JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP —
A long held love of wooden models opened the door for a historic trip of a lifetime.
Keith and Pat Buell will join 148 other people for a cruise on the U.S. Constitution on July 4 amidst 120 Tall Ships that are gathering to commemorate the 200th celebration of the War of 1812.
“A long time ago (46 years) I built the model (of the U.S. Constitution) and had it for years,” Buell said of the wooden ship that eventually bit the dust due to the cumulative effects of wind, children and other day-to-day activities in the life of a family.
“It got destroyed to where I couldn’t repair it (in 1975),” Buell said.
Thirty seven years later Buell’s wife Pat decided to bring the spark alive and purchased a model for Christmas 2011. She said she couldn’t decide whether she should buy the present, but decided to go ahead with the purchase and doors began to open.
“I went on the (U.S. Constitution) website to see what I could learn about it,” Keith Buell said. He said there was a place on the site that said lottery and he clicked it to see what it was all about.
“They were offering a cruise on Old Ironsides (the nickname of the U.S. Constitution) for the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812,” he said.
“Seventy five (people) won and they can (each) take a guest,” Buell said. Luck was on the side of the Buell family.
The Independence Day cruise will include a Tall Ships parade through Boston Harbor.
The love of models started young. “I was a typical kid building airplanes,” Keith Buell said.
As the years went on he would occasionally build something and the Ironsides model was a big part of the family history.
Pat Buell, a retired teacher, said her husband often would make 25 to 50 “rough cuts” for school projects over the years. She said Keith also reads a lot and is a student of history.
“I just can’t believe it,” Keith Buell said of their winning the lottery.
“He is a kid in the candy story,” Pat Buell said.
Keith and Pat are 69 years young and the timing of the trip was fortuitous as anyone more than 70 years old is not allowed to participate in the trip.
The other stipulation is the ability to navigate a ladder to get on the ship. Pat said she expressed reservations, but Keith assured her she would get up the ladder.
“He puts the ladder up in garage and I go up and down,” she joked of their imaginary training for the trip of a lifetime.
Keith Buell said he has been reading up on the history of Old Ironsides. “I got a little printout on the Internet,” he said.
“A Marine (on the U.S. Constitution) was the first sea casualty in the history of the United States,” he said.
The ship got its name when cannon balls bounced off the ship during early battles and one of the crew made a comment that the ship seemed like it was made of iron and it stuck, Keith Buell said.
The ship was actually made of 25 inch thick pieces of wood that were bent into form while the wood was still green,” he said.
Pat Buell said her children weren’t too surprised by the adventure. “Our kids are used to their parents doing crazy things,” she said.
“They were used to us going up to Alaska and panning for gold,” Keith Buell said with a laugh.
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