TheCleburne
Newspaper of the 33rd Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment
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The Captain's Corner

By Capt. Andy Redd

Gentlemen:

 

            2008 seemed to fly by. I truly enjoyed all of the events that we attended last year and wish to thank all of you for your participation.  It is indeed an honor and a privilege to have commanded the 33rd Alabama Infantry.  The 2009 campaign is now upon us.  I look forward to an excellent campaign.

 

            As most of you already know, there will be no Selma this year.  This is a great disappointment for all of us because you, like me, have a special affection for Selma.  But matters beyond the control of the 33rd have prevented Selma from happening this year.  I hope that the event can be revived, reinvigorated and resurrected in the future.  If it is not to be, there are some exciting plans in the works for other events that we can put our efforts into.

 

            We have a number of promising events to vote on this year.  Truth is, whether an event is good, bad or just so-so is really up to us. The 33rd has been, and should continue to be, an example of a quality reenacting unit.  Each member should strive toward this goal.  Now, I don’t think that this necessarily means becoming so-called “hard –cores”; but it does mean paying attention to the little things.  For example, if we are portraying a campaign impression, furniture, boxes, etc. should kept to a minimum. Smoking modern cigarettes in the company area, particularly when civilians are about is a no-no.  Obviously modern eyeglasses, wristwatches, cookware, containers and the like are verboten.  We should also pay attention to removing empty cans, bottles, wrappers, boxes, etc. that may be laying about our camp. Modern conversation topics when civilians are in camp should be avoided; try to maintain a first-person. We do a pretty good job maintaining a period camp, but we can always improve. It’s up to each of us to maintain his own personal appearance and area and to maintain our camp. We are in this hobby, among other reasons, to educate the public as to the life of the soldier. There are too many units that are just plain doing it all wrong. We need not be among them.

 

            Another item is event attendance. IMHO, our attendance was not optimum this past year. Attendance throughout the hobby has been down as of late for a number of reasons i.e. that we are in an actual war, price of gasoline, etc. But if we vote to attend an event, everyone should make the effort to attend and support his pards, particularly if fees have been paid to attend.  Now everyone may, for good reasons, miss an event; but let’s all resolve to attend the majority of those we vote to attend.  No one should miss an event for the lack of a ride. If a pard needs a ride, let someone know ahead of time so arrangements can be made. The same applies to equipment.

 

            New members are the lifeblood of the 33rd Alabama and the hobby of reenacting. There are always opportunities to discuss our hobby with people we meet. Col. Whaley pestered me for years to join up and I finally joined just to quiet him down. I wasted several good years of reenacting by not joining earlier. Let interested folks know that we can lend them what they need to try the hobby to see if they like it.  Chances are, they’ll get hooked.  Just think how our ranks would swell if each one of us brought in one “fresh fish “this year.    We also have some members and former members who haven’t been around for a while.  If you get the chance, let them know we miss them and ask them to come out and join us.

 

            See you in camp.