As the summer continues, at The Gettysburg Experience we are eager to bring you another issue of articles of historical import, refreshing summer recipes, and our updated Calendar of Events – all beginning on page 11.

August is a month of birthday commemorations for two of Gettysburg’s best known post-Civil War natives, and, interestingly, contemporaries of each other. Elsie Singmaster Lewars was a nationally acclaimed writer from Gettysburg, whose stories still resonate. Her life story begins on page 21. August also marks the sesquicentennial of the birth of Gettysburg's professional baseball pitcher, Eddie Plank. His story begins on page 31.

Uncovering what happened here during the epic battle is always best told from the perspective of those who were here in the summer of 1863. I did a particularly deep dive and unearthed some shockingly realistic memories that are quite overpowering. Read about them in They Were at Gettysburg, beginning on page 37.

This year has been unrelenting with the plethora of national disasters. Our Editor’s Corner addresses how we might be better prepared to endure them, or hopefully escape them, in An Ounce of Prevention, beginning on page 47.

Our Trivia Questions are still on the bottom of every odd-numbered page (except the center, where our Map of Gettysburg is found). To ace the Trivia, be sure to read the articles first. Answers are on page 53.

We provide for your convenience an Advertisers’ Directory on page 54. We appreciate our many advertisers – they provide the only funding for the magazine – and without them, you wouldn’t be reading it. Please take a moment and see what they have to offer.

Thank you for choosing The Gettysburg Experience, proud to be part of this amazing place called Gettysburg since 1997.