Lest We Forget of Southwest Michigan is planning their annual reenactment weekend scheduled for July 18 - 19, 2026 at Riverview Park, 2927 Niles Avenue in St. Joseph. Previous themes have included WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The U.S. Navy, Women in Service, The Cold War, the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day and Saipan Battles and in 2025 the Sandbox Wars of Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. This year Lest We Forget will highlight our Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the United States.
This Revolutionary War Reenactment weekend will feature Camp Life, Parade of Military Uniforms and Civilian Dress, Tomahawk Throwing, Music and Dance and two 1776 era War Battles per day. The North West Territory Alliance (NWTA.com) is an American Revolutionary War reenactment organization located in the Midwestern United States. They have over five hundred members from states as far west as Iowa, east to Ohio, north to the Canadian border, and south to Tennessee. They are a non-profit educational organization that recreates the culture, lifestyle and arts of the time of the American Revolution, 1775-1783. They strive to duplicate the uniforms, weapons, battlefield tactics and camp life of the era as accurately as possible.
The day begins both Saturday and Sunday with a Pancake Breakfast from 7:00 - 10:00 a.m. Naturalists from the Sarett Nature Center, Benton Harbor, will give the public rides on the St Joseph River in its 35-foot voyageur canoe. The canoe holds up to 19 people. The canoes were used extensively for the fur trade from the 1600s until about 1870, when the French-Canadian voyageurs were trading with the Native Americans. A naturalist will be in the front of the canoe with a steersman in the back and riders help paddle. Rides are open to any age according to a nature center spokesperson, but young children must be accompanied by adults. Life jackets will be provided. Rides will last from 20 to 30 minutes.
Military organizations, Veteran groups and 18th Century History displays are invited to reserve a spot by contacting https://www.lestweforgetusa.org/contact
All activities are open and free to the public. Helicopter rides will be offered for $60 cash and $65 credit card.
Lest We Forget will fly a Field of 250 Flags at Whirlpool Centennial Park, line the fence at St. Joseph High School with Flags and has sponsored the bluff stairs mural.
On July 8, 2026, at 6:00 PM EDT, St Joseph will lift its voice—together—in a synchronized reading of the Declaration of Independence with communities across our nation and the world. This isn’t a reenactment; it’s a renewal. We’re inviting every citizen to Whirlpool Centennial Park to witness The Declaration of Independence being read by Pat Moody. The Declaration’s words—“all men are created equal”—were proclaimed by a small circle of wealthy, well‑educated men in powdered wigs, many of whom denied those very rights to others. And yet those words sparked Unfinished Revolutions: abolishing slavery; restoring and lifting Indigenous voices; expanding the vote; welcoming immigrants; empowering civil rights and labor movements; sending girls to school—then into laboratories—legislatures—and low Earth orbit. The arc is imperfect—and still bending—because ordinary people keep showing up to make the text true.
