Letter to the editor: Bushy Run battle disaster

I have attended many Bushy Run events where the battle reenactment was always the primary reason for my visit. When I arrived Aug. 5, I learned the first battle was scheduled for 1 p.m.

At 12:30 p.m., I was at the museum parking lot. A column of British soldiers marched by and proceeded into the woods. A large number of visitors walked right behind them and also entered the woods. This was highly unusual for visitors to immediately follow the soldiers to the battle site.

I walked down to their point of entry, where I and a very large number of the visitors were stopped by the event staff. For all the years I attended this event, the scheduled plan at this point was to have the staff periodically send a small group to watch the battle until all groups were accommodated. After a 15-minute wait, a staff member told us that the battle site was full and we should leave and come back later to view the next battle, which was to occur in nearly two hours. “Come back later? You can’t be serious. I am here now! I am not waiting two hours!”

My emotions went from utter disbelief to intense anger. In 34 years of watching battles, I have never been told to “come back later.” The previous battle policy had worked perfectly for years. Why did the organizers choose to institute an insane plan to screw up the main attraction of this event ? The 2023 Bushy Run event was an absolute disaster.

Dennis Sopchack

New Kensington