LAKE COUNTY— For a third year, Friends of Gibson Museum volunteers will underwrite reenactments of Civil War skirmishes by the American Civil War Association (ACWA). This year, in conjunction with the Lake County Historical Society (LCHS) and the Museums of Lake County, the Friends group will at last be able to bring historical information to young people in an engaging, informal way.
Schoolchildren will be brought to the event site, the Middletown Mansion Event Center, Friday November 2,for a “school day” a day before the event opens to the general public. LCHS will draw on funds from a grant extended by Lake County’s Wine Alliance to provide buses for middle school and high school students.
County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg deemed the event “a fantastic opportunity” and is working with event organizers to finalize plans for the children’s attendance.
Lisa Price, an ACWA corporal who developed a three-day children’s program at reenactments in Santa Cruz, reports that children unquestionably enjoy this approach to learning history, and are especially enthused by witnessing the firing of a cannon.
Taylor Tiraterra at Middletown High School has expressed eagerness to have his class participate as an adjunct to their study of the Civil War.
Other educators who would like to participate are asked to contact LCHS president Voris Brumfield at 295-7174 / vorisgibsonmuseum@yahoo.com, or Falkenberg at 262-4100 / bfalkenberg@lakecoe.org.
Outdoor “classrooms” formed of hay-bale seating, provided by winegrape-grower Julie Candelario, will afford a Socratic setting for “instructors” from ACWA. Groups of students will rotate through eight stations to learn about weapons and uniforms, marching and drilling, women as soldiers, telegraph communication, women’s clothing, camp hospitals and more.
All event-goers Saturday Nov. 3 and Sunday Nov. 4 will likewise be able to talk with the reenactors each day between the two battlefield skirmishes emulating Union and Confederate troops. The men, women and children who participate will share information they have gleaned from years of studying this critical period in American history and will take questions.
Understanding the partisanship that incited that most deadly war in America’s history seems poignantly relevant in today’s political atmosphere. American casualties during the 1861-1865 conflict were greater than the combined total of those of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War.
Old-time music by popular local fiddlers Don Coffin and Andy Skelton will offer a lighter note to the learning, and vendors will offer food, beer and wine for visitors to enjoy in the elegant ambience of the Mansion grounds. Speakers and displays will offer further little-known information about the period.
Further enhancements are being developed and will be announced as they become confirmed.
Tickets to the event will go on sale October 1 at all three county museums, in Lakeport, Lower Lake and Middletown. Adult admission will be $15; children 7 to 12, $8; under 6 free.
For further information, see friendsofgibson.com, or call 263-4555.
