ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP Beaver Creek park event to re-create frontier life

This is the event's third year, and organizers hope it will grow in popularity.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Life on the Ohio frontier will be depicted at an upcoming rendezvous set for next month at Beaver Creek State Park.
The event will re-create a common occurrence in early 19th-century pioneer life -- an annual gathering of trappers, hunters, American Indians and other backwoods denizens to trade and socialize.
Staging the free affair will be people from throughout Ohio and from other states whose pastime is portraying the era when flintlocks, tomahawks and buckskins were as common as cell phones and computers are today.
Dates of the rendezvous are June 27, 28 and 29. The public will be allowed in to watch the re-enactors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
The Columbiana County Forest and Parks Council, a volunteer group associated with the park, is hosting the rendezvous, said Jim Tillman, park director.
"It's a natural for us to put on something like this," Tillman said.
Beaver Creek State Park lies mostly in St. Clair Township, just a few miles north of Little Beaver Creek's confluence with the Ohio River, which was a major frontier waterway.
The park's sizable hardwood forest, rushing creek and pioneer village make it easy to imagine Ohio's beginnings as a backwoods territory.
This year's rendezvous marks the third time the park has hosted such an event. Typically, about 100 re-enactors set up the camp in which the rendezvous is held.
Authenticity
Strict rules apply to participants. No modern conveniences, even matches, are permitted, Tillman said.
Observers will be allowed in the camp to watch the activities, which may include demonstrations of frontier arts, such as hide tanning, tomahawk throwing and long-rifle marksmanship.
Not only will rendezvous participants be garbed in period dress, many will depict the speech and mannerisms attributed to backwoods folk of that time.
Some re-enactors may sell period handcrafts such as carvings, Tillman said.
In a separate area from the rendezvous, craftsmen will be allowed to sell items that might have been popular in the early 19th century, such as handcrafted candles.
Spectators have totaled about 1,000 for the entire weekend of previous events.
Tillman said he's hopeful the rendezvous's popularity will grow.
The event will be located along Echo Dell Road near the center of the park. Echo Dell is reached by taking state Route 7 to Bell School Road.
For more information, call the state park at (330) 385-3091.
leigh@vindy.com