‘There ain’t no place better’: Great Bridge native has an indefatigable passion for local history

While Great Bridge native Ron Phelps may have been an electrical engineer by trade, his best-loved avocation has been his unfaltering fervor for reenacting history, especially local history.

“I was born and raised here. I never really wanted to go anyplace else,” said Phelps. “This is my way of giving back to the community that embraced and allowed me to live and grow up in Great Bridge. I’ve traveled all over the world. There ain’t no place better.”

Ron Phelps, Elizabeth Vonasek and Buzz Deemer met participating in the First Battle of Great Bridge reenactment more than two decades ago. They later joined Gaskins Battalion, a fully formed unit, and met Drummond Ball, one of three surviving members of the 7th Virginia Regiment from the Revolutionary War’s bicentennial celebration in 1976.

Phelps and his associates resurrected the 7th Virginia Regiment, which has been the host reenactment unit for the annual Battle of Great Bridge event for more than 20 years.

After the First Battle of Great Bridge event at the Chesapeake Library on Cedar Road, Ron Phelps went to the Chesapeake Department of Parks and Recreation with the idea of officially hosting an annual battle reenactment. It was a small event and Phelps envisioned a larger, weekend gathering to attract more reenactors and a larger audience.

He approached recreation supervisor Kenny Stuart, a Great Bridge High School classmate, who thought Phelps’ proposal was a “great idea” and promised to check with his boss for approval.

Phelps and his associates connected with the Chesapeake and Norfolk chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and enlisted the support of Chesapeake’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

“They budgeted it for the next year, and we ended up doing it out at city park,” said Phelps. “We did it at city park for the first three or four years and later moved the event to the old firehouse by the canal.”

City council renamed the site Battlefield Park and made it the official site of the Battle of Great Bridge.

When the Battlefield Foundation was formed seeking a site to build a museum, they partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers that administers the land along the canal.

With Lin Olsen as executive director of the Battlefield Foundation, the proposed project took off “like a rocket,” according to Phelps. Olsen was the “arms, legs, and head” of the foundation.

“Those were the early days. It was wonderful. Everything came out of that,” said Phelps. “It got bigger and bigger.”

Phelps has always had a passion for history. Even as a kid in elementary school, he loved medieval knights, Vikings, and Romans. He made a knight’s suit of armor out of tin flashing taped together with electrical tape and wore it to school. His fifth-grade teacher was so impressed she took him around to all of the classes in his suit of armor. Phelps became known as “the suit of armor knight kid.”

While a Boy Scout in Troop 52, young Phelps was working on an astronomy merit badge. He’d go to the Chesapeake planetarium in the old brick building. The planetarium was on one side and the library was on the other.

“In the hallway in between was the Battle of Great Bridge diorama,” recalled Phelps. “While I was waiting for the merit badge counselor, I would stand in the hallway gazing at that diorama. I was mesmerized.”

Phelps doesn’t really think of himself as an historian because engineering was his scholarly pursuit at Old Dominion University. History has been his delight because he enjoys it. He took history in college and loved it.

“I’ve had some really good mentors in this hobby,” said Phelps. “Guys like Buzz Deemer, Bill Blair, and Dave Pondolfino have helped me get it right or do it better or encouraged me.”

Some people make a distinction between living history and reenactments. Technically, a reenactment involves a specific event at a specific place and time, a battle or historic occasion. Living history is generally an interpretation of life in an era. Phelps observes that some folks think of battle reenactments as the “dying part of living history.”

Over the decades, Ron Phelps has been on the battlefield with the 7th Virginia unit he helped start. With the support of his comrades-in arms, Phelps coordinated the reenactors’ involvement in the annual battle scenario. Every year, the reenactment commemorates the historic fight with a few changes and adjustments.

“Once a year, for that Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, we’re doing things that we absolutely love for a city and a foundation that is so appreciative,” said Phelps. “I never had a problem with parks and recreation. The city has always been good to us. I think they know it’s mutually beneficial. We never had any significant hiccups at all. They were so accommodating, so easy to work with.”

In the late ‘90s a call went out to Revolutionary War reenactment groups. Phelps was with the 7th Virginia and Rogers Rangers. He received an email from the 7th Virginia informing him that filmmakers were looking for extras to travel to South Carolina to help film “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson. Phelps replied and asked to be included on the list of “volunteers.”

“I forgot about it. They contacted me. I got an email back from a company that recruits extras for making movies,” Phelps said. “They wanted my information. They wanted my picture. I sent them all that stuff. It turned out that seven of us from the 7th Virginia went down to Rock Hill, South Carolina at the same time, including a young Mike Cecere.”

For two and a half weeks, the reenactors from the 7th Virginia slept in their own tents on straw and were up at sunrise. They furnished their own tents, uniforms, and equipment.

Makeup artists rubbed shaving cream in Phelps’ hair to make it look dirty and greasy. They sprayed Hollywood dirt all over him and came along with a feather duster for the shot.

“They made you look extra dirty. If your hair looked too good, they’d pull it down in front of your face,” said Phelps. “They were constantly making adjustments to make you look good on camera.”

Phelps enjoyed the camaraderie, cutting up, and joking on the set. When a scene was to be shot, Mel Gibson and the other film stars would join the reenactors in the battle line. Gibson, according to Phelps, seemed particularly appreciative of the extras and reenactors who helped in filming the movie.

“They were all great. They treated us well. I learned so much about the Hollywood magic behind the camera and the crews working,” said Phelps. “I would not give up my day job. Making films is a hard life.”

The Great Bridge Battlefield Park and Museum are dreams come true for Great Bridge and the City of Chesapeake. The creation of the Great Bridge Battlefield Foundation and the annual battle reenactment commemoration have helped to make the dream a reality.

“The Battle of Great Bridge was the annual centerpiece for communicating how important the Battle of Great Bridge was,” said Phelps. “The crowds started getting bigger and bigger. It became a known thing throughout the local area and throughout Virginia. It all came together.”

Decades ago, the Norfolk County Historical Society proposed a program to commemorate the Battle of Great Bridge with a dramatic production along the lines of the Lost Colony hosted on the Outer Banks.

“It never got the support. It never got the recognition. It never caught on,” Phelps said. “It was because they didn’t have anything like the Battle of Great Bridge to be a showcase on an annual basis to inspire and get people moving.”

When Phelps sees the youngsters and the families that show up at the annual reenactment, he envisions a bright future for reenacting and the new museum.

“We have the children’s company, Youth Virginia Regiment, run by Tom Sasso,” Phelps said. “That’s the future of living history right there. Those young kids are going to grow up to be the Mike Ceceres, Drummond Balls, Buzz Deemers, and Elizabeth Vonaseks of their time. They’ll come back with their families and friends and carry the living history forward. That’s rewarding to me.”