Event Information

Site Information Scenario Guidelines

Registration Information Henkel Square Herald 2008 Photos

Participants will portray citizens of Fayette County, Texas in late February 1861 and Henkel Square will become a generic Fayette County community. Participants will develop impressions such as the town doctor, an itinerant worker, a new arrival, a wealthy widow or a family down on their luck, and develop detailed backgrounds for these impressions.

The aim of this event is to enable participants to experience a semi-immersion pre-Civil War event in Texas. The nature of the event means that interaction will be largely unscripted and unpredictable, allowing all participants to react in character as events naturally unfold. The public may be in attendance, which will also give us an opportunity to interact with them as a person from 1861.

There may be some scripted activities during the day; those that would naturally have been known to the participants, such as a town meeting or church service will be made known to all participants. However, some activities may only be known by the organizer and primary participants in order to maintain a spontaneous natural flow to the event.

The event will officially begin at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday February 27 and end 3:00 p.m. on Sunday February 28

Structure and Household Information

Participants who have registered by the February 1, 2010 deadline and wish to stay on site will be assigned to structures based on their impressions. Detailed information about each structure is available here.

The registration form allows for participants to name other participants they wish to be housed with. Participants are urged to remain in close contact with the members of their households before the event.

Each structure will have a “head of household”. This individual(s) will be responsible for:

Coordinating their household’s impression(s) if applicable,
Ensuring that their household continues to meet the event guidelines throughout the weekend,
Coordinating food needs for their household,
Seeing that the structure is returned to its original condition and provide a list of any issues regarding the structure to the organizer after the event.

Cooking and Food

Each household and/or participant will be responsible for his or her own food and meal preparation. This will provide an opportunity for each participant to decide on the foods that best fit his or her impression and each household to work together to decide what meals and foods are appropriate.

Cooking will be allowed in most of the structures in the fireplaces and in pits on the grounds provided fireplaces are swept clean and pits are refilled after the event.

Arrival Information

Arrival at the site may begin at 3:00 pm on Thursday in preparation for the Friday school day. Those not participating in the school day may begin arriving at 3:00 pm on Friday. Check-in will be at the Mary Phelps house within the site. Pre-registration is required, no walk-ons will be admitted. Parking is available outside the boundaries of the site.

As the event begins at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, it is highly encouraged that participants arrive before then. If you must arrive after 7:00 a.m. be aware that no modern vehicles will be allowed within the site boundaries. Modern items that you require during the event may be brought in ONLY if they can be hidden from view even as you bring them on site. You must also be in period clothes within the boundaries of the site after 7:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Leaving Early

The event will end at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday; no modern vehicles will be allowed on site before then. Participants must also remain in period dress between 7:00 a.m. Saturday and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. If you need to leave the event early due to an emergency, contact the event coordinator and we will find help to pack you up with as little disruption to the event as possible.

First Person

This event is an opportunity to live, as much as possible for a short time, in 1861. To facilitate this for all participants, first person is strongly encouraged within the site perimeters, except during an emergency. This means that anything you say should be what your character might have said. Often times reenactors tend to do “telegraph” first person, which is trying to talk about their modern life by using ‘old timey’ phrases, such as "I'll telegraph you when I get home." or "I got this at Mr. Walton's mercantile." meaning Wal-Mart. Please try to refrain from discussions about modern activities with other participants and the public at all times.

Living history and public education are the whole purpose for this event. Be prepared to interact with other participants and the public.