So an introduction of myself to my audience is in order, since I hope that people other than my friends will read this. The whole of my life won't be set before the reader at one time, but I will start with my birth and youth and move on from there at other occasions. A friend of mine, Michael Steele, once suggested I should write an autobiography because of the places I have been, people I met and things I have done. I told him I would have to call it an "Unfocused Life"-because I have done so many different things.
I was born in Nashville, TN to Bettie Jo and Grady Everett Revells. Mom was from Nashville, Dad was from Early County Georgia. They met on a blind date while Dad was stationed at the Military Police Barracks in Nashville. That used to be on the downtown side of the Woodland Street bridge that crossed the Cumberland River. That whole area has changed since I lived there; the bridge has been replaced and the building Dad worked in is gone it looks like from the satellite map. I grew up in the "Historic Edgefield" neighborhood. Except it wasn't so historic when I lived there, it was fairly run down, a lower middle class working men's part of town. We used to live in a big old rambling Victorian style house at 711 Boscabal Street. My world, except when I got on the bus to down town, was limited by Shelby Avenue to the west, Woodland Street to the east, South Fifth Street to the north and South Tenth Street to the south. I went to Mrs. Kovetts Kindergarten on Russell Street and attended her summer day camp at East Park. I got religion and was baptized in the Edgefield Baptist Church (http://www.edgefieldbaptist.org/Building%20%26%20History.htm) by Brother Roy Babb. I went to Warner Elementary School off and on until seventh grade (http://www.warneres.mnps.org/site101.aspx). See that's the thing about being a Brat, you never stay anyplace very long. When Dad was stationed overseas we would go home to stay with Granny Edwards in Nashville, when Dad was in the States we would go to where he was at. Most of that time was in Fort Benning Georgia. We only had one accompanied tour overseas and that was to Kaiserslautern Germany.
However back to my life in Edgefield. It was fairly good for the most part, allowing that Dad wasn't with us. We lived with Granny Edwards and Uncle Bobby who usually was doing some work with Uncle Jack, at one point a dinner and most of the time doing building construction and maintenance. Uncle Claude and Aunt Reva were over often bringing my cousin Eddie or I was over at their house out in Hendersonville, Eddie and I were of the same age. Uncle Jack's real name was Willard and he picked up the nickname Jack from the French solders he worked with in WWII. Uncle Claude was a See Bee in the Pacific at that time. Uncle Jack was married to Aunt Mary and they had three daughters, all about a year after I and my brothers were born. So Tracy and I are a year apart; Larry my middle brother was a year older than Sherrie and Bobby, who is called "Bones" in the family, is a year older than Lorie. Uncle Bobby didn't marry until later in life. He also worked at a fiberglass plant which might have been a contributing factor to his death.
Granddad and Granny were "estranged" as they said back then, he was an alcoholic and Granny didn't hold with that. The only time she let booze in the house was just before Thanksgiving. She always used Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine to soak her dried apple spice cake in and Old Crow Bourbon Whiskey for her fruit cakes. Occasionally she would allow some brandy in when she made hot eggnog. Granddad was an electrician and worked for my Uncle Jack most of the time. Granddad was also legally blind. He used to take me to the movies at one of the several grand theaters in Nashville every couple of months and we would have to stand in the door of the theater until he could see well enough to find a seat. We used to go to a chocolate and ice cream shop down on Commerce Street afterwards.
When I was around three or four Mom and Uncle Bobby worked at the Knickerbocker Theater in downtown Nashville. It was a grand old palace of a place with a formal balcony and ushers, which is what Uncle Bobby did, Mom was at the concession stand. Whenever they couldn't get someone to babysit me I would wind up sitting at the back of the theater watching the same movie for eight hours. I have been hooked on movies ever since.
Once I hit school a problem arose because I had a sever speech problem. A couple of the teachers even thought I was "mentally retarded" because I had a serious brain injury around the age of three- I got hit in the face with a hammer by a playmate. So I wound up going to speech therapy at Vanderbilt University. It was a blast for me. They used me to teach students how to give IQ test to kids with speech problems. It did cause some changes at the school though. I wound up going up to a fourth grade class for science enrichment classes when I was in first and second grade Because of this I have always had a fascination with rocks, fossils and geology. Turned out my IQ is slightly above the average. I was frequently bored at school reading "Dick and Jane" books while I was reading about Rikki Tikki Tavi at home as well as other stories in books besides The Jungle Books.
I lived a good life in Nashville, the best memories I have are in the living room of the house on Boscabal at Christmas time. The ceiling in the living room was about eleven foot high and at Christmas we would need a ladder to put the star or angel on top. The kitchen was huge with room for two tables and was always full of great smelling food. Mom was a great cook and she learned it from Granny. We lived on Boscabal until the city condemned the place to put up project for the elderly in a spasm of ill conceived urban renewal. We moved over to a duplex on Fatherland Street right next to Mrs Kovett's home, which was behind her school.
