Re-enactors camping at Celebrate Poland

By RICK ROUAN

Attendees will find a ‘living history’ at the Civil War encampment.

POLAND — People like to say that those who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it.

Jim Duvall and Mike Cornelius live by that creed. But they do like to repeat history — at least a little bit.

The two men are leaders of separate camps in a Civil War re-enactment at the annual Celebrate Poland, a Fourth of July celebration taking on a new twist this year with the addition of the re-enactment.

“The last thing this country needs is to repeat its history,” said Cornelius, who portrays a colonel in the 4th Alabama Confederate Unit.

The event committee added the re-enactment to the celebration because of Poland’s connection to the Civil War, said Terri Windsor, one of the event’s organizers. She said William McKinley’s sisters are buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland and that he volunteered to join the Union army at the Olde Stone Tavern, where Celebrate Poland will dedicate an Ohio Historical Society Marker this weekend.

But the former president’s sisters aren’t the only Civil War-era ancestors buried there, said Duvall, who portrays the captain of the 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry on the Union side of the war. Three original members of the 61st OVI are buried in Riverside, and re-enactors will tour the cemetery as part of the celebration.

“Virtually everybody in this country has ancestry that fought blue or gray,” said Duvall, 47, of Youngstown.

Celebrate Poland, an annual event, which costs about $13,250 to put on, will feature a slew of events, including a craft show, chalk art, petting zoo and Poland Idol, an imitation of the popular television show “American Idol.”

The celebration is from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. today at the Poland Village Hall.

“It’s a nice place to bring the family to get away from it all,” Windsor said. “We’re like the kickoff for the Fourth of July weekend.”

Attendees will find a “living history” at the Civil War encampment, said Cornelius, a 50-year-old McDonald resident.

“Everything we’re doing is what you don’t read in your history book,” he said.

The encampment is split between the easily identifiable Union and Confederate forces.

On Friday afternoon, Confederate re-enactors sat littered across their rag-tag camp while Union soldiers sat neatly beneath the captain’s tent.

All of the re-enactors wore heavy wool uniforms despite temperatures reaching 84 degrees.

“It gives the members and general public an idea of what they went through,” Cornelius said.

Giving the public an opportunity to see what life was like for Civil War infantry is an important educational opportunity, said Frank Young, 35, of Girard, on the Confederate side.

“I wasn’t good at history in school,” he said. “I’m seeing it and living it, and now I understand it.”

rrouan@vindy.com

Here’s a lineup of Saturday’s events:

Civil War encampment, next to Village Hall, all day.

Craft show, Village Hall lawn, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Car show, games, Chinese auction, behind Village Hall, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Chalk it Up for Poland!, Village Hall sidewalk, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Re-enactment of William McKinley entering Union Army, Olde Stone Tavern, 11 a.m.

Petting zoo and pony rides, Village Hall, noon to 3 p.m.

Poland Idol, Poland Village Hall gazebo, noon to 4 p.m.

Civil War re-enactment, Baird Mitchell Field, 4 to 5 p.m.

Karate demonstration, behind Village Hall, 5 to 6 p.m.

Second Chance Band, behind Village Hall, 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Lamplight tour of Riverside Cemetery, entrance to Riverside Cemetery, 8:30 p.m.

“Red Badge of Courage” viewing, Yellow Creek Theatre, 9:30 p.m.