Park Service Cuts Sponsership For The Picacho Peak Reenactment in 2018

grimes

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Apr 9, 2013
Got a notification from our reenactment group that the park service will not sponsor 'Civil War in the Southwest' at Picacho Peak State Park for 2018. It was moved later in the year and now cancelled all together for 2018.

No reason was given apparently, but the thought is the incident with the pipe bomb found at the Virginia reenactment, or the current politics with anything Confederate.
 
Got a notification from our reenactment group that the park service will not sponsor 'Civil War in the Southwest' at Picacho Peak State Park for 2018. It was moved later in the year and now cancelled all together for 2018.

No reason was given apparently, but the thought is the incident with the pipe bomb found at the Virginia reenactment, or the current politics with anything Confederate.
I'm sure whatever the reason behind the NPS cancellation, it isn't a very plausible one. I'm sorry to hear about it.
 
Looks like a state park and not a federal park So it is not the NPS who runs it.
(they don't allow reenactments... so if the event use to involve simulated combat, you can be sure its not the NPS who run the park)
 
It is a state park service.

Sad thing is that this reenactment has been going on annually for a very long time. Always brings a big crowd.
 
sadly, our world (as reenactors) has changed. I was at Cedar Creek, and have been told that the Cedar Creek Battlefield foundation lost $10,000 on that event. Gettysburg remembrance day was threatened. I was there, the parade route was shortened, bomb sniffing dogs, streets blocked off by concrete barriers and sand filled dump trucks, visible security not only with the spectators, but on rooftops and in buildings, and some were mixed in with the reenactors (to us quite visible with the ear pieces). I was carrying my haversack filled with emergency supplies (bottled water, bandannas, and a few other items) in the event we had something thrown at us.

Instead of command planning who will be combined into batteries and who will be in command, now they are also making plans on what to do in an incident occurs and what we will do to account for each groups members.

all of these incidents will have an effect on reenactments. I'm certain that sponsors will be scared off by the possibility of financial loss, and landowners will be hesitant to allow the use of their land.
 
I too was at the Cedar Creek fiasco.

As a retired police officer I have never witnessed such a screwup. Call me kooky and slap me with a fish, but the whole response to this publicity stunt was dam bloody shame. There was no common sense happening. Some calvary officer riding around on his horse dictating misinformation to confused people, Sending them here and there, when he obviously didn't know what was going on.

Being a Canadian with far less layers of policing in my homeland, I found the whole law enforcement response to be quite comical. First the local police came, then the Sheriffs, then the State Troopers, then the FBI and finally the ATF. The waiting for a bomb dog, then the realization the dog would go too "koo koo" because everyone and everything smelled of black powder. Then the "device" was blown up without any regards to blasting holes in the suttlers tent.

After the device was rendered inoperable and the area searced the decision makers decided against saying all clear and carry on, it was everyone has to leave?

Most of the Confederates were booted out for several hours and the union camp site was so far away from the event that the pipe bomb had it been real, would likely not made enough noise to heard from that distance. I personally spoke to one of the Troopers manning the road block who informed me that he had been told they were going to order an evacuation (around 10 PM) I pointed out the fact that much of the Union camp had been drinking since 4:00 and putting a bunch of angry people with guns and liquor in their veins out on the highway with nowhere to go probably wouldn't be a good idea. He agreed and passed the advice up the food chain.

Despite the fact there was no more danger, the road blocks remained in place all night and the next morning. Nobody was allowed into the site and the event was essentially cancelled.

We the great unwashed were advised the following morning that we would be formed up and then would have to break camp. Collectively throughout both camps came a rumble and then a roar, that announce to those in charge and the cowards who plopped the phone pipe bomb that we won't go! We came here to shoot at each other and by God were going to do it.

We did, and then we all celebrated, we erupted into USA! USA! USA! (yes this Canadian was shouting USA!) and then began hugging, shaking hands and singing Dixie and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. and It was GREAT!

As an outsider and an experienced Cop, I was disgusted by the way the law enforcement response to this publicity stunt was handled. The sutlers were hurt financially and the good people of Middleton suffered financially, because nobody had the guts to make the right decision and carry on.

I only hope Cedar Creek happens again in 2018 because I will be there shouting USA USA USA, because it has nice ring to it and the good folks in Middleton deserve to have Cedar Creek continue.
 
Redcoat, I agree that law enforcement was not prepared. And I'm sorry you had to see our country at it's worst. Nothing like this has happened before at an reenactment. And while after an investigation they thought the letter was not credible, they were not prepared for someone else to do what the letter had stated.

Cedar Creek was a wake up call. Gettysburg Remembrance day was different. It was threatened, but law enforcement was ready and the security was high.

The Reenacting community was also unprepared - many of us (me included) thought, "not us, why would they target us with violence?" We were only expecting the occasional protester. We were wrong. I have attended annual meetings post Cedar creek for 2 of the organizations our battery is a member of. Now instead of discussing how the different units will be organized, they are now looking at plans on how to secure our camp and equipment ( with artillery, we have a lot of powder to secure), what to do if an incident occurs, and how to account for all members. The reenactment community was not prepared for this, but will be the next time.

My son was in command of the battery a Cedar Creek. Some information was passed down through reenacting command chains regarding the incident from law enforcement. Most is not for public release, but the one thing that I can say is that the device was a live, active device and not a fake.
 
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Redcoat, I agree that law enforcement was not prepared. And I'm sorry you had to see our country at it's worst. Nothing like this has happened before at an reenactment. And while after an investigation they thought the letter was not credible, they were not prepared for someone else to do what the letter had stated.

