Annual Civil War Days Sept. 18 and 19, with school days on the
17th
The annual Civil War Days event at the San Benito County
Historical Park in Tres Pinos will include the same battles and
cannon fire between Confederate and Union troops, but this year’s
organizers have a few new things on the agenda.
Annual Civil War Days Sept. 18 and 19, with school days on the 17th
The annual Civil War Days event at the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos will include the same battles and cannon fire between Confederate and Union troops, but this year’s organizers have a few new things on the agenda.
The event, put on by the National Civil War Association and the San Benito Historical Society, will be held at the Historical Park, 8300 Airline Highway, Sept. 18 and 19. The group is also hosting a school program Sept. 17, and educators are encouraged to call for reservations.
“First of all it is going to be different than last year,” said Teresa Thompson, who is the site coordinator for the event with her husband Jim. “Last year was kind of boring, but this year we are going to have battles and we will have some different scenarios.”
One of the new scenarios will include the Firehouse Company building that was recently moved to the Historical Park from downtown Hollister. There will also be a pharmacy/general store this year.
“We will still have the blacksmith, an orphanage, the school house and we will have a school marm,” Thompson said. “The saloon will have period card games. We will have a Confederate spy so people will have to find out who the spy is.”
The town this year will be Confederate occupied.
“Union folks will try to take back the town,” Thompson said.
There will be two battles between the troops on Saturday, using plenty of gunpowder and cannons, and one on Sunday. Sunday will also feature a church service at 10 a.m., followed by a social and Rounders game.
“People are invited to bring a lunch or we will have a food vendor on site,” Thompson said.
Rounders is a game that is similar to baseball, but it will be period accurate.
With two weeks left to go before the event, Thompson said about 200 kids were signed up to participate in the school program on Sept. 17. She was hoping to have a total of 400 signed up before the day. She added that the program is open to all grades.
“History is such an integral part of San Benito County,” she said. “We want people to experience living history so we cater to all grades.”
Thompson said the local reenactment is connected to a tradition that dates back almost as far as the Civil War itself.
“Way back when the Civil War happened, the guys who fought together had reunions,” she said. “They did not want this country to experience that same type of horror. They wanted people to reenact what happened during the war so they would remember why it was so bad.”
Thompson said the Tres Pinos event is unique because it has space for a battlefield, but the historical buildings allow them to portray town life as well. The re-enactors host events around the state in such places as Sacramento, Mariposa, Fresno and other cities.
“We have a very unique venue to interact with the public in a town setting,” Thompson said. “It’s not something we get in any other event.”
One of those scenes of town life includes a boarding house. The woman who does the impression of the boarding house owner packs up a house full of antiques to furnish the Sullivan House at the Historical Park.
“She has the kids open the drawers and touch everything,” Thompson said. “She talks about what it is like to cook on a wood stove.”
Even the clothes the volunteers wear were created by taking apart Civil War era garments, creating a pattern and then making new clothes that are accurate to what was worn in 1863.
“We base all the historical impressions on first-hand accounts – diaries and journals,” she said.
Last year, a movie was shot at the park and Thompson said they are hoping to release it in Hollister later this year as a way to promote the park.
Thompson, who is on the board of the Historical Society and also involved with the National Civil War Association, has a goal in mind for attendance at the weekend event.
“I’d like to see a couple thousand each day,” she said.
Civil War Days will be Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the San Benito County Historical Park, in Tres Pinos. School Days is Sept. 17. Admission is $5, kids 9 and under are free. Parking is $3 a car. In addition to the battles there will be a variety of other scenarios around town life in the 1860s. For more information or to RSVP for the School Days event, call 408-859-3764.
