For the past 40 years, Kalamazoo has hosted the largest indoor Living Historyevent east of the Mississippi.
Last month, the Kalamazoo County Expo Center filled with historians, re-enactors and collectors. The event draws people of all kinds who like to imagine themselves as they might have been in a past life. They can be Civil War or Revolutionary War soldiers, fur trappers, or pioneers. Raymond Glazdner has been a historical re-enactor for six decades.
“About reenactments, were getting better," says Glazdner. "We’ve learned not to use original equipment anymore because when you tear it up and break it playing soldier or whatever you’re playing, you can’t replace an original.”
Fellow re-enactor and collector Craig Fisher from Toledo, Ohio, says there’s a reason why he’s drawn to the living history show in Kalamazoo. He’s been coming on and off for 15 years.
“You have a real good nexus of really important urban centers that kind of draw people from not only just the old history of pre-trapper era, " he says. "You have this kind of epic confluence of two important times of history, early 19th century and late 18th century.”
Many re-enactors say they like to dress up, but they also want to bring history alive and entertain. Bob Fragala is known as confederate soldier Captain Robert Moore when he’s re-enacting. Fragala says younger generations should learn more about history. It would help them appreciate what we have today.
“I think the things that’s most forgotten in this generation is why the men fought and what they went through," says Fragala. "I don’t think a kid or young man can even make six months of what these guys did for four years or seven years.”
Raymond Glazdner says the authenticity of the actors and their clothing at these events has really improved.
“Today we try very hard to make sure the clothing we’re wearing matches what were supposed to be doing," he says. "This guys dressed as a 1870s cowboy, he certainly wouldn’t be saying I’m a French Indian war soldier but 20-30 years ago he might of because we weren’t that concerned with authenticity.”
Glazdner says he hopes that people who come to living history events appreciate more than just the spectacle.
“Those who ignore the lessons of history will repeat them. And everybody says it, yet we still ignore the lessons that we’ve learned," he says. "But if we learn them and that’s part of what we try to do, present as many lessons as we can and somebody might listen to us.”
The 2016 Kalamazoo Living History Show will be held next March at the Kalamazoo Expo Center.
