Kings Mountain National
Military Park hosts a
number of events throughout the year. We participated in several of them.
ENCAMPMENTS
Regularly
throughout the year re-enactors with the Backcountry Militia set up camps
demonstrating both 1780 militia life and Colonial culture. These events bring
history to life as visitors experience the camp and talk to re-enactors who’ve
studied the time period.
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John
from the Backcountry Militia teaching about fire
|
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Rangers
Lamar, Adrian and Leah at a weapons demo
|
NATURE
& HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Mostly
the park focuses on history, but in mid-September they put on their first
Nature & Heritage Festival. This festival had a Revolutionary War era
encampment as well as various activities focused on nature and the community.
Booths included an orienteering club, REI, live raptors, nature crafts, land
conservation groups, and community organizations. The orienteering group set up
a course where participants used a compass to navigate through the woods. Music
groups performed in the amphitheater and they had a nature walk. Bill helped
with the encampment.
Barbara
spent most of the day helping with nature crafts.
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| pinecone
bird feeder |
The
park closes at 6pm, but that night the park stayed open late for stargazing.
Big telescopes, brought in by local astronomers, provided great night sky
viewing. We got a superb view of Saturn.
THE
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE
The
big event at Kings
Mountain is the
anniversary of the battle – October 7th. The celebration includes ceremonies,
an encampment, kids’ events, and other special activities.
Attendance
climbs above capacity requiring off-site parking. The park hires shuttle buses
and the National Guard assists directing traffic. The main ceremony is on the
ridge where DAR and SAR members lay over 100 wreaths at the largest monument.
Many participants aren’t up to the ~200ft elevation gain to the top, so the
park rents several 6-person golf carts. The tough part of the day was Bill got
stuck with a broken down cart and then had to assuage some not-too-happy
people. In the meantime, Barbara assisted at the kids’ craft area.
 |
Barbara
and a ranger help kids create wax seals
|
It
rained the last several years – last year was Hurricane Matthew – and in 2013
the event was canceled due to the government shut down. As it turned out it
rained again this year – midday during the ceremony. Fortunately it cleared by
evening when they had lantern tours.
After
dark, the park offered lantern tours along the 1.5-mile Battlefield Trail. Each
group got 2 lanterns at the front & back of the group and lanterns marked
10 waypoints where re-enactors acted out part of the Kings Mountain
story. It actually was pretty cool to see and hear the re-enactors in the dark
playing out the scenes of the battle. Bill and Barbara each led groups and we
gave some background between scenes.
EDUCATION
DAYS
During
the school year the park hosts field trips all the time, but they have several
special days called “Education Days” with more activities available and more
schools participating. On these days they had their typical battlefield walk,
movie, & weapons demo, but also had twelve activity stations.
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Colby,
Will, Rowland, and Sharyn at stations
|
Barbara’s
station had kids sing a fun song where 2 students dressed up and Bill taught
kids about rifles and muskets.
These
days required a lot preparation and volunteer help, but the kids all seemed to
have a great time.
