Welcomes were given by: Mr. Skin-ner; Mr. G. Steven Pittard, VPG-Elect Na-tional Society SAR; and Mr. Glenn Paul Sappie, NCSSAR State President. The wreath laying included 12 separate wreaths presented by various offices of the SAR and the DAR. Following the wreath laying, a cannon salute was presented by the Guil-ford Militia and the Craven County Regi-ment.

The SAR Recessional was pre-sented by Mr. Skinner and the benediction by Dr. Wiser. Following the benediction, the colors were retired.

The Alamance Battleground Chap-ter SAR expressed it’s thanks to Alamance Battleground Site Manager and Staff for the use of the Park Facilities for this event.

At two o’clock on Saturday, May 19, 2012, the Alamance Battleground Chapter Sons of the American Revolution held their 16th Annual Patriots’ Day Cele-bration. This event commemorates Ala-mance County’s 1781 battles of: Clapp’s Mill, Pyle’s Defeat and Lindley’s Mill and the Pre-Revolutionary War 1771 Battle of Alamance.

Mr. Michael Holt Skinner, Presi-dent of the Alamance Battleground Chap-ter presided over the ceremony. The pres-entation of colors was done by the NCSSAR Combined Color Guard under the command of Richard D. Bishop. Dr. A. Clark Wiser, Chaplain, NCSSAR gave the invocation followed by Mr. Billy C. Swain leading in the Pledge of Allegiance and Mr. Don C. Stanford leading in the Pledge to the SAR.

Patriot’s Day Celebration

The newsletter for the Alamance Battleground Friends’ Support Group

JUNE 1, 2012

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1

The Regulator

Of Special Interest to You: Second Saturday Events

June 9 10:00 to 4:00

July 14 10:00 to 4:00

August 11 10:00 to 4:00

In this Issue:

Eighteenth Century Living Experience

2

Second Saturdays Return for Third Year

2

Alamance Battleground Walking Trail Ribbon Cutting

3

Work Day at Alamance Battleground Success-ful

3

241st Anniversary Celebrated

3

Message From the Site Manager

4

Message From the President

4

Pictured above: President Holt Skinner presides

over the ceremony. Photo by Lisa D. Cox

Eighteenth Century Living Experience

Page 2 The Regulator

The Eighteenth Century Living Experience was held on the weekend of May 19 & 20, 2012 at Alamance Battleground as part of the 241st Anni-versary of the Battle of Alamance. More than 475 persons attended the two day celebration. The event featured an en-campment by the Craven County Mili-tia and the Guilford Militia. These two groups demonstrated camping was it would have been in the eighteenth century. Part of their program included the firing of the cannon at Alamance Battleground, firing a swivel gun (similar to ones used during the battle), and providing musket drilling and firing. In addition, the Historic Allen House was brought to life by a demon-stration of cooking inside and a gar-dener explaining the herbs in the Allen House Garden to visitors. Other dem- onstrations included: candle making, colonial toys, weaving, spinning, tools

and weapons. A raffle was conducted during the weekend of a framed print of the Battle of Alamance done by local artist Wayne Feamster. The winner of the painting was Jonas Boyd of Greens-boro. All proceeds from this raffle go toward educational programs at Ala-mance Battleground.

The Second Saturdays are returning to Alamance Battleground this summer. The dates are June 9, July 14, and August 11. We are cur-rently looking for artisans and crafts-men who would like to display and sell their crafts on any or all three dates. We are also looking for musicians (soloist or groups) who would like to be part of the entertainment on these dates. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested

please contact us at 336-227-4785 or e-mail us at alamance@ncdcr.gov . Be a part of the fun this summer. The Second Saturday Event for June will feature Frosty’s String Band, history demonstrations, crafts and food. We look forward to seeing you on each of these dates.

The Craven County Militia fire the big guns during the Eighteen Century Living Ex-

perience celebrating the 241st Anniversary of the Battle of Alamance.

Photo by Lisa D. Cox

Ladies from the Guilford Militia demon-

strated the lifestyles of women during co-

lonial times.

Photo by Lisa D. Cox

Pictured here, birdhouse crafts for sale

during Second Saturday Event last year.

Photo by Bryan Dalton

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 Page 3

Alamance Walking Trail Ribbon Cutting

Work Day at Alamance Battleground Successful

A special word of thanks to all the volunteers who turned out on May 12 to help with cleanup projects at Ala-mance Battleground. Because of the commitment of these volunteers, the day was a huge success. The following jobs were checked off our list of tasks:

Painting inside of the bathrooms - Both the men’s and women’s rooms were given coats of primer prior to the work day and then coats of paint were applied on Sat-

urday. They look great.

