Registration Now Open for the Second Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge

Last year's First Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge was a huge success, so we're getting read to do it again!


Registration is now open for the Second Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge, which will be held July 24-26, 2015
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Emerging Civil War is offering a $75 early-bird rate for people who register by April 30th. Regular registration will be $95.

But anyone who attended last year qualifies for a special registration rate of $55/person if they register by December 1.

The fee includes a Friday night round table discussion; lectures, lunch and book signings on Saturday with tours of the Chancellorsville Battlefield on Sunday. The 2015 theme is “Civil War Legacies,” and topics will include the 1865 surrenders, Lincoln assassination, battlefield preservation and the legacy of the Civil War. Details on speakers will be announced soon.

For more information or to register, e-mail: emergingcivilwar@gmail.com.

Pumpkins and No Pumpkins

Halloween is past and November has arrived. The Great Pumpkin has made his rounds, and now it’s time to start putting away our big, friendly orange friends in advance of winter. We’ve had a lot of pumpkiny fun around here this year!

It’s hard to imagine Halloween without pumpkins, but a couple years ago, we almost had a pumpkin-less Halloween.

We had a couple scheduled to get married just a couple days before Halloween. They had rented out the entire property, and everyone checked in the day before so they could be here for the rehearsal.

The bride lived locally, but she hadn’t been to the property since her final coordination meeting a few weeks in advance, so she hadn’t yet seen Stevenson Ridge all decked out for fall, complete with cornstalks, chrysanthemums, and pumpkins.

The bride hated pumpkins.

The rehearsal went off without a hitch, but afterwards, her fiancé pulled me aside: “Um...” he started. I could tell he felt a little awkward. “My fiancée.... Well, you see she doesn’t like pumpkins.” He gave me a grin that might have been friendly or might have been nervous. “Is there any chance you could please hide all the pumpkins before tomorrow?”

I have to admit, it’s one of the more unusual requests we’ve ever had here at Stevenson Ridge. But sure enough, the next morning, we went around the entire property and hid all the pumpkins: the pumpkins by the wagons out front, the pumpkins by the front doors of the Lodge, the pumpkins in front of all the cabins, the pumpkins on the steps leading into the Riddick House, even the pumpkins on my parents’ patio. Pumpkins away!

The wedding went off without a hitch—and without a pumpkin.

The next day, after everyone checked out, we went back around and put the pumpkins back: we had another wedding that night, and the bride and groom had planned a Halloween-themed wedding, complete with costumes.

It was fun to get our Halloween back on in record time!