Let us remember what we're missing out on.

Rusk County Avengers

Captain
Muster Stunt Master Stones River / Franklin 2022
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Location
Coffeeville, TX
DSCN0162.JPG


"Tis the season for great battles, yet great battles we have not. Battles great and small we once had, but we can't now have, for that which we love has fallen, to a foe that no one saw comin. Reenactments, enactments, and Living Histories too, we bid farewell to you, till we march and tent again upon your camping ground we love so well."

By yours truly, who is not a poet and shall never again attempt it!

I've been thinking about all us reenactors who are missing the events, even the ones we don't care for, so how about a thread where we trade pictures and stories of events to tide us over as well as it can till we sleep in a tent or on the ground again!

Let us reminiscence over what fate has taken from us to keep the spirit alive and well till we can have our hobby back virus free! Also no talk of that dang virus...

Now go!
 
Henderson Syrup Festival, Henderson, Texas-November 2016

Rural Rusk County Texas is my old hometown. Before getting too far my handle "Rusk County Avengers" is from Henderson, they were Company D of the 14th Texas Cavalry. The old Depot Museum in Henderson, where this LH took place, is a place my Dad was a big benefactor of as a longtime County Commissioner and has the "Rusk County Avengers" flag on display.

My SCV Camp has a fellow in I've grown to not care for since then in it who throws a LH every year during the Festival at the museum, (which has a lot of of old period buildings on the grounds, a couple of which even with deep old family connections to me), and he invited me to attend. Practically begged, still does.

So I got my kit together and went, with no tent expecting a good reasonably period correct LH. Fat chance! Our time was mostly spent sitting and visiting with each other as people walked around. The "period camp" (Ha!!!) was right by one wonderfully preserved dog trot house from the 1880's if I remember right, (historical marker below), and I think our placement would have been better spent by the original 1840's/1850's cabin. Though I did demonstrate "load in nine times" to people and even let some teenagers fire my musket with their parents present and their permission, to the ramrod of the events deep disapproval. Not out of liability but because and I quote, "I wouldn't waste my powder on people unless they paid me first!"

All and all it was an okay event, even if very little Living History happened. Though it was nice to walk around period buildings in period cloths.

DSCN0161 (1).JPG


DSCN0163 (1).JPG


DSCN0164.JPG


DSCN0165 (1).JPG


DSCN0166 (1).JPG


I would recommend anyone passing through Henderson, Texas to stop by the museum, (maybe one day I'll do a thread on it). Sure there's an old gas station my cousins owned, and a Cotton Gin and its building from the 1930's my Dad led the effort to move in, restore and preserve, (very ironic given his history before being a politician as a demolition contractor who had a genuine deep love of destroying historic buildings and sites), but my bias isn't in the way, it's a great unknown place I highly recommend!

Back this past November I almost went back for the LH, and proposed to the ramrod I come out as Union to make the SCV look better publicly, and a great argument ensued with threats thrown towards my supposed Yankee loving self. Me being the vindictive sort sometimes played possum like I may come out, and as a Confederate, but cancelled on him the day before. More hurtful epithets were thrown my way and I nicely told him he might want to keep on because of my family connections in Henderson and to the museum, as I might could shut his LH down. The ramrod is a good enough guy, he's just in love with the Hollywood image of the Confederacy and anyone younger than 50 can't possibly know a thing. Even when people he looks to as the experts, were my mentors and look to me and my memory when they forget a tidbit of history when giving a program.
 
Bruh, it's been like a week, if that. We're not even halfway through Trump's '15 days to something'

How many events have we really missed out on?

Its called starting a discussion, and I'd say many are missing out on a lot.

In my parts every reenactment of the season has been cancelled and the last two that postponed are likely to be cancelled within the next two weeks.

This is just a thread to trade stories and BS, o need to be condescending.
 
Okay since I got accused of jumping the gun and acting irrationally as it was too soon, here's a bump after the entire Spring reenacting season has apparently been sunk, with Fall in danger.
 
Events are slow to be cancelled here. Beginning of June forward are still on, for now. I suspect we'll be extended again though, at least through July. Not that we've had especially nice weather, it's like May stayed home or something.
 
Everything in the Ark.-La.-Tex got torpedoed early on. Some events long before the virus hit anywhere near any event or most reenactors. But we still have a super mega farb fest from h*** happening on the weekend of May 30, with reenactors required to maintain social distancing and wear face masks.

They've had a steam engine train running through the event for years, but it's owner sold it recently. It may still be there, if so I might attend just to stage a period pic by it in uniform before its gone.
 
Wow that was proactive. Here they seem to be taking a "wait and see/cancel at the last minute" approach. Actually one event from early April keeps getting moved back, it seems they're determined to have it, no matter what.
 
We lost our event that we put on every year, I think it was suppose to be this coming weekend but since it got cancelled I don't even want to think about it. Oh well I'll just keep working on my impression aka losing more weight and I'll be sending off my beat up Armi-sport 1842 to Lodgewood to get "Harpers Ferryfied."
 
Everything in the Ark.-La.-Tex got torpedoed early on. Some events long before the virus hit anywhere near any event or most reenactors. But we still have a super mega farb fest from h*** happening on the weekend of May 30, with reenactors required to maintain social distancing and wear face masks.

They've had a steam engine train running through the event for years, but it's owner sold it recently. It may still be there, if so I might attend just to stage a period pic by it in uniform before its gone.
Do you or your group participate in the reenactment at Camp Moore in November?
 
Nope never been. For years Camp Moore and Liendo Plantation near Houston have had their events on the same weekend, and numbers got split. Louisiana reenactors go to Camp Moore, Texas Liendo to oversimplify it. And to top it off I ain't been to Liendo since 2008.

I reckon that's a solved problem, as Liendo shut its reenacting doors after their last one back in November. Everyone celebrated as the old conflict was done and over with, and Camp Moore ain't been doing too good I hear. But then the new reenactment at Canton, TX announced they were moving their event from January to the old Camp Moore/Liendo weekend before Thanksgiving, to EVERYONE'S chagrin and protest. I told them they ain't been around two years and they just ensured they wouldn't year three with many agreeing with me, but I don't think it mattered to them. And I never been to Canton and have no plans to go, I prefer event where battles actually happened, or came real close to having one. Canton, no such thing.
 
Well, our Lincoln repose in the Capital was cancelled..I know there were several other events in June that were cancelled. And just when my son had joined an artillary unit, and I was starting to make friends among the Ohio reenactors!! Oh well, better safe than sorry!
 
I know I kept hoping that somehow we could have our cake and eat it to..I am in the 1b group In my state. But honestly I wish they would just line us up like they did in grade school, and innoculate an entire town at a time.

Yeah, maybe this is a much different deal, but the polio vaccine campaign didn't seem so difficult to pull off...

Roy B.
 
Back
Top