KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) - After 28 years, an annual Civil War reenactment in southeastern Iowa will end after a final gathering in April.
Organizers say the event in Keokuk remains popular with spectators but fewer people wanted to participate in battles. The Keokuk Area Convention and Tourism Bureau, which has been in charge of the event since it started, said it used to have hundreds of re-enactors. But only about 80 people signed up last year to participate.
Some of the $30,000 it takes to put on the annual event is paid through sponsorships, but the rest comes out of the tourism organization’s $150,000 budget, The Hawk Eye (https://bit.ly/1pIVmqx ) reported.
The Rand Park event - which transforms the area into a city from the 1860s, full of soldiers, old time doctors and ladies in hoop skirts - became an increasing strain on the budget, said Kirk Brandenberger, executive director of the tourism bureau. He said he often heard people question how long the event would continue after reaching its 20-year mark.
Deciding to cancel the reenactment was difficult, Pohorsky said, but the bureau wanted to end the event on a good note.
“It’s been too good of an event to piddle away to nothing,” he said.
In its first 20 years, the event focused entirely on the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas, because of its connection to Union soldier and Keokuk Mayor Samuel Curtis.
Once the reenactment reached its 23rd year, the tourism group laid out a five-year plan to reinvigorate it. It came right as the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, was reaching its 150th anniversary.
In 2011, the reenactment featured The Battle of Belmont and the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, both fought in 1861. Organizers hoped the new battles would attract more attention from actors.
“We wanted to follow the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and see if we could increase the numbers,” Pohorsky said. “They went up and down, but they still stayed in that low range.”
Brandenberger said his group isn’t in any hurry to replace the reenactment with another event, but is open to other organizations coming up with other ideas.
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Information from: The Hawk Eye, https://www.thehawkeye.com
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