| Our Comrade Joe Rumley |
| Joe Rumley at the evening campfire |
| Our friend and comrade |
| The Famous Rumley Cinderblock |
| Joe and Don singing a song about the 69th at Antietam Battlefield |
| Joe at the Doylestown Parade |
Legend of the Cinderblock
During the very first trip in the "Highways of
History" series, it became clear that the
exit step of our travel van was too high for
many of the participants. At one of the first
stops in the tour (where the 69th had drilled
in Chestnut Hill in 1861) Joe Rumley found
a cinderblock and brought it with us for the
remainder of the trip. Each time the van
would stop, Joe would place the cinderblock
in front of the exitway. Joe kept the block at
the end of the 1st "Highways of History" trip.
Before the second bus trip, Joe had painted
the block green and labeled it with our logo
and regimental label. Each future trip would
find the "Rumley Cinderblock" traveling with
us. The cinderblock traveled with us,each
trip we took and with it the spirit of Joe
Rumley, our comrade and friend.
.
During the very first trip in the "Highways of
History" series, it became clear that the
exit step of our travel van was too high for
many of the participants. At one of the first
stops in the tour (where the 69th had drilled
in Chestnut Hill in 1861) Joe Rumley found
a cinderblock and brought it with us for the
remainder of the trip. Each time the van
would stop, Joe would place the cinderblock
in front of the exitway. Joe kept the block at
the end of the 1st "Highways of History" trip.
Before the second bus trip, Joe had painted
the block green and labeled it with our logo
and regimental label. Each future trip would
find the "Rumley Cinderblock" traveling with
us. The cinderblock traveled with us,each
trip we took and with it the spirit of Joe
Rumley, our comrade and friend.
.