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Contact: Bobby 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 –On September 13, the National Park Service at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will host the Campfires and Candlelight signature community event for the 31th consecutive year. This interactive, living history event, first staged in 1983, features costumed staff and more than 150 volunteers in encampments and re-enactments on the grounds and inside the buildings of the reconstructed Hudson's Bay Company fort at the national historic site. The tour begins by leading visitors back through the site's past along the Timeline of History, where encampments and demonstrations shadow the lantern-lit, accessible pathway and highlight key people and events from the site's history. Among numerous opportunities, visitors can visit a WWII-era aid station, smell the spruce of the World War I-era Spruce Production Division camp, meet Buffalo Soldiers from late nineteenth-century cavalry regiments, tap rudiments on a snare drum with post-Civil War soldiers, cover ears at the boom of an Army mountain howitzer, play shadow puppets against the lantern-lit canvas of an Oregon Trail wagon, spark a fire with flint and steel and throw trade axes in the Fort Vancouver Village camp, and inspect uniforms and camp equipment from soldiers of many eras of the fort's history. The Timeline of History ends at the gate to the reconstructed stockade, where visitors can step back in time to September 13, 1846---a night the usually-quiet fort buzzed with activity as the Hudson's Bay Company organized a relief effort for the wreck of the American naval vessel USS Shark at the mouth of the Columbia River. Visitors can observe and interact with reenactors in numerous fort buildings, including the Blacksmith Shop, Bake House, Chief Factor's House, Counting House, Carpenters Shop, Kitchen, and Dispensary. Campfires and Candlelight is Fort Vancouver's largest costumed re-enactment, and is only possible through the help of more than 150 costumed interpreters from the park's volunteer team, the park's youth volunteer team, and multiple community partners. What: 31th Annual "Campfires & Candlelight" Special Event Who: Presented by the employees and volunteers of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site When: 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Saturday, September 13, 2014. The Timeline of History begins at 4:00 pm and the reconstructed fort opens at 5:00 pm. Where: The grounds surrounding and including the reconstructed stockade at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1001 East Fifth Street, Vancouver, Washington 98661 How Much: Free! Special Notes: To facilitate event setup, the hours of operation for the reconstructed stockade will be 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Saturday, September 13. The Visitor Center will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13. Carpooling is encouraged as parking is limited. Event parking can be found at the gravel lot immediately north of the fort's garden, near 1001 E. Fifth Street; at the Visitor Center parking lot located at 1501 East Evergreen Blvd.; and available public parking areas within the Reserve. Disabled parking is available at the gravel lot immediately north of the fort's garden, near 1001 E. Fifth Street. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015