Cedar Creek was a wake up call. Gettysburg Remembrance day was different. It was threatened, but law enforcement was ready and the security was high.

The Reenacting community was also unprepared - many of us (me included) thought, "not us, why would they target us with violence?" We were only expecting the occasional protester. We were wrong. I have attended annual meetings post Cedar creek for 2 of the organizations our battery is a member of. Now instead of discussing how the different units will be organized, they are now looking at plans on how to secure our camp and equipment ( with artillery, we have a lot of powder to secure), what to do if an incident occurs, and how to account for all members. The reenactment community was not prepared for this, but will be the next time.

My son was in command of the battery a Cedar Creek. Some information was passed down through reenacting command chains regarding the incident from law enforcement. Most is not for public release, but the one thing that I can say is that the device was a live, active device and not a fake.

Honestly considering the attacks/protests on other historical things related to the civil war the last few years, I don't really see how law enforcement couldn't have considered the possibility of a threat to a reenactment..........
 
My hope is that the Insurance industry stays open to events like this. This should be a wake up call to future events to take site security more seriously,but we can't turn them in situations where security becomes overbearing.

I recognize that my culture is different and we are far less concerned with the liability what if's. But the last thing we need in the reenacting community is security especially volunteers working security to become hard nosed and overly security conscious.

What would be better would be open eyes and common sense.
 
Got a notification from our reenactment group that the park service will not sponsor 'Civil War in the Southwest' at Picacho Peak State Park for 2018. It was moved later in the year and now cancelled all together for 2018.

No reason was given apparently, but the thought is the incident with the pipe bomb found at the Virginia reenactment, or the current politics with anything Confederate.


I did a little research and it appears that it is a rather mundane reason that the event was cancelled. It's called MONEY. I found a little blurb from the Arizona State Parks......


"The reenactors expressed that if they moved their event to the month of November, it would be beneficial as the weather is cooler and Veteran’s Day resides in the month of November. We would be more than happy to discuss with a group that is prepared to assume the cost of their event. However, at this time no organization has stepped forward to help fund their event".

azstateparks.com/picacho/events/civil-war-in-the-southwest-11-17
 
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I did a little research and it appears that it is a rather mundane reason that the event was cancelled. It's called MONEY. I found a little blurb from the Arizona State Parks......


"The reenactors expressed that if they moved their event to the month of November, it would be beneficial as the weather is cooler and Veteran’s Day resides in the month of November. We would be more than happy to discuss with a group that is prepared to assume the cost of their event. However, at this time no organization has stepped forward to help fund their event".

azstateparks.com/picacho/events/civil-war-in-the-southwest-11-17

The event has always been funded by the park service, and the reenactors show up from all over to make the event work.

Reenactors provide their time and equipment, while the park service provides the space/site amenities. The public attending then makes up for the cost of the site amenities from admission.


To tell the reenactors that they now have to fund the event themselves, while also providing their time and equipment as reenactors, is a slap to the face.

I'm not surprised none of the organizations stepped up after being told that.
 
Not unusual situation at all. Public land entities typically have limited budgets for such programs. State or locals have to pledge and put up the funds out of their budget coffers to cover the insurance, logistics and related expenses in advance. Sometimes they might recover the cost from admission if it is a public event. In recent years fewer and fewer have been able to recoup the costs. Many events of the past that were annual affairs... after a couple times of completing the event in the red.. tends to hamper future considerations and funding availability for same. Funding from their own budget ceases, and many times so does the event in question. Quite a few regular events in the past have ceased. It tends to evolve as older events go away and new ones surface.

Sponsoring and Hosting an event is not cheap. If you have a public entity that can foot the bills for coverage and logistics that's great. But fewer and fewer of them can or willing to anymore. Only a handful of historical or reenactor umbrella organizations out there that have the knowledge and infrastructure in place to create and manage events. These commonly are held on private procured lands. These also tend to be more expensive for the organization to build and run. Lease of lands, permits, liability insurance tends to be a lions share of the costs, and getting more expensive each year. Logistics, public safety, etc etc. can all add up rather quickly. Reenactor groups able to host typically are more cautious and review a potential event quite closely well in advance... Remember if the event ends up as a flop...the losses come out of the pockets of the hosting group... not some multi-million dollar operational budget... It can easily be a gamble with high financial risks at stake. Since no one stepped forward to take over and take the lead on this particular event in question, might also be for valid reasons.

Living History and smaller demo style programs tend to be less expensive, which is what majority of events in the post-150th era have become. Battle reenactment events have a much higher costs associated. Particularly if its a public spectator event. You have to provide liability coverage and logistical support for both sides of the tape. Spectator and participant registration fee's habitually provide just enough to break even, and if lucky a modest cushion remaining to give to some designated preservation cause.

This is also why we see more and more of the smaller scale campaigner grade non-spectatored immersion events out there.. Less larger battle events existing... hence these are becoming more common so the guys in the ranks have some outlet and ability to go play and get their fill, that are also much less expensive to put on and manage. Much less potential for the crazies interference as well.

The hobby continues to evolve same as it always has... the up and down cycles are predictable and common. We just change gears and direction to keep it rolling through each cycle as new challenges surface. Having been in the hobby for many decades, have seen the patterns repeat over and over. Nothing new there. Having been on the organizing and host team for many events over the years, so have had a front row seat... was lead event coordinator for one of the 150th events too.... and shared the headaches and challenges that come with it all... Not an easy task.. The guys in the ranks rarely see who all's out there that spent the previous 12-24 months of hard work to build a given event so they will have a place to go and play, nor reality of how much time and work it actually requires. Hence why so few are willing to doing that part.
 
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