One-tank road trips: November 2008 Archives

My little grandson enjoys the annual Nativity creche scene on York Street in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The borough's Christmas tree now graces the traffic circle in the town square, and local businesses are gearing up for the Thanksgiving weekend and the start of the Christmas season.

From the Gettysburg Times...

Gettysburg's holiday season starts on Baltimore Street Saturday, Nov. 29, with the Christmas Parade at 7 p.m., and holiday events, 5-9 p.m. at six locations in the neighborhood of historic Baltimore-at-Breckenridge streets.

I will be posting nearly two dozen photos of this classic 1960s diorama that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, over the years.

See my Charge! blog to view these pictures.

A typical miniature wargaming layout / diorama created by Scott Mingus of the Johnny Reb Gaming Society, an international wargaming association headquartered in York County. {Click to enlarge)

More than 1,200 military hobbyists / miniature wargamers packed the Eisenhower Inn and adjacent All-Star Sports Complex in Gettysburg this past weekend for the annual Fall-In! wargaming convention. The show features scores of miniature wargames from all periods of warfare, including the Civil War. A dealers' hall and flea market in the All-Star offer shoppers a wide variety of merchandise of interest, including historical books, paintings, art prints, collectible 54mm toy soldiers from such makers as Conte and Britains, miniature wargaming and military diorama accessories and figures, and other goodies.

Photograph of Winslow's Battery marker in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg National Military Park. Taken by Kim Shayda of the York Civil War Round Table during a recent battle walk.

I am attending the annual Fall-In miniature wargaming convention this weekend at the Eisenhower Conference Center and All-Star Sports Complex just south of Gettysburg. Among the hundreds of wargames was one that replayed the fighting at the wheatfield, and, in particular, the attack by the II Corps division of John C. Caldwell that temporarily cleared the wheatfield of Rebels.

Author Robert Trout, Jr. will be speaking to the Lancaster Civil War Round Table about his latest book entitled Memoirs of the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Known for his books about General J.E.B. Stuart, Trout has again taken on the task of telling the story of some of Stuart's men in the artillery division. Written by the participants, these first-hand narratives and accounts of life during the Civil War in Stuart's Artillery Battalion make for fascinating reading. This latest volume of the "Voices of the Civil War" series, compiled and edited by the noted J.E.B. Stuart authority and historian, contains brief bio's on every officer in the battalion from the lieutenants to the colonels.

Lancaster Civil War Round Table meets at the Lititz Public Library. Registration is suggested but not required. Pre-register by emailing your name, phone number and the number of people attending to Sallie at srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 717-626-2255. If you have questions about the program, call Micky Kraft at 717-392-4976 or email lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com.