As a volunteer organization, we cannot guarantee the ability to perform services at any given time or place. We have to arrange for members to take time from already full lives and it sometimes happens that not enough people can be available. Asking with plenty of lead-time is the best policy.
School Presentations
The Second Michigan Infantry is a Living History group whose activities are focused on the Civil War period of 1861-1865. We have people portraying various branches of the military as well as civilians. A typical presentation includes one or more persons dressed and equipped as the role requires. An explanation of the costume and equipment and their meaning to an average person living in the Civil War usually takes about 30-40 minutes and is followed by a question and answer period of 10-20 minutes. A table display is usually included if space permits.
Because we will be bringing weapons into the school, we need to have a written request to appear. We are a tax-exempt non-profit organization and must have proper records of payment for our performances. A school check is usual and may be paid at the time of the appearance or mailed at the next pay period. We need the name and phone number of a contact person at the school. Directions to the school and advice on where to park are also needed.
All of our members are volunteers and must take time out of their own busy lives to appear. As a result, there may be no one available during the time desired. A number of dates and times should be considered when trying to plan for us to appear. Plenty of lead-time also helps ensure availability.
Our fee for one session of about 1 hour is $100 and each additional session done the same day costs $25. We try to have two or more people present to do the presentation. To be fair to each presenter, though, requires about 30 minutes to cover his or her material. If time is restricted, one person usually works out better than trying to rush too many different subjects. The most common presentation is of a Private soldier in the Infantry. If a special subject is desired, we will do our best to help.
Weddings
We have served as an honor guard at weddings with our best uniforms, white gloves, and sabres forming an arch for the newlyweds. The ability to perform this service depends upon enough members being able to get free time from busy lives. The fee for this is $100 for local weddings (30 minutes travel) and $300 for up to 2 hours travel. The sabres can be rented to responsible persons for $50, subject to terms & approval.
Parades
The parades we attend are for the most part history oriented and we reserve the right to refuse any likely to cause embarrassment (in our judgment) to the memory of the original 2nd regiment. Our fee is $100 for local and $300 for distant.