If you go
› What: Chickamauga Civil War Show› Where: Dalton Convention Center, 2211 Dug Gap Battle Road, Dalton, Ga.› When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4› Admission: $10 ages 13 and older, free for ages 12 and younger› For more information: www.mkshows.com
A display of sabers at a previous Civil War show. (Contributed Photo)With vendors occupying 475 tables, the Chickamauga Civil War Show is "the biggest show in this part of the country," says organizer Mike Kent of Mike Kent and Associates.
The Chickamauga Civil War Show will be held in the Dalton, Ga., Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 3-4. Kent says this show features a variety of military memorabilia and antiques from the antebellum period through World War II, making it of interest to historians, Civil War buffs, military and antique collectors.
"It's heavily dependent on weapons, such as muskets, swords and knives, but we also have dug products like cannonballs and belt buckles, uniforms, books and diaries and documents from the Civil War," he describes.
Additionally, free appraisals are available to visitors bringing in family pieces that may have been passed down through generations and, in the process, lost their provenance.
This show is hosted by the Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails, a nonprofit corporation established to bring awareness to the history of the Civil War era in Georgia.
Its purpose is to create, promote and maintain six historic driving routes across Georgia, to interpret Civil War history by linking hundreds of sites - not only the battlefields, but the era's cultural, social and political history.
Kent says this show was held in Chattanooga for more than two decades before moving to Dalton.
Dalton was chosen due to its location on the historic driving route of the Atlanta Campaign Heritage Trail, he says, as well as the convention center's proximity to hotels and restaurants, ease of parking and access to the venue.
Although many cities in the South have dealt with controversy over the removal of Confederate monuments in recent months, Kent says that issue seems not to have affected his business.
"We have done shows in Richmond and Nashville since that controversy began, and strangely enough, the attendance was up at both of those shows. I don't know if the uproar over statues has made people more aware or not, but we have seen an uptick in attendance," he says.
Mike Kent and Associates was founded in 1990 to produce the Nashville Civil War Show. Since then, he has produced more than 400 shows and expanded to include gun and knife shows in North and South Carolina.
For more information: www.mkshows.com.
Book signing
Retired Special Forces Brig. Gen. John Scales will sign copies of his new book, “The Battles and Campaigns of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, 1861-1865,” at the Chickamauga Civil War Show on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 1 to 4 p.m.Visitors can find him at the Owens and Ramsey vendor table in the Dalton Convention Center.The book is an examination of Forrest’s wartime activities and how his actions affected the war in the Western Theater. Each chapter covers specific raids or campaigns, all arranged chronologically.Scales retired after more than three decades of military service, including combat tours in Vietnam and Afghanistan. He has a Ph.D. in engineering and worked in that field after retiring from the military.In addition to receiving five patents for inventions, Scales has written two previous books: “Sherman Invades Georgia” and “A Reluctant Hero’s Footsteps.” He is a past president of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Roundtable, and leads Civil War campaign tours in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.