Friends of Historic Vineland

Each year, the Friends of Historic Vineland have sponsored a "Founder's Day" event for

the benefit of the school children and the people of this area. The event has grown larger every year, with this one promising to be the members of the

Friends in conjunction with local Civil War Reenactors will host all of the third grade school children of the Vineland School District at the

Elwin School Complex ( the old Ames Training School) located at Main Road and Landis Avenue with a living history event. There will be a session in

the morning, and one in the afternoon. Discussions and demonstrations will be presented of the history of Vineland and of the Civil War. Each session will

end with a Civil War reenactment event and the firing of guns and cannon. In the evening, the Civil War reenactors will set up their tents.

Invited also will be local Boy Scout troops for a Boy Scout Jamboree. They will be present from Friday night, to Sunday morning. On Saturday, (the day

especially planned for the general public) the events will begin at 10:00 AM and last till 4:00 PM. A "tent city" will be present courtesy of the Friends with

individuals demonstrating and speaking of the history of Vineland. The Civil War Reenactors will demonstrate drilling, firing of cannon and other aspects of

Civil War soldiering. They will have their own tent city and will show how they cooked, slept, and lived in their tents.

Discussion will be given of Civil War medicine, and other interesting aspects of that war. The Women's Club of Vineland will host a contest to judge the

woman that has the most authentic Civil War dress, the best hat, and so forth. There will be a barbecue in the afternoon with tickets sold at a reasonable price.

The children that attend will be allowed to "join the army" where they will be given a "bummer cap" (north or south as they prefer) then trained for the cavalry or

infantry. If they join the cavalry they will train by riding a pony, and if they join the infantry they will drill with make-believe guns. They girls can "sneak" into the army,

or they can take lesions in nursing. While all of this is going on, there will be an antique car show in front of the school. All in all, it should be an interesting day, and

we would love for you to attend!!