2013

Year in Review

The Sesquicentennial reached its High Water Mark during the 2013 season with a relentless series of events including a trio of 150th anniversaries. We started the year with the Trifecta of St. Patrick’s Day Parades (Westhampton Beach, Center Moriches, and NYC) that segued into a Spring filled with a record number of school programs. In June, we participated in three new events including our first visits to the William Floyd Estate and Amityville Historical Society along with the unique experience of burying the cremains of two original Civil War soldiers (of the 39th New York) through the Missing in America Project at the Long Island National Cemetery. We returned to our Spring & Autumn staples of the season: Neshaminy & Cedar Creek. However, the year’s action was centered upon three major anniversaries. The first one, in May, was Spotsylvania in Virginia. The last was of the Gettysburg Address during Remembrance Day. Yet it was Gettysburg 150 that served as the zenith of many a reenactor’s career. Unfortunately, dueling events on opposing weekends precluded a truly historical gathering. We chose the GAC event (a small delegation of us attended the Blue & Gray also) and it certainly was memorable, not least of which was for the excessive heat and relentless sunshine that only broke into rain, dramatically enough, during the finale of Pickett’s Charge. 2013 will certainly be a tough act to follow.