Civil War re-enactment coming to Carpentersville

Carpenter Park has been nearly empty since plans to renovate and upgrade the space were stalled more than a year ago.

Park equipment and facilities had already been removed when state funding for the project was frozen in March 2015, at which point construction was suspended and several community events were canceled or relocated.

This summer, however, Carpentersville's flagship park will be transformed into a Civil War battlefield, complete with cannons and other props, for a two-day re-enactment event expected to draw thousands of spectators.

Earlier this year, Carpentersville created a new special events commission tasked with planning more events, particularly those that would draw residents to the park, off Carpenter Boulevard. Trustee Pat Schultz, commission chairwoman, said the Civil War re-enactment will do just that while also serving as a historical, educational and family-friendly event.

“We need to engage our residents,” she said. “For years, we've had people say they've got to go someplace else to do something. I think people would like to come down to (an event) in their own backyard.”

The event, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 6 and 7, will be hosted by the Stanford's Battery Reenactor Group, a Chicago-area nonprofit that performs at schools and events. The group also hosts a re-enactment event each year in Lombard.

“Our mission in our unit is to get the Civil War history out there for people to get knowledge of it,” said Chuck Wozniak, Stanford's Battery board president.

In addition to re-enactments, the event will include hands-on clinics for spectators. A blacksmithing forge, for example, will be on site so attendees can learn how to make objects, such as a horseshoe, Wozniak said. Individuals will be taught how to work the cannons, he said, and kids can practice marching with fake rifles.

“We've never done this before,” Wozniak said. “Our organization tries to do something different. We try to make things more fun.”

An Abraham Lincoln impersonator will be in attendance, as well as the 1st Brigade Band, a Wisconsin-based group of musicians playing antique instruments dating back to the Civil War era.

Additionally, drama students from Dundee-Crown High School have agreed to perform skits on the Carpenter Park grandstand.

“I really, really hope we're going to get our residents down there to enjoy something nice in the park for a couple of days,” Schultz said. “I think (Stanford's Battery) is as excited about coming here as we are to have them.”