The 2010 Heritage Days Festival events to be held on Saturday July 31st are well underway. Living history performer Eileen Mae Knapp Patch will be portraying her Great Grandmother in 1880's dress, as she reads letters received from a civil war soldier in her family. While the soldier is not from Port Byron, he faced many of the same hardships and struggles in common with our residents that served in the war. It is a rare look into the civil war from the soldiers viewpoint. Admission will be $1 which will be given to our performer to offset her expenses, since she is driving from Endwell, NY to be a part of the this years civil war theme at Port Byron.
We will also be having a military encampment by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. They will be in period uniforms and bringing much of the equipment that our soldiers would have used during the war such as cooking equipment, rifles and even a canon!
Yours truly will be hosting a cemetery tour, visiting some of our soldiers at rest. Histories of the soldiers and/or regimental histories will be shared. It is encouraged that attendees bring binoculars for a special surprise during the tour. I will be bringing mine to share for those that may not own their own.
These are all new events taking place at this years Heritage Days. A full calender of events for Friday 7/30 and Saturday 7/31 will be available on the Town of Mentz Website in the near future.
Time for all events will be announced at a later date.