Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 24, 1993 TAG: 9307240093
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
John Buck, the Radford living-history buff who's organizing the event, expects 150 or more re-enactors, decked out in period regalia and armed with authentic weapons, to set up camp and put on tactical demonstrations.
Although the militiamen will be encamped all weekend, "the big day is Saturday," Buck said.
In this part of the world, where the Civil War has been the most prominent and popular historical conflict, Buck is hoping "Militia Days" might educate people that the French and Indian War was, by far, the more important.
"The French and Indian War could have changed our lives more than any other," he said.
If the British had not won, "all of the New River Valley would have been in New France," he explained.
By design, the weekend event ties in closely in both venue and time period with "The Long Way Home" outdoor drama.
The play chronicles the trials and tribulations of Mary Draper Ingles who, after her 1755 capture by Indians, managed to escape and make the arduous trek back to the New River Valley from Ohio.
The $2 cost of a "Militia Days" ticket will be deducted if visitors decide to take in the play that evening.
The event also will include Indian re-enactors, some genuine Native Americans among them, as well as some re-enactors as French soldiers.
Among re-enactment militias scheduled to show is the Jamestown Militia.
"They will probably be our oldest time period," Buck said.
They'll be equipped with matchlocks, pikes and even armor.
"This week, we're bringing Jamestown to you," he said.
Visitors also will get to see Radford's own 55th Regiment of Foot, an infantry band to which Buck belongs. They'll bring along three, full-scale artillery pieces - one an original - which will be fired with blank loads.
Other groups will come from North Carolina and Tennessee.
Buck said he started out doing Civil War re-enactments in 1976 and "graduated" to early colonial and Revolutionary War-era soldiering, to which he admits a prejudice.
He said the "Militia Days" encampments will be set up in chronological order, from the Jamestown period through the Civil War.
Visitors will be encouraged to take advantage of the living-history approach and talk with the re-enactors, who, like Buck, have grown accustomed to stepping back in time and assuming various battle-camp roles.
A stickler for detail, Buck said his reputation as an expert in historical trivia has blossomed to the point that he's been called in as a consultant on an upcoming Disney Studios movie dealing with the French-and-Indian War period, his favorite.
"Everybody knows about the flamboyant things," he said.
"I excel at the ordinary, what they wore, what they ate."
Buck, who said he's a descendant of the Rev. Richard Buck - a Puritan who arrived in Jamestown with Lord Baltimore in 1610 - focuses on "their lives, their hardships, their mistakes."
His ancestor, whose arrival coincided with "the starving time" - a period of widespread famine - "was just fortunate enough to have lived."
Buck hopes "Militia Days" will not only entertain but educate visitors.
"You'll walk away knowing a whole lot more," he said.
"Militia Days" will run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. today and Sunday at The Long Way Home amphitheater on First Street (Virginia 232), about 1/4-mile from Exit 105 of Interstate 81.
Admission is $2 (deducted from the cost of a ticket to "The Long Way Home" outdoor historical drama in the evening).
For more information, call 639-2436.
"Militia Days" Today: 10 a.m., camps open to public; 10 a.m.-noon, live-fire shoot; noon-1 p.m., lunch; 1-1:45 p.m., 17th-century demonstration; 2-2:45 p.m., French & Indian War demonstration; 3-3:45 p.m., Revolutionary War demonstration; 5 p.m., camps close to public. Sunday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., camps open to public.
by CNB