RIMERSBURG — Jim McCullough hopes to make the Civil War come alive for visitors to Rimersburg’s annual Cookie Daze celebration this summer.

The owner and operator of the Donald R. Lobaugh War Museum plans to have people dressed in Civil War clothing stationed around the museum and the adjacent Rimersburg Memorial Park during the event Aug. 10, 11 and 12 as part of ongoing observances of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

“I’m looking for living history participants. They are just there, and people can ask them questions about their lives,” McCullough said. “They are not re-enactors, there are no battles. They are doing living history.”

McCullough said he has also signed up the musical group Acoustic Shadows.

“They are in the uniforms of a Union regimental band,” he said. “These guys are going to pitch tents and stay overnight Friday and Saturday.

“They will give a concert in the park one evening and play at a Civil War ball,” said McCullough. “We hope people will be in their period costumes and their long, flowing gowns.”

He said the Civil War ball is slated to take place the evening of Aug. 10 in the Rimersburg Community Building.

The ball will feature a “caller,” Emily Lapisardi of Brownsville, a historical impersonator.

“‘Calling’ a ball is essentially providing dance instruction and guidance to the participants,” said Lapisardi. “I walk them through the dances without music first, then provide aural cues as they are dancing to remind them of the next movement. No previous experience is necessary. If you can walk and know your right from your left, you can do these dances.”

Lapisardi said she learned the 19th century dances from published “dance instructors” from the era and by attending other Civil War balls. She added she has a strong background in dance, having been a professional ballet dancer.

Lapisardi said she regularly calls balls with Acoustic Shadows.

“When they were contacted about playing for Cookie Daze, they contacted me to discuss the possibility of doing a ball,” she said.

McCullough said the Cookie Daze parade Aug. 10 will feature a horse-drawn hearse with the mockup of a Civil War battle casualty inside.

“At the end of the parade, we’re going to have a mock funeral,” McCullough said.

He said the funeral will honor Leander Meyers, a member of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company K, who died during the battle of Petersburg, Va., in 1864 attempting to retrieve the regimental flag from the battlefield.

In addition, he said, the Heinz History Center’s traveling exhibit “The Civil War in Pennsylvania” will be set up at the museum from Aug. 10 through Sept. 27.

“The History Center’s traveling exhibit is offered for free to affiliate program members, of which this museum is one,” said Brady Smith, communications manager at the Pittsburgh history center.

“Essentially, the exhibit covers the Civil War from the Western Pennsylvania point of view,” said Smith. “But each site has a chance to add their own personal artifacts.”

The 500-square-foot exhibit features four lifelike museum figures, plus a companion dog, Jack, along with artifacts, previously unseen photographs, and large museum panels describing Pennsylvania’s contributions to the Civil War.

The four museum figures represented in the exhibition include:

@BodyCopy Bullet:Strong Vincent, a young attorney from Erie who rallied Union troops at Gettysburg in the fierce battle on Little Round Top with the phrase, “Don’t give an inch!”

Martin Delany, a Pittsburgh abolitionist who was one of the first African-Americans admitted to Harvard Medical School and later the highest ranking African-American in the Civil War.

Kate McBride, a young worker from the Allegheny Arsenal who represents the women and children who toiled on the home front.

Tillie Pierce, a 15-year-old Gettysburg native who hauled buckets of water for thirsty soldiers, tore cloth into bandages to aid physicians and comforted the wounded after Confederate troops overran her hometown.

The exhibit will address issues related to slavery, the efforts on the home front, the importance of women, the role of Pittsburgh as the “Arsenal of the Union” and the impact of the Battle of Gettysburg.

McCullough said he is still looking for Civil War portrayers.

“The problem I ran into is in the summer there are many events all over the place. There is a big annual event in Ohio and a lot of people I’ve talked to are going to that,” he said.

He said people interested in portraying Civil War figures during Cookie Daze should call 814-473-6179 or 814-229-6579.