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We got back on I-68 and continued to Hancock where we took I-70 eastbound. Near Hagerstown, we exited onto SR-65 southward to Antietam National Battlefield.
The Dunker Church is one of the most noted landmarks at Antietam National Battlefield and ranks as perhaps one of the most famous churches in American military history. This historic structure began as a humble country house of worship constructed by local Dunker farmers in 1852. Samuel Mumma, owner of the nearby farm that bears his name, donated land in 1851 for the Dunkers to build their church. During its early history, the congregation consisted of about half a dozen farm families from the local area. During the battle of Antietam, the church was the focal point of a number of Union attacks against the Confederate left flank. Dunker Church was scarred with hundreds of marks from bullets in its white washed walls. Artillery had rendered serious damage to the roof and walls. By 1864, the Church was repaired, rededicated and regular services were held there until the turn of the century.
In 1921 a violent storm swept through the area and flattened the church. The land and church ruins were put up for sale and purchased by Sharpsburg resident Elmer G. Boyer. He salvaged most of the undamaged material of the building and then sold the property. The new property owner built a home on the foundation of the old church and in the 1930s operated a gas station and souvenir shop on the site. This structure was removed in 1951 when the property was purchased by the Washington County Historical Society. They donated the site, then just a foundation, to the National Park Service. The Church was restored by 1962 for the 100th Anniversary of the Battle. On its original foundation with as much original materials as possible, the church now stands as a beacon of peace on the battlefield.
At the beginning of vacation bible school (VBS), the organizer, Stephen Porter, put out a challenge to the kids. For certain amounts of offering made throughout the week (with all proceeds going to the church's Costa Rica missionaries, Randy and Sherry Rhoton), there would be an opportunity for the kids to dunk some of the VBS leaders at the end of the week. In the end, enough was brought in to hit the first rung, which meant Stephen would get dunked. Regardless, many of the leaders stepped up to the plate to be dunked anyways - yours truly included.
I'd never been in a dunk tank, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (not to mention where Stephen got one in the first place). The water was poured fresh that afternoon - from the church's well, which meant it was cold. The tank itself about about three feet square at the top, and about four feet deep. The tank is constructed by a metal cage, in which a thick plastic lining is placed before being filled. There's a clear sheet of plastic on the front, so all the onlookers can see the drama of you falling into the water.
It turns out that balancing on the little metal platform at the top was pretty tricky - especially for a big guy like myself. The platform itself was about eight inches from the surface of the water, and when you fell in, you fell straight to the bottom. I have a sensitive tailbone in the first place, so hitting the bottom was more of a shock for me than the water itself.
You'll notice that in the picture, that I kept my "hip hop" character to the end (which the kids loved - and even started emulating by wearing their own sunglasses and bling). I figured that I'd add a little brevity to it by putting my goggles underneath my shades for the big dunk. And then I made a scene of "Wait! Wait! Wait!" before I climbed on the platform by removing the shades to reveal the full awesomeness of the goggles.
From a purely geeky, computer/hardware kind of guy perspective, it seems that there's a number of ways that technology could improves on the dunk tank. The first thing I'd do is to decouple the target itself from the platform. The kids had to really hit the target dead on, and with a lot of force to make it trigger. Putting a little pressure sensor on the target, and having it call electronically to the platform, would allow for that sensitivity to be adjusted for the age, skill and capability of the thrower. From there, lots of bright lights going off when the target got hit would add a little style. Oh, and some fashion of padding at the bottom.