2023 DATE: May 27-28, 2023
This post documents my experience on May 25, 2019.
Just beyond the entrance gates of the Century Village Museum…
…as the fifes and drums remembered Johnny (Crooked River Fife and Drums)…
…19th century men chatted in the shade…
…young Union solders set up a rifle pyramid…
…and cannon operations were demonstrated strictly through gestures and explanation – no actual gun powder or fire.
This was The Civil War Encampment…
…where visitors stepped into history and explored the grounds…
…touring the camps…
…chatting about the past…
…possibly eating with soldiers at the mess hall (3 Rebs Mess)…
…and joining the ranks if they so desired (5th Kentucky CSA Company).
Festival goers could take advantage of the festival location…
…by walking through the various buildings and exhibits…
…from the Boughton House…
…to the dressmaker shop…
…learning about making brooms,
…weaving rugs…
…and forging metal…
…while finding things of interest along the way.
Along with musical entertainment (Geauga Sweet Strings) and a daily battle reenactment in the afternoon…
…festival offerings included a Chinese raffle of metal items forged at the Blacksmith shop (WRABA)…
…a raffle for a John Deere 420 Utility (Historical Engine Society)…
…food options that included hot dog, chicken nuggets…
…hamburgers, Italian sausage (Lombardo’s)…
…smoothies and coffee (Java on Wheels)…
…and shopping opportunities for homemade pottery (Farmhouse Stoneware)…
…art, literature, Uncle Gregory’s Coffee (CSA Buried Treasures)…
…and even clothing made from leather or fur (Greene Leather and Fur)…
…formal and military uniforms (Adlers Dry Goods)…
…and all sorts of accessories (Adlers Dry Goods)…
…just in case you ran into someone you hoped to impress.