Well, I guess the first order of business is to welcome everyone to the new forum!  

Second is to give everyone something to start thinking about.  Gas prices, and many other things have affected hobby attendance over the last several years.  As one who has organized events in the past, and would like to see others organize events --

My question is:  What would be your ideal event? an event that you'd want to attend no matter what?

This is a personal choice and there is no right or wrong answer.

Thanks!

Linda,

What a great question.  I haven't done too many citizen things, but would love to do more.  The one thing I'm interested in is the farming of the period.  I did spend half my life on my family's farm in south central Kentucky, and always enjoyed helping my uncles do whatever I could.  Perryville is nearby my family now (but I'm in Ohio), and I visit the park as much as I can as a volunteer and otherwise.  The one thing I have missed is the "On The Farm" weekend due to other events.  I feel bad because Chad and Joni are such good friends of mine, but what I'm getting at is there ought to be more events like that one.  You know, with a flare towards educating folks.

Here in Ohio, my buddy Rick Musselman runs the Carriage Hill Park just above Dayton and he holds a period hog slaughtering every February.  

I wish there were more things like these out there.

Outside of my military impression, I am working on one of a preacher (also working on this in real life as well), my wife wants to do a teacher impression. What I would love to see at some point (hopefully I can shoot for the moon on this one) would be to "populate" a township for some period of time similar to a colonial Williamsburg with actual buildings and people doing whatever they would be doing during the actual period. Make this a full immersion event and have it last longer than the traditional weekend. I know this is impractical, but I think it would be extremely interesting and enlightening. If there is something like this already out there for our period, I simply do not know where it is.

Robert, I feel your pain/enthusiasm.

Oh, to occupy a historic town, complete with our own microeconomy.  Give those reality TV folks something new to chew on!

I'd also like to do a weeklong Oregon trail event.  Yup, there is one somewhere, but at the moment it is out of my price range (travel, time off, etc.)

Linda

I think it would be neat to be able to do a recruitment/drill weekend.  I sort of picture it where you have an officer and maybe 2 NCO's who are handling the recruitment and all others are in civilian attire.  They are signed up on a proper muster forms, there are mothers, wives etc.. there to see them off.

Maybe some politicians there stumping for the war effort or even a couple who are not.  But then the day is filled for the new recruits with drill and drill.. and to be going over it where it is ok for people to stumble and make a mistake because they are "new" at this.

A few ladies and offical type people who have come to see the soldiers off and they talk of one big battle that will drive off the enemy and win the day.  A brass band playing martial / patriotic tunes to get everyone in the mood.

Something that would be taking place in any small town or big city between May 1860 and Bull Run...

"What I would love to see at some point (hopefully I can shoot for the moon on this one) would be to "populate" a township for some period of time similar to a colonial Williamsburg with actual buildings and people doing whatever they would be doing during the actual period."

Robert,

There's a place you might be able to do that, Old Bedford Village, in Bedford, PA. The place pretty much shuts down during the winter and I know they welcome reenactors. Chris Anders holds his Officer's Training School there. It's a great place.

 

I'd like to see Gettysburg done right, and on the actual ground. Civilians in the town, interacting with the military, staying in the homes on the field. Since my ggg-grandparents had a farm on the battlefield, during the battle, I can't think of anything else.(Eli Heagy-first day, near the 45th NY monument, on the Mummasburg Road. There's a ranch house there now, the barn bank is still visible.)

delusional, huh?

 

--Last edited by grumpydave on 2007-01-17 07:32:24 --

[cit]GrumpyDave wrote : I'd like to see Gettysburg done right, and on the actual ground.
delusional, huh?

Dave,
It would be tought to manoeuvre around all those monuments!    

Quote :

Bill wrote : "What I would love to see at some point (hopefully I can shoot for the moon on this one) would be to "populate" a township for some period of time similar to a colonial Williamsburg with actual buildings and people doing whatever they would be doing during the actual period." Robert, There's a place you might be able to do that, Old Bedford Village, in Bedford, PA. The place pretty much shuts down during the winter and I know they welcome reenactors. Chris Anders holds his Officer's Training School there. It's a great place.

Bill,

Thanks for the info. Although it's a bit of a strech for me (I'm in FL) it may be something to look at in the future.

I like to hunt, so, naturally enough, I'd love to do a 1850s-1860s hunting camp.  I started hunting with blackpowder weapons about 25+ years ago.  Wing shooting, stalking while deer hunting, ie man drives.  I'd also like to do a late 1850s SC militia drill weekend with the men in their pre-war hodge-podge uniforms or lack thereof with civilian clothing mix, lemonade and the ladies with sandwiches on the local green.