I used to collect soda bottles and sell them to the store on the corner of Fatherland and South Seventh Street. I can't remember the name, but it was a small place with a limited stock however it had it's own meat counter. Next door was a drug store with a ice cream counter and the old kind of pin ball machines without flippers. Behind that was a two seat barbershop that I used to get my head buzz cut at. I used the money from soda bottles to buy comic books from the wire rack in the store or if they didn't have what I wanted I would make the trek over to the drug store next to the A&P Supermarket on Shelby Av. If I couldn't find the one I wanted I would really take a hike to the drug store on South Tenth Street and Fatherland! I learned to skate board on the hill at South Eighth Street and Fatherland. I also sold card selections door to door out of the back of the comic books to get the prizes that were offered.
When I was older, around nine or ten, I would go down to downtown on my own to learn how to swim and tumble at the YMCA. I visited museums and shopped for Christmas gifts at Caster Knott's, which had a pair of talking Mina Birds in the stairwell and a carousel in the basement. At Christmas time downtown was like stepping into "Miracle on 34th Street" with the windows all done up with anaimatronic decorations, silver bells ringing in the winds and the Salvation Army bell ringers out on most every corner. Other times of year I would walk through the Arcade and get some fresh roasted nuts at the Mr. Planter's store with the giant nut figure out front or stop and have the best chocolate malted shake in the world at this little hole in the wall. Mom had set up a bank account for me just around the corner from the Arcade and I would make deposits in it. I always stopped and listened to the old, blind, black man who played the guitar and sang the delta blues. I would usually drop a dime in the old canteen cup he had stuck through the strings at the pegs. My interest in living history probably started with visits to Fort Nashborough and the TV show "Davy Crockett".
I've rambled enough for tonight, I hope it wasn't too boring.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
In the begining...
This blog is about me and my attempt to set up a school for traditional trades, historic crafts, and experimental archeology as well as a campground for doing living history events. I have attempted to do a crowd funding campaign to raise funds to buy a bus to convert into a camper. I had planned to use the bus to travel the country to teach classes in Viking Age metalsmithing methods and raise money to build the first facilities at the school and campground. It didn't work so I am trying to figure out what to do next.
I will use the blog to post stories about my efforts; trips I make; projects I am working on; and any funding campaigns I have going. Part of my regrouping is going to be expanding the number of people who know about my efforts, thus this blog. So here is a little information on:
Project Trollhiem
The goals of Trollhiem LLC:
1) Develop a monthly multimedia digest that covering events at the site; has print articles and video interviews on experimental archeology; along with detailed reports on major living history events and archaeological finds. The initial Travel Blog will be the start of this project. Trollhiem LLC will also publish books, calendars and other items on various subjects related to its goals and on history to fund the creation of the facilities.
2) Create an on-line and a bricks-and-mortar store that is a reliable source for reference books, archaeological reports and hard-to-find project materials for everyone. The store will also sell items produced on site.
3) Create a series of how-to books and videos that teach historic crafts or show the processes of experimental archeology. The difference between this series of books or videos and most that teach traditional crafts will be that they will start from where to find the raw materials, how to make the tools needed for the project and then how to produce the items using all period methods and materials. Because the company's founder is most versed in metalsmithing, most of the first projects will be about Viking Age metalsmithing. Other subjects will be included as time goes on such as making armour and chain mail, pottery, farming, woodworking, cooking and house building; all incorporating as much from pre-1900's technology as possible.
4) The campground will be a place for people who have an interest in traditional crafts, historic re-creation, re-enactment, living history and experimental archeology to meet and learn from each other. Eventually the campground will have sufficient facilities to run large events, as well as smaller events. Structures for use by the campers such as a dining hall, open air theaters, primitive weapons ranges and sanitary facilities will be built as usage and available funds increase. Many of the structures will be built by students and instructors in the course of classes on period building techniques.
5) The school will run intensive short time frame classes (from one day to two weeks, class size six to twenty-four students) in traditional and historic crafts for people year around. Classes such as timber-framing and stone masonry will be used to build sleeping spaces, barns, workshops and classroom spaces thus expanding the site.
The classes will be run as a seminar where you arrive on a Friday night with classes starting Saturday. Students will stay in the same facility as the instructor, with food and modern lodging onsite. Students will leave at the completion of the course with the items created as well as the knowledge gained. The days will be spent working in the shop under the instruction of knowledgeable teachers. The evenings will be spent critiquing each others work with the instructor in an informal setting.
The school will also operate as an experimental archeology site where people can come to live and work in the various time frames for extended periods of time. In this way people can discover what it was like to live in another time. It will also offer archaeologists and students a way of discovering if their theories will work.
6) The site will operate as a living history museum and be opened to the public if the facilities and staff can be brought up to the needed levels. This goal is unlikely to be reached in less than seven years.
Trollhiem
LLC is a new company dedicated to teaching traditional crafts,
experimental archeology and having a place to hold living history events
for all time frames and cultures. To this end the plan is for Trollhiem
LLC to use a site in Early County Georgia as a school for traditional
crafts and a living history campground. A planned future use for the
site is to use it as an open air living history museum when the staff and facilities can be developed sufficiently.
