VIDEO: Bellmore Residents Re-make History

Jeff and Stacy Wasson of Bellmore recently portrayed King Louis XIII of France and Queen Anne of Austria as part of a Three Musketeers themed 1st Annual Chelsea Mansion Renaissance Faire in Muttontown last month.

The Bellmore couple are historical actors in the Kingdom of Acre historical re-enactment group, which is well known for its annual Medieval Fairs at Sands Point Preserve and other areas around the North East.

This time the Kingdom of Acre took a relative step forward in time to 17th Century France re-creating the story line from the classic novel "The Three Musketeers". "We are a group that is meant to educate the public, so we actually know a lot more about this time period and the people we are portraying then we would actually walk up and talk to you about…And it’s much more fun to learn this way by talking to someone then it is to open a book and read the dry facts… this way you get a little taste of what it’s like to be at a country faire, and talk to royalty and see the gallant musketeers and all sorts of things like that," says Stacy.

"There are a lot of facts in the story, the key players are all real people… all of these players are here today and we’re putting on an entertainment to entertain people but also to educate… it’s a way for history to come alive and sort of come off the pages," says Jeff.

The faire, which was centered around the real life historic Gold Coast Era Chelsea Mansion, built in a French Château style, represented pre-revolutionary France. Aside from the Three Musketeers storyline, the group also held a fashion show, sword fighting, equestrian games of skill, and a living chess match among other festivities aimed at educating visitors about the historic time period.

John Marean from Merrick plays one of the villains in the three musketeers story line. He says the group doesn’t so much try to re-enact history as it happened but re-create the time period. "We’re not trying to re-enact history, we’re trying to re-create history. If you go to some of the Civil War battle re-enactments, they’re actually re-creating what actually happened. We try to re-create that period and give you that feel of what it would be like."

The group’s next public event will be their Annual Medieval Faire in Sands Point Preserve in September. For more information about the group, you can check out www.kingdomofacre.org

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