History Alive! group to host USO dance Saturday

A couple of years ago, Southeast Missouri State University senior Lindsey Lotz and several peers formed the not-for-profit History Alive! Living History Interpretive Group, and Saturday members will re-create a 1944 USO dance in Cape Girardeau.

The program will take place at 6:30 p.m. at VFW Post 3838, 1049 N. Kings­highway.

Admission is $4 for active and retired service personnel and $8 for general admission. If attendees bring three items for a soldier's care package, they get $2 off. Fifty percent of ticket sales will go to the VFW Post and 50 percent to History Alive!

Eleanor Roosevelt, portrayed by Julia Hight, a student in Southeast's historic preservation program, will be the guest speaker.

"I think it's a wonderful thing that they're doing," said Deborah Griffin, office manager/events planner for the VFW.

Dr. Adam Criblez, director of the Center for Regional History and assistant professor in the university's Department of History, worked with History Alive! when the group did historic interpretations at the grand reopening of Academic Hall last fall.

"Their costuming is spot-on, but more impressive is their ability to do copious amounts of research and then use that knowledge to interact with the public," he said. "They create elaborate back stories for their characters, using that information to inform and educate others about the time period they are portraying."

Many times, History Alive! conducts re-enactments free of charge.

"We do occasionally ask for an honorarium from people that we do programs [for], because our programs, depending on what they're asking us to do, require a lot of work on our end -- not only costume, but getting back and forth and also research," Lotz said. "We have characters we spend anywhere from 10 to 12 hours on. ... If it's a documentary character, it can be anywhere from 40 to 50 hours researching -- to be able to understand somebody enough to act like them and convincingly portray them."

Lotz has had a passion for history since she was a girl. She's also a seasonal employee at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site in Burfordville. Meanwhile, she's also getting married and planning to attend graduate school, where she'll study historic site administration, museum studies or possibly American

studies.

"I believe that people grow from knowing ... history and having some understanding of where our world came from." Lotz wrote in an email. " ... What I love most about [historic preservation] is that it is a blend of classical academia, history and archaeology."

For more information, email Lindsey Lotz at history.alive@gmail.com.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address: 1049 N. Kingshighway