OK, (no pun intended), I recently tried something new…Old West reenacting. Old Bedford Village held a reenactment of the events that took place in Tombstone, Arizona between the Earps and the Clanton-McLaury faction in 1881. Although I didn’t take part in the gunfight itself, I had a good time walking around the town, hanging out at the saloon and chewing the fat with the other ‘townspeople’, such as ‘Mild Bill’ Donegan and the lovely Linda.
The village was set up to resemble a typical old west town (at least as seen in movies) with a saloon (complete with soiled doves), jail, school, blacksmith shop and other staples as well as residences. There were a couple of snake oil salesmen operating in town and regular stagecoach runs. A number of vendors selling western gear were present. There was one major holdup of the stage, a getaway by the bandits and a large shootout when the bad guys were cornered.
The event was open to the public, so there were a lot of 20th Century types roaming around. I guess that this enabled the reenactors to get in without having to pay anything. That works for me. Although I only went for one day, I had an enjoyable time and would like to do more events of this type. Hopefully, some more will be scheduled in this area.
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