February 19, 2012. Allaire Village hosted the celebration of George Washington's birthday as it was held in the 1800's.
I arrived around 12:30 PM and I heard a drum cadence off in the distance. There were costumed re-enactors and visitors to Allaire Village heading toward the Allaire Chapel.
The drum got louder and into view came the Militia which also headed toward the chapel. The officer in charge put his men at ease and ordered them to fall out and enter the chapel.
Dignitaries and speakers had front row seats.
This chaplain started the proceedings by explained the history of the George Washington Birthday celebration throughout the country and especially at Allaire Village. He mentioned that in the old days the chapel activities took about 3 hours and Mr. Allaire would let his workers have the day off with compensation.
Following was a wonderful a capella vocal.
The chaplain introduced three dignitaries who spoke highly of George Washington in battle and as the Father of Our Country.
These young ladies, read more about the traditional birthday celebration from the 1800's.
The program ended with the singing of our national anthem led by this young lady who was partially hidden by the congregation, who was standing during the anthem.
After the chapel ceremony, the militia drummer started up again and the crowd followed the military men throughout the park.
The militia ended this phase of the day at the Stage Depot, where they were ordered to fall out. The talented drummer also played the flute.
Before leaving the Village, I stopped in at the Carpenter's shop. The gentleman in charge was a former blacksmith in the village, but he was very familiar with the activities of the carpenters shop and was able to answer all visitor questions.
It was nice to see smiling re-enactors all around the village to set the mode of the 1800's activities.
It was another interesting and fun learning experience at Allaire Village.