Garden jobs — Volunteers worked in the garden, planting marigolds

among the herbs and selecting cuttings from the herbs to be repot-ted and sold during the weekend events on May 19 & 20.

Window Washing — All the win-dows in the visitor center were cleaned and shined.

Wash and spruce up two concrete picnic tables—The two picnic ta-bles were sanded and repainted.

Paint the foundation of the pump house—The foundation has been painted a nice forest green.

With a snip of two pairs of scissors, the ribbon fell and a new Nature/Walking Trail opened at Alamance Battleground at 11:00 on Saturday, May 19, 2012. Chase Spill-man, who completed his Eagle Scout requirements, after organizing a work crew and building or repairing five bridges across the trail and Ladd Saw-yer, who used his chain saw over the past year to help clear the trail, cut the ribbon together for the event. This event signaled the reali-zation of a dream begun nearly a year and a half ago to reopen a nature trail

that had been closed for nearly sixteen years. Two new signs were added to the nature trail. The first located at the beginning of the trail welcomes all to the Alamance Battleground Walking Trail. The second sign identifies a sec-ondary trail along the path named the Magnolia Tree Trail. Both signs were designed specifically for the new trails. Thanks to all who helped make this dream a reality. Special thanks go to Chase Spillman, Ladd Sawyer and Ted Henson for their many hours of dedicated work.

On Wednesday night, May 16, 2012 the anniversary of the Battle of Alamance was marked by a wreath laying sponsored by the Alamance Battleground Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. A record

crowd attended the wreath laying and the events that followed. The special guest speaker for the wreath laying was Peggy Troxell, N. C. State Regent Elect. During the cere-mony, Karen Atwater, an active volun-teer at Alamance Battleground, was inducted as a new member of the DAR by N. C. State Regent Peggy Troxell and Battle of Alamance Regent Marti Friddle. Following the ceremony, a covered dish dinner was sponsored by the Alamance County Historical Asso-ciation. This annual event was then followed by a meeting of the society.

Mr. Michael Williams, a history reenac-tor, presented the program, “Colonial Medicine”.

241st Anniversary of Battle of Alamance Celebrated

Alamance Battleground Chapter DAR

Regent, Marti Friddle presides over the

ceremony.

Photo by Lisa D. Cox

Mr. Michael Williams speaks at the Ala-

mance County Historical Association.

Photo by Lisa D. Cox

Pictured above, Ladd Sawyer and Chase

Spillman cut the ribbon officially opening

the Walking Trail. Photo by Lisa D. Cox

From the President: I wish to thank person-ally everyone who turned out for the Work Day at Alamance Battleground. You came, worked hard and accomplished every task that had been set up for completion. As a result, the Battleground grounds, building and gardens look great. I am also happy to re-port that five loads of gravel have been put in the parking areas at Alamance Battleground. This gravel was placed after the parking area was scraped and holes filled. Many things are happening at Alamance Bat-tleground but the fact remains that we need more visitors to our site. One way you can help support this important part of our history is to come down and bring others with you. Come down and have a picnic on our freshly painted picnic tables or walk our new three quarter mile walking trail. Come down, we’re waiting for you.

Ted Henson

Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc.

5803 South N.C. 62

Burlington, North Carolina 27215

Phone: 336-227- 4785

Fax: 336 - 227 - 4787

E-mail: alamancefriends@gmail.com

Page 4

Alamance Battleground Historic Site is now on Face book. Be

sure to check us out.

Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc.

The first organizational meeting of what would become

the Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc. was held on February 8,

2006. From this original meeting the group has grown to become

a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors and a very

active Support Group.

The mission of Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc.

states:

The Alamance Battleground Friends, Inc. is a North Carolina

Nonprofit Corporation formed under the North Carolina Non-

profit Corporation Act. The mission is to support, enhance, and

promote education, interpretation and preservation at the Ala-

mance Battleground State Historic Site. Alamance Battleground

Friends, Inc. carries out this mission by:

Providing support and guidance to site personnel

Securing financial donations and grants to support site pro-

grams, and

Seeking volunteers to actively participate in site programs.

From the Site Manager: Great accomplishments have recently been made! Our 241

st Anniversary of the Battle of

Alamance program and 18th

-Century Living Experience event drew 551 visitors. The scheduled Work Day allowed us to success-fully make improvements around the site. With help from the Ala-mance Long Rifles, the Friends made arrangements to gravel and grade the main parking area and drive across the road. Visi-tors looking for a walking trail now have one available. I am happy to announce that Patrick Creghan, a history major at Elon University, will be working as an intern for the summer. He plans to become a licensed history teacher. Patrick is already making invaluable contributions. Please say hello to Patrick on your next visit to the site. We hope you will join us for the upcoming 2

nd Saturdays on

June 9, July 14, and August 11. Enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, music, crafts, and other activities!

Bryan Dalton