Cedar Creek Board Turns Down Federal Funds
By Deborah Fitts
December 2003
MIDDLETOWN, Va. - Buoyed by the support of the
reenactor community, the nonprofit Cedar CreekBattlefield Foundation
has rejected an offer of federal funding to pay off the debt
on a 135-acre portion of the battlefield.
"We thanked them and told them we'd take it from here,"
said foundation president Joe Whitehorne. "We're guardedly
optimistic we can do it."
The foundation had struggled to pay the mortgage on the $1.2
million tract, purchased in 2000, despite the donation of morethan
half a million dollars from the seller.
Last fall Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) responded to an appeal
from the foundation by securing funding from theNational Park
Service (NPS) to pay off the $338,000 outstanding debt. Acceptance
of federal dollars, however, meant thatownership would transfer
to NPS.
On Oct. 30, the 11-member board of directors decided against
the money. The decision came in the wake of the annual October
reenactment at Cedar Creek, when Whitehorne said reenactors
passed the hat and contributed $7,000 toward the debt.
"It's just wonderful," said Whitehorne. "Some
guys gave until they hurt."The foundation also netted over
$40,000 from the Oct. 18-19 event, which drew 5,500 reenactors.
Whitehorne said many feltif the land fell to NPS hands, activities
like the carrying and firing of guns would be curtailed, as
they are at federal parks.
But he said the board's feeling was that the money Wolf secured
was emergency NPS funding, "and we no longerconsidered
ourselves an emergency. If we have the money, or the chance
to get the money, it's not right to be tappingemergency funds"
that could go to better use in the National Park System.
The board met an Oct. 31 payment deadline, making the year's
two payments of $15,000 each, plus late fees. That reduced theamount
owed to about $300,000, which Whitehorne said should be paid
off in 10 years. A refinancing, plus continuingsupport from
the reenactor community and from private donors, including descendants
of soldiers who fought at Cedar Creek,will make the campaign
successful, Whitehorne predicted.
"We're becoming more adept at humbly beseeching people,"
he said. "The magic trick is to put on a first-class reenactment,and
to let them know we have their interests at heart."
The foundation's fundraising efforts suffered a setback with
the creation three years ago of the 3,000-acre Cedar Creek and
Belle Grove National Historic Park. Although NPS owns only 8
acres inside the boundary so far, the perception was that thebattlefield
was saved, and donations fell off.
NPS was "quite positive" about the foundation board's
decision to keep the land, Whitehorne said. The partnership
betweenNPS and the foundation will continue unabated.
The 135-acre Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation property lies
south of the Belle Grove manor house on the banks of CedarCreek.
It has more than half a mile of earthworks. The foundation
allows small groups of reenactors "to camp among the trenches,"
Whitehorne said, though fire pits are banned.
A half-mile from the area now used for reenactments, the land
"will provide a great deal more maneuver room," Whitehornesaid.
He noted that it is being eyed particularly by cavalrymen and
artillerists for its reenactment potential. The foundation has
done an archaeological survey of the tract and has begun planning
for interpretive signs.
For information on donating toward the foundation's purchase,
contact Executive Director Suzanne Chilson at (888) 628-1864
or go to www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org
