Keeping It FUN!

by Judi McWilliams

Chris Robins - Part Two
"Living History"

In my quest to understand why history and “living history” is so important, I asked Chris for his thoughts. Chris states that from the history teacher angle, he sees the students enjoying the history. He is even surprised by how much they enjoy it. He now has over 12 students taking part in the re-enacting drills and actual events/demonstrations. Some University students still take part in Chris’s group. Most of the re-enactors have spent the time and financial investment purchasing their own equipment. The youngest in his group is his 18 year old son, a Corporal in the group. His oldest son, just turning 20, is a Sergeant. There are also a couple of 21 year old students and then the two “old guys”, with Chris around 50 something! With his unit, Chris tells me there are two groups, the “relatives” or the “honored relatives” (a good friend that everyone calls Uncle), students or ex-students. Mr. Robins says that sometimes, until you get involved with re-enacting, you underestimate just how important history is. What Chris seems to be very excited about is understanding why the men and women of the War of 1812 period of time fought the way they did. This is what Chris loves to teach the students of today! He even taught me a few things that I didn't know about the whys and ways of battles! I asked him if the re-enactment battles were choreographed, or did they “just wing it”. He tells me that some major battles are choreographed because of the educational efforts to re-enact precisely. Sometimes though, Chris likes to have “surprises”. An anecdote that he shares with me, was his re-enactment at Sagesto Harbour, where the orders given to the sergeant were “follow the shade”! The challenge for Mr. Robins was that they were in an open field, so they had to “wing it”!
(To be continued)