Saturday, 8 October, 2011…
On a beautiful autumn afternoon, a few members of the Sarah A. Crawford Auxiliary, along with Larry Smail and myself, gathered in front of the Worthington-W.F. library[the old high school] to put on a presentation about “Civil War Life: Soldiers and Civilians”…
"Story time..."
We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day, and once the tents were in place, we started the program around 1PM…I spoke for around 45 minutes about the GAR, it’s transition into the Sons Of Veterans’ of the United States, and into its’ current status-the “Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War”…I discussed the changes in membership requirements over the years, the fact that the SUVCW is a national organization, with state departments, and on the local level, camps…I told the small group of the local response to Lincoln’s call for volunteers, and what it means to the members of the Sons to be descendants of those brave men…
I then turned the program over to Auxiliary member Mindy Eckler, who talked about the ladies roles during wartime, on the homefront and at times in the field…she discussed the various fashions of the time, food and cooking, and also, what it means to belong to the
"Mindy's turn"
Auxiliary to the SUVCW…Mindy and I then jointly related stories of soldiers’ diaries, and their letters written and received…
We then invited our guests to get up and look at all of the items on display…the ladies had a very nice display of ladies clothing, accessories, and literature, as well as several types of cookies for sampling[my favorite display!]…
"Addie"-our youngest member
Larry A. Smail was on hand with his civil war painting “The Wheatfield-Whirlpool of Death”, which he displayed on an easel beside an A-tent, which was set up with items relative to the 62nd PVI, including replica brigade, division and regimental flags…the 62nd regiment is featured in the painting, and it made a nice follow up for some of the folks who were present at the library in April, when Larry and I did an indoor program there…
I also had an A-tent set up with a display of typical soldiering equipment[musket, leathers, blanket, ground cloth], along with some of the information about my ancestors who served in the Union Army…
All-in-all, the folks seemed very appreciative of our efforts for the day…
One nice bit of “irony”: As I speaking to the crowd, as they would inform me later, a bald eagle flew over head, encircling our encampment…that is the second event in a row that that has occurred, as the same “fly-over” took place in Smicksburg several weeks ago…
"Bald Eagle"from another day
Photo Credits: All photos by Larry A. Smail, exept “Bald Eagle”, which I captured along the Reesedale Road a few years ago.
