Conneaut’s D-Day event a month earlier this year

By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

March 12, 2008 07:34 pm

— CONNEAUT — Warmer weather should greet Allied “soldiers” the next time they clash with German defenders on Conneaut’s Township Park Beach.
The popular D-Day re-enactment will be held Aug. 22-24 this year, instead of mid-September, to ensure the use of a U.S. Navy vessel in the event, Mike Felmlee, coordinator, said Wednesday.
The event, which re-creates the historic Normandy Invasion of World War II, attracts hundreds of re-enactors and thousands of spectators every year. Since its inception, participants representing the Allies have stormed the park’s beach with the help of a Navy landing craft.
Recently, D-Day coordinators learned the vessel will be taken out of reserve status and put into active service sometime in September, Felmlee said. “(The Navy) contacted me as soon as they found out,” he said.
The landing craft is an important part of the event, lending a lot of authenticity to the mock battle, Felmlee said. Rather than postpone the 2008 event, coordinators began seeking a different weekend in advance of the vessel’s departure date, he said.
The new date actually could prove a blessing, Felmlee said. Besides accommodating the Navy, the weather should be better, and the August date doesn’t compete with other re-enactments, he said. The result could be more re-enactors circling Conneaut on their calendars, Felmlee said.
“We should see better participation because (the event) isn’t landing on a busy month,” he said.
There’s a chance the August date could become permanent, Felmlee said.
“We’re not ruling it out,” he said. “We’ll see how this year goes.”