan. Once the deck reached the end of materials I began to erect the walls. Weather added to my problems. An incredible storm swept twenty temporarily braced walls from the deck. It took one day to repair the damage and another day to catch up.

The 4x12' panels were neatly stacked on the ground on top of scrap lumber to keep them off the ground. As I removed the next to last panel I heard a unique sound under the last panel. When I lifted the last panel and eight foot rat snake and I locked eyes. I gasped and dropped the panel, the snake did the quickest 180 I have ever seen and disappeared under the castle. I placed the last 4x12' on the deck and took a break.

The castle had 75% of its perimeter in place (no floor for the remainder). I began central corridor construction and completed the Grand Entry. My original idea for Hawkwood was to provide a walk through dungeon. Faire vendors were on site preparing their shops. Two little girls were playing in the forest and asked my permission to look around. I being the kind hearted fool that I am, said yes. While they were playing one of them said to the other "…this would make a cool labyrinth". Now there is an idea.

The castle was perfect for constructing a Labyrinth. I had many secret doors, panels and traps for my actors to use. It was somewhere during this time frame that I realized I was missing two thirds of my metal roof ($1,200 I did not have). The good folks at Majestic Ranch helped themselves. Two weeks before opening I hired four workers to pour concrete for the fountain and walkways. This completed the area leading to Castle Dragons' Grand Entry. From the forest approach the castle looked complete, from the parking lot it looked like hell. Strange thing about customers, they thought it was two different buildings.

The central corridor reached 60% of the distance of the castle, the Labyrinth was near complete, roof rafters were positioned to receive what roof I did have and the roof was on the Grand Entry. The faire was laying the underground power lines and my electrical boxes were in place. I began installing the forest walk low voltage lighting system and built the archway entrance to the forest walk that led to Castle Dragon.

In order to raise money to complete the castle I sold the storage trailer that has been my lifesaver. I picked up the materials to complete the deck, central corridor and roof rafters. The castle would only have one third of its roof for Hawkwood.

It was the Friday before opening for Hawkwood. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is not the train. I will have one half of the castle opened as a labyrinth, the deck will be completed and the entire perimeter wall will be in place. OK, so I made a mistake, what's new? I was using a box knife to clean a tool. Like a good cub scout I was cutting away from my self. Now here is something new. My left hand slipped off of the object and attacked the backside of the box knife, my arm lost. I sliced a six-inch long gash deep into my arm. How deep? I saw my bone! I jumped up, stood for a moment, planted my left foot as if nailed and did several circles (no lie, just like Curly). I was looking for something but I could not figure out what, then it dawned on me that I needed to protect my arm. I grabbed my clean after work T-shirt and wrapped the wound. Wandered up to the office, they called for an ambulance, which arrived as I was passing out.

The hospital staff was great. I was chattering like a magpie (one of those things you do when things look real bad). The emergency room doctor was a lady and she had several of her interns on hand. My arm became show and tell. The bright side to this is that she had deadened the arm and I had turned my head away. I did hear the wonderfully detailed description of my arms anatomy as she invited the interns to look deep into MY flesh (where are ear plugs when you really need them?).

Not all the red on the deck is paint.

Next Week, 1997 part III

Mad Hatter

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