I am in the process of putting together the online information and registration for our annual living history event at Old World Wisconsin. Last year, I created a set of pages and menus that simulated a separate website for this event. This year, I am taking it one step further.

I have created a subdomain for our Old World event with its own database and content management system. It is, in essence, it's own separate website.

I will be busy plugging in the information for this year's event, along with posting photos from last year's event and posting any other Old World Wisconsin happenings that would concern our mess group or the ONV.

We will be able to reuse this site every year that we are considered the hosts for the Old World Wisconsin Civil War weekend. Another benefit to both us and to Old World Wisconsin is that I will be able to register the subdomain with all of the major search engines and, in time, it will be easier for people to find out about the living history program at Old World.

I received reliable information that the 3rd Wisconsin's website will be allowed to expire this year. With that said, I have decided to host the history of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry on our mess' website.

Even though the Ol' Sipley Mess isn't designated to represent any particular Civil War regiment, Union or Confederate, the name of the mess was inspired by the historic record of the 3rd Wisconsin Veteran Volunteer Infantry.

Another reason for hosting the 3rd Wisconsin's history here is that I, personally, placed a lot of time in developing that website and I cannot, in good conscience, allow it or the valuable information it contains to fade from exsistence without taking some sort of action.

With the new technology that is available in the areas of OCR software and flatbed scanners, I will be able to continue adding to the online historic record of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry by publishing exerpts from the writings of Edwind E. Bryant, William F. Goodhue, Julian W. Hinkley, and others from the original regiment.

I hope this new arrangement will be agreeable to all of my messmates and I think its exsistence on our site will benefit our mess group in the long run by adding invaluable content and by increasing web traffic.