Opening out a Civil War folding table, Spencer Deal showed the “wooden spring” beneath and then the reproduction table he made from the pattern. “This weighs less than a modern folding card table,” he said.
Deal and his wife, Anita, of Pea Ridge, were reenactors this weekend at the Battle of Pea Ridge reenactment.
“I personally enjoy reenacting because I get to use a lot of my skills,” Spencer said, showing off some of the wooden items he has made as replicas. “I cane chairs, too.”
The Deals previously were Revolutionary War reenactors and are just getting into the Civil War period.
“A lot of people have hobbies that they can use in reenactments,” he said, citing blacksmithing, carpentry, making sorghum as examples.
Hundreds of people lined the sides of the pastures of the Kent Webb farm on the stateline between Missouri and Arkansas to watch the battles portrayed.
The weather was cold and damp with occasional snow flakes. The ground was muddy, not unlike it was 151 years ago.
“It reminds me a lot of the military park,” Alayna Brown said. The 12-year-old daughter of Gary and Jerine Brown was watching the reenactment with her parents and siblings. “It’s like going back in years visually. It’s heart touching.”
Her father, Gary Brown, said: “It helps remind us of the sacrifice people made.”
“If I was in that position, I would be absolutely terrified,” Levi Brown, 15, said, realizing that many young men his age fought in the battle.
Late on Saturday, Steve Bailey, coordinator of the event, canceled the Sunday reenactment due to weather. He said he could not have snow or ice on the large tent rented for the symposium and that many reenactors were concerned about getting safely home with winter weather conditions threatening.
News, Pages 1 on 03/27/2013