War of 1812 - Interview Series

by Judi McWilliams

Interview with Zackery Caron (Part Two)
Re-enacting can be an expensive “hobby” as David Brunelle has mentioned. Fortunately for Zack, his teacher, Mr. Chris Robins has an ample supply of "re-enactment gear" to help the students participate fully! David Brunelle has told us, in the past, how much fun re-enacting can be for the youth of today, but I wondered if Zack actually enjoyed “the history” or “just the fun of it all”? Zack told me that he does enjoy history, but really enjoys ancient history, that being before the year 1600. We have watched Zack in full costume take the role of the “drummer” and he is good at it, (he also plays the drum set at a high skill level). “Drumming” in re-enacting for the War of 1812 is difficult. Zack tells me that the costume is hot and he can become tired by the end of the day! That doesn’t seem to discourage him from posing for the pictures that many onlookers take during these re-enactments! He would like to take the necessary courses to be able to take on other roles or re-enacting, particularly the use of the “musket”. It takes a lot of education, courses, dedication, practice and skill to be “allowed” to partake in this portion of re-enacting. He does put about one or two lunch periods per week into practicing at school during the re-enacting periods. Zack is interested but it may take some mentoring and continued effort to reach that next level. At this point, I should tell you that we have had the privilege of watching Zack “in action” on the field at a re-enactments for younger students and on a crowded beach in front of hundreds of people. We were amazed at how professional he was and how “true to character” he was. So, I asked Zack about the youth of today and him in particular. How did he do this? What mind-set was he in? Did he notice the crowds? His reply again was simple… "I don’t really try to be 'in character', it just kind of happens. When you dress up and stand and walk as a unit, it just kind of happens! And yes I did notice the crowds and at the beach re-enactment, (myself and another who were injured) were encouraged to interact with the crowd."
(To be continued)