Duke,

In Kentucky  they have done a couple of Militia events, Shaker Village and South Union.  They were quite excellent.

Crabby

Noah wrote:

> Oh, to occupy a historic town,
> complete with our own microeconomy.

I agree.  To me, the ideal event would be where we could occupy an entire village, and actually try to replicate as closely as possible life in a small town in 1861-5, having people who've created personas fulfill various roles as cooper, blacksmith, store owner/clerk, etc; while at the same time maintaining social, economic, and cultural lines, with first person action and interaction.

And to have the store set up so that we could actually purchase food and other necessary items using period currency.  

Unfortunately, it doesn't take a village, it takes enough interested individuals to create the residents of that village, and to want to have that experience. There just aren't enough people interested in that style of reenacting though to pull off that sort of an event.    

Wow!  Just thinking about the possibilities of an event like that almost makes me sort of homesick for the 1860s.  I guess for now I'll just be happy with a backward Kentucky inn.

Linda Trent
lindatrent@zoomnet.net

Hank and Linda,
Say you had a little village with 12 or so empty shops and or empty houses. How much effort does it take to make that little village look like it's 1850-1865? And, is it worth the effort?

Me, still learning about civilian life.

> Say you had a little village
> with 12 or so empty shops and
> or empty houses. How much effort
> does it take to make that little
> village look like it's 1850-1865?
> And, is it worth the effort?

It depends upon what it is one wants to do with the village.  What kind of an event, what socio-economic class?  I know there aren't enough immersionists to staff the houses and shops, so my question is how authentic of an event would you want?

"Is it worth it" is subjective to each individual, and I guess to me the question would depend upon the ultimate goal of the event, and whether or not it could get pulled off, and who's putting on the event.  As long as it's not me.  

If you're asking me how easy it would be to accomplish my perfect event, with first person action and interaction in a village setting like you described then I'd have to say that furnishing is the easy part.  Getting the people to come and staff the houses in immersion style first person would be virtually impossible, at least at this time.  There just aren't enough interested participants for immersion.

I don't know how familiar you all are with The Bradford Place, but it's a place that Hank and I built some 8 years ago that we fully furnished in original or excellent reproduction furnishings.  A few photographs can be found at the following sites:
http://thebradfordplace1863.homestead.com/outbuildings.html
http://thebradfordplace1863.homestead.com/April62005photos.html

So it's not like we've never built a period style building or fully furnished a rural home and its outbuildings before. Our big problem was getting others to want to come.  We closed our doors to visitors a few years ago when the interest seemed to drop off.  

There are some like Terre Lawson, Trish Hasenmueller, Abby Walker, Kathryn Coombs, etc. who have come to events with a ton of excellent material culture.  Like I said, it's not the furnishing, it's getting people to want to come.  

--Last edited by Linda Trent on 2007-01-22 00:29:59 --

Linda,

If this ever comes to pass, you can find a preacher and a teacher in the form of myself and my lovely bride, all we need is a church, a schoolhouse, and some place to lay our heads at night. I'm sure I would have plenty of time to get my civilian kit together for such an event.

And the pendulum swings.........

One encounters a certain prejudice in authentic circles against civilians hauling a great deal of plunder---when the expanding economy of the Industrial Revolution provided a vast store of material culture for even the common working man and woman to grasp and strive for.

Really--the same soldiers who enjoy a period tavern at an event will also laugh at the trailer loads of plunder they see civilians hauling in and out, and wonder why it takes so much stuff for us.

For the long run, I'm looking to the 'short distance' haul.

Loading up all this stuff is exhausting. There is a long drive, also often alone.  Then an on-site unload that may or may not be assisted.  And a load up that is almost always done alone at dusk and after soldiers have marched off, proud of their campaigner status.

For Perryville, three of us had a van and a trailer, packed to the top with material culture, and a 12 hour drive.  Of all that plunder and canvas, we slept in 1 A frame tent, had a carpet bag each and a bed roll each.  Everything else in that trailer was stuff used to portay common civilian material culture in operating a lower class tavern.

So, what am I looking for in an event?  Increasinly, and sadly, its one that is closer to home, because I can't handle transporting  all the plunder needed to do a good homefront portrayal.

Terry,

The same goes for military authentics.  I sometimes load the wagon with things I think I might use, then never touch them.  It can certainly be a strange hobby.