Wednesday, Feb 28th, 2008
School Talk at Lincoln Douglas School in Freeport, Illinois.
Attendees-- Antina, Kate, Erik, Lisa, Tim
I met Erik at his workplace in Rockford at 8:00am and we headed out to Freeport
for the school. We arrived shortly before 9:00. Erik finished getting into
uniform and we headed into the building to seek out the ladies. It didn’t take
long to do so.
After I assisted Lisa in transporting some gear from her classroom, Antina
outfitted me with the rest of the accoutrements to complete my uniform.
As the fourth-graders came in, we introduced ourselves and Erik began speaking
about the military of the time. Among his key points was the average equipment a
soldier carried on his person. He used me as an example, pointing out the
various accoutrements and clothing designs. He and Antina continued describing
the other military uniforms on display while I continued to play “mannequin”
for them.
We then went over some basic military drills with them. It took a little bit of
leading by example, but they caught on fairly quickly. We showed them some
simple marching exercises as well as rank and file formation.
After the military segment, the ladies began discussing wardrobe and activities
of the time including the correct mourning traditions and day-to-day clothing
We then got the entire class paired up for a demonstration of the Virginia Reel.
Most of the kids got it fairly early on, but there were a few that needed
assistance from some of us. After a few times around, they seemed to have the
hang of it.
By then, our time was pretty much up and the gym/cafeteria was filling up for
lunch time. We went to another room and grabbed some lunch.
At 1:00 or so we were preparing for our presentation for the entire school.
They announced Lisa in first, followed by Antina, Erik and Kate, and then
myself. Erik spoke about the military and the uniforms and used me as an
example just as before. We then stepped back and Lisa used Antina and Kate
as models to describe the various dresses worn during the time. We then
gave a short demonstration of the Virginia Reel and did a short Q&A segment
with the students.
Overall, everyone seemed very pleased with our presentation.
Company
C, 1st Regiment United States Sharpshooters
