Breathing New Life Into Civil War Reenacting In New Jersey

By Joe Bordonaro · Originally published September 2016 · p. 9

As many readers of the Civil War News no doubt know, Civil War reenacting in New Jersey has been in a severe decline in the last few years. It’s hard to say why there are fewer reenactments happening in New Jersey. As one example, a traditional Civil War reenactment held at Veterans Park in Hamilton, N..J., is no longer being held despite the fact that it drew many reenactors and

(Chris Wantuck)

large numbers of the public. And so it’s nice to see that Civil War reenacting has found a new venue at Allaire Village in Allaire State Park, N..J. Thanks to hard work by Tom Burke, Trustee, and former President, of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association, a Civil War reenactment was held in Allaire for the first time this year. In the past six years, Civil War living history programs have been conducted at Allaire Village, and the New Jersey Civil War reenacting community was able to demonstrate their ability to present a quality living history program, but a reenactment featuring firing of Civil War-type weapons was not allowed. Tom Burke explained what was involved in getting this reenactment set up (and this may explain why there are so few Civil War reenactments in the state): “This includes obtaining the permits from the state, coordinating with The Historic Village of Allaire and the Pine Creek Railroad; working with the State Park Police and local First Aid EMTs; dealing with our insurance company; contacting the businesses that advertise in the event program; creating the ads and laying out the event program and being on-site for about five days to insure that everything runs smoothly and to troubleshoot any problems that do arise. I also attend the USV meetings in Gettysburg, the Mifflin Guard meeting in Lawrenceville, the Union

Volunteers meeting in Oxford, as well as many individual gatherings to make sure that the event gets on everyone’s calendar.” Having found out that these living history programs drew large numbers of people to the Village, and having developed trust in the safety and authenticity of the program, the administrators of the Village gave their permission to allow a reenact-

Allaire Mike Suchernick from Jackson, N.J., entertains the visitors to camp with his fiddle playing. (Chris Wantuck)

ment to be held at their site. They were not disappointed, nor were the many people who came to the Village to experience a bit of what a Civil War battle would have been like and to have an opportunity to interact with the people presenting the program. Hopefully, the event will go on to grow larger and draw more visitors to the Village to learn a little about a crucial time in our nation’s history. And surely, the success of the event will lead to other historic sites in the state giving some thought about having their own “Civil War Days.” Allaire Charlie Dorn, of Ocean Township, demonstrates the art of candlemaking. (Chris Wantuck)