Hoosier history
Re-enactor
Stonerock to speak
at annual historical society dinner
Presentation
complete
with tall tales, history of area
By
Konnie McCollum
Staff Writer
(November 2009) – During the late 18th and early
19th centuries, Indiana was a wild frontier where peril was at every
turn and survival was tough.
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Photo
provided Re-enactor
Kevin |
Re-enactor Kevin Stonerock, as true-to-life frontiersman
Andrew Amonett, will talk about frontier life in the Indiana Territory
just prior to the War of 1812 during the annual award dinner of the
Jefferson County Historical Society. The dinner, catered by Rolling
Pin, will be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the Venture Out Business Center,
975 Industrial Dr., Madison. The public is welcome to attend the dinner,
auction and history presentation.
A Larry Rudolech original oil painting, “Going To New Harmony,”
will be auctioned. Rudolech is a well-known area artist whose paintings
have been exhibited since 2001 in the premier Indiana art exhibit, Hoosier
Salon. He has also been juried into the exclusive Indiana Artisan Project.
“We are excited about this year’s dinner,” said historical
society Executive Director Joe Carr. “The Rudolech painting that
will be auctioned is amazing, and people will really want to come see
Stonerock’s presentation.”
While working for the Indiana Historical Society in 1979, Stonerock
was asked to put together a history presentation for a group of teachers.
“I had never done anything like this, so I was nervous but excited,”
he said. “I put together a program and they seemed to like it”
Many of those teachers called and wanted him to perform in their schools.
Since then, he has traveled the state performing a variety of historical
characters for schools, libraries and organizations. He usually does
about 140-150 presentations a year.
For the historical society presentation, Stonerock will perform his
Hoosier pioneer character. The presentation, complete with tall tales,
deals with various aspects of frontier life and dangers. The topics
he will discuss include trapping, militia service, Indian affairs, tools,
weapons and frontier clothing.
Other characters he performs include: Jacob McLinden, a fur trader in
the mid 1700s; Stephen Hopkins, a Pilgrim of Plymouth who was one of
the original passengers on the Mayflower; William H. Fentress, an actual
Union Army soldier during the Civil War who lived in Henry County, Ind.;
and steamboat captain Ebenezer Cline.
He does extensive re-search into the topics he presents, and many of
his programs comply with the Indiana Aca-demic Stan-dards for Social
Studies. “I absolutely love what I am doing,” he said.
Stonerock is also a professional singer-songwriter. His music is a blend
of folk, roots country and rock with what have been called “straight
forward, picture-evoking, accessible lyrics performed with an honesty
of emotion.”
• The annual Jefferson County Historical Society annual award dinner costs $25 per person. Reservations should be made by Nov. 4. For more information, call (812) 265-2335.