The Reenactor Post

Portersville Steam Show – 28th Infantry Living History

October 14, 2009 - 4 Comments

by Jim Barnes

The weekend of October 3 and 4 marked the first time that Co. K of the 28th Infantry Division, 110th Regiment, participated in the Portersville Steam Show at Portersville, Pa. This is a very nice event which is put on by the Northwest PA Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association Inc. It offers an opportunity to view some very interesting old machinery of many different kinds. Often, they have a Civil War group participating, but for this event, they invited us.

Besides the working machines, they feature an old-fashioned print shop, a blacksmith shop, an early service station, an old-time machine shop and exhibition halls. There was also a flea market where we were able to pick up   a few vintage military items.

Rege had suggested that I bring my other impressions along for some variety and I did so. Therefore, for Saturday, I portrayed a German prisoner of war and on Sunday, I functioned as a Soviet Liaison with the 28th. This seemed to spice things up and stimulated a goodly number of questions. We had good crowds all weekend and, as frequently occurs, we had a couple of WWII veterans stop by and talk about their experiences.

I view these old equipment shows as just another part of the living history community. Just as reenactors preserve history through weapons, uniforms, field equipment and military vehicles, these folks preserve domestic history with their steam engines, horse drawn farm equipment and their printing presses. It is nice to have an opportunity to bring the two segments together.

The Steam Association folks really seemed to enjoy having us there and went out of their way to thank us and invite us back. I think we all enjoyed the weekend and I would not be surprised at all if we come back next year.

Also, thanks to Shawn and Randy Keif, Rege Biggerstaff, Bill Burress and Don Grimm for another successful weekend for this unit. It is definitely a group effort.