The Location of Trollhiem LLC:
The property in question is located in Early County Georgia on County Road 310 near the intersection of Georgia Highway 273 (looking at Google Satellite Maps the property starts about where the tree line ends to the south and goes to the change in vegetation to the north, the west border is the County Road 310 and the east border is just inside the far tree line to the east). It is about forty acres. It will be possible to lease or buy another sixty to two hundred adjacent acres as needed.
Why is Trollhiem an LLC instead of a Not for Profit Corporation?
When Jim originally had the idea of a school and campground on the land he inherited from his parents he did pursue the idea of forming a non-profit corporation. He sought advice from a professor at a prestigious business school and was told “This isn’t the type of project we are interested in doing.” He then sought advice from friends who had started non-profit groups and was told that he could have control to see his vision of the school happen or he could make a salary from the non-profit, but not both. Since Jim needs both a salary and wants to keep control of the project he chose to create a LLC with his daughter, Sonja. It did not look like Jim would be able to get the project off the ground due to a lack of funds until he found out about “Crowd Funding” and a possible path opened for him.
I will use the blog to post stories about my efforts; trips I make; projects I am working on; and any funding campaigns I have going. Part of my regrouping is going to be expanding the number of people who know about my efforts, thus this blog. So here is a little information on:
Project Trollhiem
Experimental Archeology, Living History & Traditional Crafts
“The Past in the Present Tense”
“The Past in the Present Tense”
1) Develop a monthly multimedia digest that covering events at the site; has print articles and video interviews on experimental archeology; along with detailed reports on major living history events and archaeological finds. The initial Travel Blog will be the start of this project. Trollhiem LLC will also publish books, calendars and other items on various subjects related to its goals and on history to fund the creation of the facilities.
2) Create an on-line and a bricks-and-mortar store that is a reliable source for reference books, archaeological reports and hard-to-find project materials for everyone. The store will also sell items produced on site.
3) Create a series of how-to books and videos that teach historic crafts or show the processes of experimental archeology. The difference between this series of books or videos and most that teach traditional crafts will be that they will start from where to find the raw materials, how to make the tools needed for the project and then how to produce the items using all period methods and materials. Because the company's founder is most versed in metalsmithing, most of the first projects will be about Viking Age metalsmithing. Other subjects will be included as time goes on such as making armour and chain mail, pottery, farming, woodworking, cooking and house building; all incorporating as much from pre-1900's technology as possible.
4) The campground will be a place for people who have an interest in traditional crafts, historic re-creation, re-enactment, living history and experimental archeology to meet and learn from each other. Eventually the campground will have sufficient facilities to run large events, as well as smaller events. Structures for use by the campers such as a dining hall, open air theaters, primitive weapons ranges and sanitary facilities will be built as usage and available funds increase. Many of the structures will be built by students and instructors in the course of classes on period building techniques.
5) The school will run intensive short time frame classes (from one day to two weeks, class size six to twenty-four students) in traditional and historic crafts for people year around. Classes such as timber-framing and stone masonry will be used to build sleeping spaces, barns, workshops and classroom spaces thus expanding the site.
The classes will be run as a seminar where you arrive on a Friday night with classes starting Saturday. Students will stay in the same facility as the instructor, with food and modern lodging onsite. Students will leave at the completion of the course with the items created as well as the knowledge gained. The days will be spent working in the shop under the instruction of knowledgeable teachers. The evenings will be spent critiquing each others work with the instructor in an informal setting.
The school will also operate as an experimental archeology site where people can come to live and work in the various time frames for extended periods of time. In this way people can discover what it was like to live in another time. It will also offer archaeologists and students a way of discovering if their theories will work.
6) The site will operate as a living history museum and be opened to the public if the facilities and staff can be brought up to the needed levels. This goal is unlikely to be reached in less than seven years.
Description
The Location of Trollhiem LLC:
The property in question is located in Early County Georgia on County Road 310 near the intersection of Georgia Highway 273 (looking at Google Satellite Maps the property starts about where the tree line ends to the south and goes to the change in vegetation to the north, the west border is the County Road 310 and the east border is just inside the far tree line to the east). It is about forty acres. It will be possible to lease or buy another sixty to two hundred adjacent acres as needed.
Why is Trollhiem an LLC instead of a Not for Profit Corporation?
When Jim originally had the idea of a school and campground on the land he inherited from his parents he did pursue the idea of forming a non-profit corporation. He sought advice from a professor at a prestigious business school and was told “This isn’t the type of project we are interested in doing.” He then sought advice from friends who had started non-profit groups and was told that he could have control to see his vision of the school happen or he could make a salary from the non-profit, but not both. Since Jim needs both a salary and wants to keep control of the project he chose to create a LLC with his daughter, Sonja. It did not look like Jim would be able to get the project off the ground due to a lack of funds until he found out about “Crowd Funding” and a possible path opened for him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)