PORT TOWNSEND — They are literally hands-on history, vehicles to the past that carry the observer back in time.
And they are coming to a fort near you.
In May and June, two events will bring military history to life at Fort Worden State Park.
The first is the Puget Sound Military Vehicle Collector’s Club encampment on Artillery Hill, complete with jeeps, tents and field equipment.
“Men in authentic WWII uniform will be haunting the area, offering a time capsule glimpse of the past and what it may have been like for your fathers and grandfathers to live and work at the fort,” club member Keith Dewey said.
The encampment and display, today through Sunday, is the first the military vehicle club has held at Fort Worden.
On a smaller scale, but larger in number of exhibits, is the annual North Olympic Peninsula Modelers Society Scale-Model Show and Contest scheduled June 21.
Held for the third year at Fort Worden State Park, the show draws more than 200 entries from modelers from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
Many are veterans with an interest in scale models of military vehicles, ships and planes.
“The club selected this historic venue partly because of a close working relationship with the Coast Artillery Museum, located in the park a few buildings away from the show venue,” Larry Speelman, show chairman, said.
A person who buys a ticket for the scale-model show will be given a reduced entry fee of $1 to the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum, plus a guided tour of the Fort Worden batteries.