Rendezvous returns this weekend

The Crossroads Rendezvous will return to Saukville this weekend after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.

The historical recreation event will be held in Peninsula Park on May 20, 21 and 22.

The event draws re-enactors from across the Midwest representing people of the fur-trade era in Wisconsin from 1750 to 1840. Re-enactors set up tents, come dressed in historical garb, hold mock battles and provide a glimpse of what life was like hundreds of years ago.

The Saukville Historical Society ran the event from 1991 to  2006 before it was discontinued. In fall 2007, the event was revived by Port Washington re-enactors Mary Boyle and Sara Dahmen, who continue to organize the event. In 2018 and 2019, Rendezvous drew more than 2,000 visitors throughout the weekend.

On Friday, May 20, the event will be open to school groups for an education focused day of re-enactments. Student tickets are $3 each, and teachers and chaperones are free.

On Saturday the event will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

General admission tickets are $5, seniors, armed forces members and veterans get in for $4, children under 18 get in for $2 and those younger than 2 are admitted for free.

Parking is not available at Peninsula Park but will be available at U-Haul Moving and Storage, 835 E. Green Bay Ave. in Saukville. A shuttle will transport attendees to the event.

Pets are not permitted at the event.

Three new Ozaukee County residents will participate in the event this year.

Cedarburg resident, historian and professional cricket player Tom Melville, will teach children about North America’s first ball game, baseball, which has been played in the United States since 1709 and in Wisconsin since the 1830s. He will be present May 20 and 21.

Carol Boettcher, also from Cedarburg, will be presenting “The Dancing Master” during the event.

Boettcher was a principal performing dancer with a colonial era dance group for 20 years and a civil war dance ensemble for 10 years.

Boettcher will explore the early American social scene through dance, demonstrating a minuet and inviting the public to engage in an easy colonial social dance.

Richard J. Gonzalez of Grafton, is a member of the Iroquois Confederation, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and the Turtle clan.

His tribal name “Loliwyntati” means “He Who Brings the Good Word.” He is a Native American scholar, historian, artist and retired school principal.

Gonzalez will be doing a special lunchtime presentation between 11 a.m. and noon during the Friday school day on the fur trade in Wisconsin.

For more information, contact Boyle at 288-1839 or info@CrossroadsRendezvous.org, or go to the Crossroads Rendezvous website at www.CrossroadsRendezvous.org.