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Gettysburg celebrates Independence Day without annual battle reenactment

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — The streets of Gettysburg  were packed with traditional July 4th flair on Saturday. Thousands of battle re-enactment actors and actresse...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- The streets of Gettysburg  were packed with traditional July 4th flair on Saturday. Thousands of battle re-enactment actors and actresses dressed in Civil War-style clothing, and a battle marching band from "The Maryland 2nd Infantry" played tunes in Lincoln Square. But, on this July 4th, there was no battle to re-enact. Gettysburg was forced to march to the beat of a different drum.

"We expected it to be very crowded because we were expecting the reenactment," said Jack Quirk of Maine, who was visiting with his wife Judy.

On Monday, the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee (GAC) called a "cease-fire" to the annual battle re-enactment, postponing the event to August 7, 8 & 9, due to recent and pending wet weather. On Saturday, the rains came, but the crowds remained, both inside the park and downtown.

"It's crowded," said Douglas Robinson, who was visiting Gettysburg for the first time on the July 4th holiday. "When I came down as a kid it was never this full."

Park officials told FOX43 the crowds inside the park were "normal for a Summer day." Downtown, business owners said the lack of a re-enactment actually led to more weekend business.

"There's more action in town," said Bill Wickham, co-owner of Dirty Billy's Hats on Baltimore Street. "It might have disappointed people who wanted to see people blow powder at each other, and the lines and the battle, they didn't get to see it this time but they can come back in August and see it."

Tourists flooded Wickham's narrow store, many looking for Civil War-era head-gear while some looked to purchase a Confederate flag. Wickham, dressed in all white with a top hat and mutton chops, wore both Confederate Flag and United States Flag pins on his jacket lapel.

"I have ancestors on both sides, he said. "I love both sides."

The Confederate Flag controversy has brought Gettysburg into the national forefront. Flags sporting the "Stars and Bars" wave alongside United States flags throughout town, even after many shops have decided to stop selling them in the wake of nine black men and women shot to death in a Charleston, South Carolina church. South Carolina currently flies the Confederate Flag in front of its state house.

In Gettysburg, the issue is a complicated one. Most insist the flag should fly in Gettysburg stores and on its battlefields as part of its historical context. Tim Daniel, who owns The Inn at Lincoln Square, says the controversy, along with Saturday's re-enactment postponement, has led to a three-week boost in business.

"It's been nothing but great for business owners like myself who're trying to get tourists back in town," Daniel said. "We want people to go out there and see what happened and people re-enact it but from a business owner standpoint, it's been great for the town this weekend."

Gettysburg businesses are celebrating. Next month, when the battle re-enactments take place, the city gets to celebrate the Fourth of July all over again.

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