For 20 years, Dise, the director of Montgomery County’s Department of General Services, has been re-enacting events from the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars. What do you do as a re-enactor?
As a family, we have camped on the governor’s lawn in Williamsburg [to commemorate] the liberation of Williamsburg. We’ve attended colonial balls. … The last weekend in April at Fort Frederick, there is a market fair where a few thousand re-enactors set up camp. There’s turkey shoots and knife and tomahawk throwing. But other [occasions] are tied to specific historic events, like the crossing of the Delaware with Washington. In 1999, I participated in a re-enactment [in Nova Scotia] from the French and Indian War, when the British took Canada from the French.
Which side do you ‘fight’ for?
In the Revolutionary War, I have been both Continental and a Brit, or as they say in the slang of the day, a ‘lobster back.’ During the filming of “The Patriot,” when they put out a call for re-enactors, I enjoyed playing a Brit because we tried to portray ourselves like a British military outfit. We set up our camp in a regimental fashion, and we formed up ranks and [marched] with fife and drum and colors flying.
What’s it like giving up modern conveniences?
We learn to make everything — every outfit I’ve worn I’ve made myself. It’s so unlike what I do on a day-to-day basis. There’s not even a match in the camp because they didn’t use matches back then.
What was one of your favorite re-enactments?
The 200th re-enactment of George Washington’s funeral.
Do you have any ancestors who fought in these wars?
One of the original Dises came to America in the 1750s and settled in the York, Pa., area. We believe he was responsible for guarding British prisoners in the York area.
— Rachel Baye
