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CHRISTOPHER COMMUNICATIONS
Contact: Robert Gutierrez, Park Ranger, 360-816-6247 Contact: Aaron Ochoa, Park Ranger, 360-816-6233 Contact: Greg Shine, Chief Ranger & Historian, 360-816-6231 VANCOUVER, WA -- Visitors will find an exciting mix of familiar and new activities at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site’s annual Campfires and Candlelight living history event, scheduled for 4 to 10 pm this Saturday, September 13, 2014. As in past years, activities will be divided between those inside the reconstructed fort and those in a Timeline of History outside the stockade walls. Outside the reconstructed fort, numerous costumed participants in encampments will form a Timeline of History, walking visitors back in time from the World War II era to 1846. Participating groups this year have expanded to include the Historical Aviation Guild, 113th Cavalry Living History Group, 249th Artillery Group, and 8th Infantry Division Medical Aid Station representing the World War II era; the 7th Infantry Regiment portraying that unit at Vancouver Barracks during the 1930s; Buffalo Soldier living history groups from Seattle and Portland with park staff and volunteers portraying the Army of the Indian Wars era; the First Oregon Volunteer Infantry and First Oregon Volunteer Cavalry representing units onsite during the Civil War era; and park staff and volunteers interpreting Oregon Trail emigrants and employees and families of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Village at Fort Vancouver. To complement the living history encampments in the Timeline of History, the park has added interactive elements for children, including potato sack races, a children’s 1930’s obstacle course, and children’s Kaiser Shipyard races using miniature floaty-boats. In addition, The Vancouver Community Concert Band will perform music from the past, beginning at 5:45 pm. Inside the reconstructed stockade there will be costumed staff and volunteers bringing to life a specific evening from the fort’s past -- September 13, 1846 -- when the employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver learned about the wreck of the American schooner USS Shark at the mouth of the Columbia River and mobilized to provide them with aid and support. Costumed reenactors will be working inside the reconstructed fort’s kitchen, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, infirmary, bakehouse, Indian trade shop, fur store, chief factor’s house, and counting house and visitors can interact with them from 5 to 10 pm while they discuss, plan and prepare items to help the shipwrecked American sailors. Schedule of Activities 4 pm
4:30 pm
5 pm
5:30 pm
5:45 pm
6 pm
6:30 pm
7:30 pm
10 pm
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Last updated: February 28, 2015