This past weekend was National Road Festival weekend for the communities along Rt. 40 in Pennsylvania. I fell in with the local 28th Infantry Co. K for a living history encampment as part of the festival. We set up at the Brownsville Steam and Gas Association’s fairgrounds located 4 miles west of Brownsville, PA. There was only one other group of reenactors at the event: a convivial group of 18th Century folks who camped just behind us (a tip of the hat to Carl Garofalo, Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Haines and the other folks in their group for a nice display). However, the event was definitely a living history event in the best sense. A group of people coming together to celebrate and preserve the past and, hopefully, teach others. In this case, the Brownsville S &G Assn. does a very nice job.
For the readers unfamiliar with this group or their hobby, these are folks who collect, restore and hopefully, run old-time machinery. I saw everything from old farm tractors to Steam-powered earth-moving equipment that looked like the ones in pictures of the building of the Panama Canal. There were also a large variety of venerable trucks and a number of stationary engines of various kinds. In addition, the grounds feature an area which serves as a site where the earth movers can actually do what they were designed to do. So, all day Saturday, the air was filled with the sounds and smoke from old machines rumbling and clanking. It was very cool.
There were also antique cars (what seemed to be a Model A Ford club was prominent) as well as a flea market of some size. So, there was something for just about everyone. We actually found some WWII items in the flea market as an added bonus.
There was a good turnout by the public despite the occasional rain showers, and we had quite a few curious folks come through our camp. Also, despite the rain, we managed to have a very pleasant time. The guys in the 28th are a good group of folks to be around. Thanks to Shawn and Randy Keif and their families, Rege Biggerstaff, Bill Burress and Don Grimm for a great weekend.
As I have said before, I think that good, small living history displays can do a lot to promote interest in history. I think the motto should be: If you can’t be big, at least be good.
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