For More Information Contact:
Colleen Pillus
845-486-2000
Email: cpillus@dutchessny.gov
Poughkeepsie…The 2014 Dutchess Heritage Days program season will kick off on the weekend of June 14-15th at Tymor Park with the Dutchess Heritage Days History Fair and Civil War Weekend. This new offering combines last year’s successful Civil War reenactment with a gathering of the county’s historical societies, sites, and preservation groups. The Town of Union Vale will host this historic gathering at Tymor Park, located at 8 Tymor Park Road, LaGrangeville, NY, offering a central venue for organizations and visitors from across the region.
The event will feature the History Fair with displays and presentations on county history inside Tymor Park’s large hall. History Fair participants include the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Dover Historical Society, Hopewell Depot Restoration, and Town of Amenia Historian Arlene Iuliano and many others.
The Civil War Weekend will include an encampment featuring musket and artillery demonstrations, on-going camp life activities, and a skirmish each afternoon. The Dutchess Antislavery Singers, members of the Mid Hudson Antislavery Project who research and perform abolitionist music in period attire, will sing on Saturday afternoon. Lectures on the United States Sanitary Commission (predecessor to the USO) and Women in the Civil War, along with on-going demonstrations of period medical practices, will round out the event presentations. Children’s activities will include drill sessions with wooden muskets following the morning marching and firing demonstrations and the afternoon skirmish on Saturday. The recreated 150th (Dutchess County) Regiment of New York Volunteers is leading the charge on the reenactor programming, supported by the recreated 119th New York Volunteers, the 27th Connecticut Regiments and Crenshaw’s Virginia Artillery.
"This event offers a unique opportunity for Dutchess County residents and visitors from across the region to sample our three hundred years of shared history,” said County Historian William P. Tatum III. “Tymor Park will act as a one-stop clearing house for Dutchess Heritage, providing visitors with information on sites to visit and a variety of presentations that will bring our past to life."
This event is free and open to the public, running from 9 AM-5 PM on Saturday and 9 AM- 4 PM on Sunday. Download a complete schedule of the weekend’s activities, along with a full listing of the Heritage Days season offerings (.pdf).
If your organization is interested in participating in the History Fair with a presentation and/or display, please contact Dutchess County Historian William Tatum III at (845) 486-2381 or email wtatum@dutchessny.gov.
