To the Editor:

The Portage County Historical Society will hold its annual Heritage Days on June 16 (from 10 am to 5 pm) and 17  (from 10 am to 4 pm).

This will be the second year of our two year remembrance of Portage County’s role in the Great War (World War I).  The event will take place at Heritage Park in Plover, located at the corner of Washington and Willow in the Village of Plover.  The event will feature a number of Great War re-enactors who be on hand to talk about what life was like on the front for the American doughboy.  Six of the structures located in the park will have a Great War theme.

The museum will focus on the military aspect of the remembrance as well as telling the story of the well know men from this area who were involved in the war.  The blacksmith shop discusses the very practical skills that the individual soldiers brought to the military, many from rural backgrounds.

The Franklin House theme is one of home front sacrifice.  The Hei Corners school concentrates on what the U.S. did to try to sell the war to the people of Wisconsin who were seen as potential opponents of the war effort.  The milk house talks about the life the men left behind was well as the Spruce Division.  The Bancroft Depot has as its theme a look at the men leaving, the railroad men sent to Russia to work on the Trans-Siberian railroad.

It also talks about what these men found when they arrived in Europe and the new culture they were immersed in.  A trench has been constructed to give the visitor a sense of that iconic aspect of the Great War.  The Transcribing Dance group will also be on hand to present an interpretation of our role in the conflict.

In addition to the focus on the Great War the society will also have Ruthie Engford and Frank Clark on hand to talk about their life in the Circus.  The Engfords have been on hand for this event for a number of years and have a great story to tell about how circuses operated and the day to day life on the road.

The public is invited and there is no entrance fee to move into the park.   We hope you can come and enjoy the presentations.