Parties at Fort Ligonier are a blast. Literally.
A mortar-firing demonstration was part of the fun during a July 2 Cannons and Cocktails party at the fort, which dates back a couple of decades prior to the founding of the United States of America, to the days of the French and Indian War.
While some guests visited on the patio of the fort’s education building, others followed Director Mary Manges and education staff member David Gerstel up the hill to the stockade for the big bang.
After the pair gave a lesson on French and Indian War-era armaments, Gerstel set off the mortar.
Luckily for observers — and probably everyone in Ligonier — the shell actually was a block of Styrofoam wrapped in duct tape.
The real deal, Gerstel said, would have been 10 times louder, would have shaken the ground and probably would have left the artillerymen’s ears bleeding — which would be one way to ruin a party.
The first big social event on the fort’s calendar post-pandemic also included food, 18th-century-inspired spirits and appetizers, along with musical entertainment by fiddler Andrew Bronkaj, a music teacher in the Plum Borough School District.
An overflowing parking lot testified to how eager folks were to get out and socialize again.
Seen at the fort: Linda Brown and Terry Graft, Mark and Karen White, Jim and Karen O’Connor, Mark and Joyce Markosky, Dr. Bill Choby, Dave Winesickle and Esther Ogline, Dave and Beth Byers, Rich and Marcia Hudock, Victoria Watson and Andrew Heim, Gary and Pat Garrison, Dan and Kasie Schaar, Justin Dillon, Stephanie Shandel, Cari Frei, Rachel Matyi, Matthew Bielic, Carmen Quartararo, Shawn Hunter, Bill Cline, JoEllen Bruno, Duane and Mary Ellen Miller, Steve Szakall and Dawn Hart.
