To remember the 150th anniversary of the third year of the Civil War, The Fresno Historical Society is hosting a reenactment: the 24th Civil War Revisited, at Kearney Park, Oct. 19-20. The actors are reenacting the turning point battle, the Battle of Gettysburg, which occurred between July 1-3 in 1863.

The reenactment serves as a reminder for the lives lost to restore the union of the US. May the sacrifices of the men who died in battle remind us to not let a dispute come so far that we must wage war against our brothers.

Actor, Bill Peck of Los Angeles, will be portraying the 16th President of the US, Abraham Lincoln. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln will recite one of his most historic speeches, the Gettysburg Address at 2 p.m., Oct. 19.

History teacher, Kori Friesen, expects that the reenactment will come as close to reality as possible.

“I think the reenactment will be a lot of fun,” Friesen said. “Its definitely the closest thing to reality as possible in California. The reenactment is going to show how the soldiers lived, how they did battle, there will even be horses!”

Friesen is offering extra credit to incentivize her U.S. history students to attend the event.

“The extra credit is pretty simple,” Friesen said. “Students have to interview two people playing a prominent character and take a selfie with them on their phones and turning that in on the following Monday.”

The characters played by actors are not just hollow shells of information. They also have entire backstories and past?s students can ask about. Senior Ryan Stewart, having been a part of the reenactment for many years now, is playing the part of a Confederate soldier and will fire a canon on the field. Visitors can find him in the Confederate camp under a green flag.

“The actors portrayal of their characters is incredibly deep,” Friesen said. “They have pasts and a real depth of character, and that?s not just the prominent figures, soldiers also have pasts too. Our own Ryan Stewart, who plays a character in the reenactment, will be a Confederate soldier who ran away from home from an abusive sister.”

With a smile appearing on his face, Stewart remembers and gives details on one of his favorite characters he has played.

“I?ve been doing the reenactments for about five years now,” Stewart said. “One of the character?s I played is Carson O?Neil. I ran away from my farm in Tennessee when I was thirteen to join the army, I was running away from an abusive sister. I got wounded two times and I was nursed back to health by a nurse named Jessica.”

Event spokeswoman, Cindy Wathen, also encourages everyone to attend the reenactment for the start of a new tradition that will hopefully last for years to come.

“We?re going to be introducing a lot of new things this year,” Wathen said. “We will be debuting a new holiday of sorts. It’s called Agricultural Heritage Day. It?s going to show people how people lived in the valley, and how we have very deep agricultural roots.”

In the wake of new traditions, old ones are taking their leave and saying goodbye. Peck, who has been playing the role of Lincoln at the reenactment for years, will finish his role with his delivery of the Gettysburg Address after the reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg.

“Bill Peck is an amazing actor,” Wathen said. “He has this profound effect on people with his amazing, yet very real and genuine performance of Lincoln. We?ve enjoyed having him play such a huge role at our events; it?s sad to see him leave.”

For history enthusiasts there will be a dinner and a ball, Oct. 19. Those interested in attending the event have to pay, but it includes getting to eat with, dance with, and sleep underneath the stars with the people portraying the soldiers who lived in the time of the Civil War.

The battle for Gettysburg begins at 1 p.m. and again at 5 p.m., Oct. 19. The battle will be reenacted again at 1 p.m., Oct. 20. Entrance to Kearney Park for the event is $15 for adults, $8 for children (ages 6-12) and free for ages 5 and under. Parking coupons are available through Friesen or the high school office. The reenactment is sponsored and presented by the Fresno Historical Society.

For more information on the schedule, visit www.valleyhistory.org or call the Historical Society at 559.441.0862.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @RRoggenstein. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more news, read the Oct. 14 article, Choral department holds first performance.