Civil War re-enactment, a Memorial Day tradition in Coldwater, has ended

After 13 years, the Memorial Day weekend Civil War re-enactment in Coldwater is no more, a victim of the pandemic and in-fighting among board members.

Last year, Jacquie Astling, chairman of the non-profit volunteer group that sponsored the annual event, had promised, "We will be back next year with an even bigger bang with even more cannons and guns."

Coldwater city manager Keith Baker said she informed him earlier this year the group would not hold the four-day event in 2022.

Astling said trouble began with the president of the not-for-profit moved to another state and "took all of our grant documents."

She also said a fight took place, but she did not want to go into further details.

"Legally, you can't do a lot about that. We spent a fortune in legal fees, trying to get everything back," she said.

"It just became too much, too much fighting to volunteer your time to try to save something that other people were bent on destroying," Astling said.

Because of the in-fighting, sponsors dropped out.

The group tried to hold a Civil War re-enactment in 2021. Then, local health agency officials said Civil War campers were limited to 300 at the outdoor park. Organizers had no way to control the size of the crowd.  Another issue was many of those who started the event in 2006 passed or moved away.

Annually, Air Force Capt. Larry Hoffman Sr. attended the city council meeting in his Civil War uniform to invite the public to the event. He died in 2016.

For its first five years, previously held at the Branch County fairgrounds, "Civil War Days" moved to the city's Heritage Park along Cemetery Lake. The volunteer organization moved to the city park so it did not have to charge admission. Organizers had to rent the fairgrounds for the event.

Key to the program was the Friday educational day. Re-enactors demonstrated Civil War camp life and skills from the era. Blacksmiths crafted iron. Cooks made camp meals.

In 2019, 37 busloads of students from Branch County and surrounding counties attended in the rain. Merchant traders and food vendors also attended the encampment.

Renamed "River through Time" in 20919 to show off military equipment and those from other U.S. wars, the gathering's big draw still was the Civil War battles. Soldiers fired cannons from the hills overlooking Coldwater River and Cemetery Lake at Union and Confederate troops below.

Little River Railroad provided steam engine trips to Quincy and back with President Abraham Lincoln on board. Dances were held at the Masonic Hall.   

Re-enactors from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the South drew crowds of more than 1,000 to Coldwater for Memorial Day weekend and filled the city with visitors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Civil War re-enactment tradition in Coldwater has ended