Independence Village - May 25-28, 2012
Location - reconstructed rural central Illinois village near Oakton, IL (close to Charleston, IL and Eastern Illinois University)
Date - May 25-28, 2012
Website - http://sites.google.com/site/starofthewestsociety/upcomingeventsYahoo Group - http://groups.google.com/group/independencevillageScenario - immersion event depicting May 1862 daily life
Registration Fee - $30 per person for previous event participants through March 1. New participant registration opens March 2. Fee may be increased, please see website for details. Children aged 0-14 are free.
Please note: space is limited in the village.
I know that we have talked about this event on other threads, but wanted to break it out for those who are looking for the official event announcement.
The setting is a rural village in Coles County, Illinois, in May 1862. Village residents are going about their daily lives, doing chores, and working in their gardens. Although this is a pleasant time of year, with visits, social times, and shared work, the war is never far from our minds. Soldiers may be visiting their homes on furlough or to recover from their wounds.
Impressions. Independence residents are respectable, hardworking farm folk and skilled craftsmen. They wear serviceable work clothes, and a good suit or dress for the Sunday church service. Participants work out their individual impressions based on their interests and their skills. There is room for about 20 people, depending on their household relationships.
There will be no spectators. We have the village to ourselves from Friday through Monday.
Immersion. Our events are total immersion. That means that no modern talk is permitted from the time the event goes "live" until the event ends. Specific "live times" will be discussed and agreed upon the google list as the event approaches.
Children are especially welcome. There will be a session for school children on Saturday, where they will learn basic penmanship, geography, arithmetic, and history.
The village is a small hamlet of about ten historic dwellings and shops, dating from the 1820s through the late 1850s, clustered in a wooded area. The buildings are furnished, and most have working fireplaces. This is a rural frontier setting -- no electricity, no bathrooms, plenty of critters.
Nanci Gasiel
