First Person Presentation - SOLD OUT

Date: Feb 09, 2024

Time: 6:00 PM

Location(s):

Join Storrowton Village Museum at its First Person Presentation on Friday February 9^th at 6:00 PM! Take a step back in time in the Union Meeting House, North Center School, and Potter Mansion to learn about life before, during, and after the Revolutionary War through historic figures such as Luke Day and Washington Irving.

Museum staff will narrate the scene introducing the visitor to historical figures that contributed to the development of the United States as we travel through time from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Visitors will start at the Union Meeting House with Luke Day, take a short walk to the Potter Mansion to hear about the front lines of the Revolutionary War, and end with a visit to the North Center School where Washington Irving memorializes stories of the past.

These stories of the past are remembered by the two major anniversaries in 2023 which paved the way for revolutionaries and creatives: the Boston Tea Party and the founding of the town of West Springfield. Soldiers fighting in the Continental Army had their lives forever changed as they fought and died for freedom from the British. From that struggle for freedom from an Empire, men found themselves at odds, where some of those who fought faced crippling debt and those who had been born with wealth faced new opportunities. Across all social classes and areas of the country, Americans faced broad changes to all aspects of life following the Revolutionary War. The causes and consequences of those changes can be found in Americans’ stories told before, during, and after the Revolutionary War.

The First Person Presentation will bring the stories of historic figures to life thanks to presenters Stan Svec, John and Maureen Richard, and Rick Corbo.

Tickets are $15.00 per person and can be purchased online (below). Please check in at the Meeting House where the presentation will begin. The event will run for two hours. Photography will be allowed throughout the presentation. No video is allowed. Dress in layers and wear sensible shoes. The First Person Presentation is not wheelchair accessible and will include walking up and down stairs. The presentation will run rain or shine.

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Stan Svec is a local history teacher and living historian who travels Western Massachusetts dusting off the stories of people integral to New England’s history. He will present Luke Day, a member of one of West Springfield’s most prominent families in the 18^th century, Revolutionary War Captain, and leader in Shay’s Rebellion.

John and Maureen Richard not only perform historical demonstrations of blacksmith and cooking at Storrowton Village, but are also reenactors in their own right. They travel New England with the 25^th Continental Regiment and reenact battles, life during the war, and the hardships many faced. John and Maureen Richard have reenacted 18^th and 19^th century life locally at Storrowton Village, Old Sturbridge Village, and the Josiah Day House. This husband and wife duo will be telling the stories of life during the Revolution for men and women traveling with the Continental Army.

Rick Corbo's educational background is in theater. He has performed for the award-winning, Connecticut-based puppet company, Elmwood Productions, and starred in the popular EWTN Network series, Saints Versus Scoundrels. He has also performed as Charles Dickens in the original Christmas special titled Reclaiming the Carol, also by ETWN Network. Corbo will be narrating “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” as Washington Irving, telling the tales of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, also known as the Galloping Hessian.