NIRG Group “Sees the Elephant” on Civil War Museum Tour

By John Emmering

In anticipation of a great tour, twenty-four Northern Illinois Regional Group members, family and friends gathered early on Sunday morning, July 1st, at the Town and Country Mall on Palatine and Arlington Heights Roads.  With exceptionally hot weather and the threat of showers in the forecast, participants unanimously chose to drive “modern iron” on the event with no Ford V-8’s in the mix.  Ron Blum suggested that the absence of Ford V-8s may have been an unusual first for a summer club activity.

As 9:30 am rolled around, event sponsor Ron Blum passed out detailed driving instructions to the group and led the procession northward.  The route was very scenic and had been developed by Ron with the help of Tom O’Donnell, who also had a hand in planning the event.  After leaving the Land of Lincoln, the first stop was the Birchwood Grill on the outskirts of Kenosha in time to partake of their brunch.  Members of the tour found their seats in the private room which had been reserved and had a chance to select the breakfast or full brunch.  As orders were placed everyone had a chance to visit until we headed off to the buffet tables filled with lots of delicious cuisine.

After ample time to eat at Birchwood Grill, group members headed out to their cars with stomachs full for the final leg of the journey to the Kenosha lakeshore museum complex.  After purchasing tickets the group gathered into a conference room where a guide filled everyone in on what they could expect to experience on the visit.  The guide explained that the museum was opened in 2008 and focuses on the contributions to the Civil War of the Upper Middle West, consisting of the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan.

As participants were cut loose to explore the museum, they were able to learn about the experiences of people from all walks of life who lived in the Civil War era.  There were many interesting and well-presented displays of Civil War activities and history.  Some of the figures of people of the era were fitted with audio speakers and gave their personal stories upon a visitor’s approach.  The group gathered at 2:00 pm to “See the Elephant” the 360 degree movie experience, learning that “seeing the elephant” meant experiencing combat to the soldiers of that day.  The graphic and dramatic presentation depicted soldiers in the heat of battle.

Attending the tour were sponsor Ron Blum, Ron Dopke & Bernice Short, John & Robin Emmering, Pat Maroney & son Keegan, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell with daughter Maureen, Dan Pudelek, John & Este Scheve, Joe & Delice Serritella, Ron & Colleen Steck, Stan Stack, Jeff Trilling & Mondira Bhattacharya, Len & Irene Vinyard, and George & Dawn Zulas.

After a completing the visit to the museum and a few minutes of checking out the museum store the group was ready to head for home.  Everyone involved was very appreciative of the work Ron Blum did in planning and leading the event and also to Tom O’Donnell for his assistance.