Sec. Kluttz with Dr. Sam Powell (in a Continental Soldier’s uniform) and local school kids
On Monday, October 14, Secretary Susan Kluttz visited Alamance Battleground for the beginning of the historic site’s annual celebration called Colonial Living Week. There, she enjoyed various living history demonstrations along with hundreds of school children. Together, they learned about candle making, rifles, flags, chair caning, writing with a quill, cooking over an open fire and dyeing cloth. The Secretary met a horn maker who demonstrated the art of scrimshaw, or carving. Some of the kids tried their hand at rolling a hoop around the vast grounds which was a favorite game of children during the Colonial era.
Alamance Battleground Site Manager Bryan Dalton, Sec. Kluttz, Jimmy Campbell and Keith Hardison with school kids
Costumed interpreters -- including Dr. Ted Henson, Dr. Sam Powell, Lisa Cox, Chester Bennett, Brianna Jenkins, Jewel Clark and Jimmy Campbell -- made history come alive for the interested kids and adults by discussing their craft or duty and why it was important to people who lived then. Site Manager Bryan Dalton told Secretary Kluttz that ‘Regulators’ battled with Gov. Tryon’s militia over taxes, dishonest sheriffs and unfair fees imposed by the British Crown at Alamance Battleground. While these farmer-soldiers, he said, lost at Alamance, they would become the inspiration for colonists to fight the British during the American Revolutionary War.
At week’s end, attendance at Colonial Living Week topped all records! A total of 3,032 students and adults participated in this fun event. Congratulations Bryan and your team at Alamance Battleground! See you next year.
Click here to see more pictures of the Secretary's trip.