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Jolly Roger sets sails for Bonham: part 3
By Allen Rich
Jan 21, 2010

If you've been keeping up with the saga of the Jolly Roger, you know this 25-foot-tall pirate ship was the entry of worldwide architectural firm HKS, Inc. in a fantasy playhouse design contest at Dallas Arboretum in 2009. 

HKS senior designer Ryan Martin played a dual role in this story because he not only helped design Jolly Roger, Martin was also there to work shoulder to shoulder with 16 Powder Creek pirates intent on bringing this playhouse back to Fannin County for area children to enjoy. 

It was a cold, rainy morning January 16, but Martin said he was "thrilled" to lend a hand.  After all, this design, based on the novel Peter Pan, won the Most Sustainable Award in the Dallas Arboretum Contest.  Another designer at HKS has even built his kids a smaller backyard version of the pirate ship.  But the time had come for Jolly Roger to be removed from Dallas Arboretum.

"We were sad it was going to the dump," Martin said as he helped the Powder Creek pirates take the Jolly Roger apart to dodge that dreaded fate and instead become the flagship at the largest park in Fannin County.

And there may not have ever been a Jolly Roger in the first place if not for a bit of advice Martin heeded from his wife, a school teacher.

The architects at HKS were considering which design to build for the bi-annual playhouse contest at Dallas Arboretum.  Some of the designs were, no doubt, impressive architectural feats.

"Don't design it for the architects," Mrs. Martin said. "Design it for the children."

Mr. Martin understood the wisdom in those words.

And so the Jolly Roger would eventually come to sit high on a hill overlooking White Rock Lake, as though a rogue wave had lifted the pirate ship and carried her to a secret place that only children could find.

And children loved their pirate ship. 

Loved it so much, in fact, that every kid that came to the Dallas Arboretum seemed to race to ring the ship’s bell.  The constant clanging became such a distraction to grown-ups that a hurried attempt was made to silence the bell with tape.  When that failed, the ship's bell was pirated away to a nearby storage shed to ring no more.

Still the children came, to man the cannons, to take turns at the wheel and steer the ship through perilous reef-infested waters, to read the names of the Lost Boys above the benches in the ship's galley.

Care to venture a guess which architectural design went on to win Children's Choice Award in the Dallas Arboretum contest?

It was a 25-foot-tall pirate ship that will one day stir the imagination of Fannin County children.

This was no ordinary work group that completely disassembled the ship in 180 minutes.  When the front-end loader that was supposed to lower the ship's masts didn't show up, the Powder Creek pirates simply secured the 26' 6" mast to a sturdy bois d'arc tree with ropes, like Fannin County pirates have always done, and finished the job they started without the aid of heavy equipment.

The crew went to work at 9:00 a.m.  Just before noon, the sun came out as Trey Schneider removed the last bolt.  At exactly that moment, two large vans sent by Jeff Dale, owner of Wood Haus, Inc., pulled up at the Dallas Arboretum gate.

"There's more at work here than good fortune," Martin said as he watched resources miraculously come together to complete this project.

"I enjoyed working with you guys," Martin called out as he left.  "I look forward to seeing it when it's put back together again."

So, right now, the Jolly Roger is in about 300 pieces, stored in the BEDCo building just north of Powder Creek Park. 

Some donations would be greatly appreciated, because she's gonna need waterproof siding and a sealant for her deck.  Trim and some 2x4s will need to be replaced. A foundation will need to be laid.  Then all those pieces will slowly come back together and the Jolly Roger's sails will fill with wind on the banks of Powder Creek. 

Someday Ryan Martin and the guys from HKS and Jeff Dale of Wood Haus will see Fannin County children racing to play in their very own pirate ship. 

The Powder Creek pirates wouldn't have it any other way.

The Powder Creek pirates are: Fred Floden (Auto Tech), Trey Schneider (Auto Tech), Jeff Davis (Z98.3), Jason Walker (Central Insurance Companies), Brad Nichols (Bonham Fire Department), Wayne Moore (Bonham City Council), Bob Fuhrman (UPS), Glen Taylor (BEDCo), Bill Partridge (BEDCo), Dempsey Stewart (BEDCo), Ross Griffith, Mike Vaught, Jonathan Capehart, Dawn Nichols, Ryan Martin (HKS, Inc.), plus Jeff Dale and his crew from Wood Haus Inc.