Raid Setup

This weekend's 29th annual running of the Brooksville Raid will be held at the Sand Hill Boy Scout Reservation located at 11210 Cortez Blvd., west of Mariner Boulevard, in Brooksville.

The Hernando Historical Museum Association, Inc. and North Pinellas County Scout Sertoma Club, Inc. will present the Brooksville Raid Festival from Friday through Sunday, Jan. 16-18. The festival is a re-creation of a Civil War battle that happened in Hernando County in July of l864.

The donation to attend the Raid Festival is $6 per adult; $3 per 6- to 12-year-old; and free of charge for children 5 years old and under, and Scouts in uniform.

Food concessions will be available on-site, and chair rental will also be available.

In addition, on Friday, Jan. 16, a School Day for children will be offered for a $2 donation. If interested in School Day or for general information, contact Judy Everett at 352-799-0l29 or e-mail her at everett_j@popmail.firn.edu.

A special 145th Anniversary Commemorative Skirmish Re-enactment of the actual Raid will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17.

The Raid is held the third weekend in January every year. It has become the largest Civil War re-enactment in Florida with over 3,200 re-enactors and their families participating in 2006. At which time, the Raid featured 32 cannons and 80 horses.

The public is invited to tour, at no additional charge, the authentic Confederate and Union camps and actually see how they lived and what it was like during the Civil War. About 60 sutlers (vendors) are expected at this year's Raid Festival, so Civil War items can be purchased along with kettle corn, old-time root beer and fry bread. This year, an l860s' baseball game by the Pinellas Vintage Baseball Team will be featured at noon on Saturday only.

Pets are allowed, but all animals must be on a leash.