Out in the Cold: Civil War Museum Spending Two Weeks Outside

Fundraising stunts are nothing new. In fact, they've become so common that often, their impact is marginalized. Not to say that the causes they support aren't valid and worthy of donations, but it's hard to stand out amongst the crowd of people enduring, walking, running, biking, see-sawing, sleeping in a bus or twittering for donations. But the fundraiser that begins tomorrow at the National Civil War Museum is worthy of notice. No, the museum might not be trying to cure cancer or feed the hungry, but it is raising money for its education department and school outreach programs — a worthy cause. To raise money and awareness, curator Brett Kelly will be spending two weeks of his vacation time living on the grounds of the museum and emulating the life of a civil war soldier. That's not just a stunt, it's insane.

Obviously everyone knows that there's a chance we're going to get a decent amount of snow between today and tomorrow, so while you're cuddled up by the fire with a mug of coffee, imagine poor Brett up in Reservoir Park in a tent. He will be performing the duties of a typical soldier including building winter quarters and defenses. More importantly, he'll survive only on rations and with the clothing and provisions that a soldier might have had at his disposal.

During the two weeks, Brett will spend a number of days on picket duty — basically watch — and make a few ten mile marches down into Harrisburg. I don’t think that this event has gotten nearly enough local attention and I don’t want to see Brett freeze his giblets off in vain, so please spread the word.

Thanks to the efforts of Hershey High School Social Studies teacher Jeff Mummert and his students, following Brett’s progress from the comforts of your own desk chair is very easy. Mummert’s students will be taking pictures that will be posted on the museum’s Flickr page. They’ll also be maintaining a Wordpress Blog where they will pass along Brett’s hand-written diary entries. Finally, you can follow Brett on twitter at cwsoldier24_7. This is a very cool effort, and I hope the local community gives it its due.