LAKEPORT, Calif. – The year 2011 will mark the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, the sesquicentennial of the conflict, and a local group is forming a Civil War roundtable to help mark the commemoration locally.

The first meeting of the Lake County Civil War Roundtable is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 29, at 901 S. Main St., Lakeport. Everyone is welcome.

While for most people it may seem like ancient history, there are still millions of Americans alive today who had contact with those that were alive during The War.

The last Civil War veterans did not pass away until the 1950s, and it is believed that a widow of a Confederate soldier is still alive (a product of a teenage bride to an octogenarian during the Depression).

In addition, the impact of The War continues to resonate today in our politics, culture and race relations.

“No one can fully understand what is going on in today’s America without a firm grasp on what happened then,” according to Phil Smoley, one of the founders of the Lake County Civil War Roundtable (LCCWR).

“People may not realize it, but we are still battling many of the same issues that brought about the Civil War,” Smoley said. “The end of the shooting did not necessarily mean the end of the argument. Our discussions will include the full range of issues that brought on the war, including States Rights, economics, and slavery.”

The War caused more than 600,000 deaths, and several American cities were virtually wiped out.

“An equivalent impact today would be to have an event that killed over 6 million people in this Country. It was devastating,” according to LCCWR co-founder Zane Jensen. “There were over 50 major battles fought and 5000 skirmishes from Arizona to Vermont. On the oceans, ships battles all around the world, from the North Pacific and the Indian Ocean, to the English Channel and Brazil. These battles are full of stories of heroism, courage, patriotism, ingenuity, and even romance. We want to cover some of these actions and how they affected the outcome of The War.”

Many important 150 year anniversaries have already came and went, including the Dred Scott Decision (March 2007), John Brown’s Raid (October 2009), and the more recently, the election of 1860 (this month).

“Each of these events were major contributors to the cause of The War,” Jensen explained. “One of our goals is to report on significant events as they reach their Sesquicentennial.’

Jensen and Smoley are both amateur historians who share a passion on all things related to the Civil War.

Jensen is a history teacher in Lakeport who recently completed an extensive battlefield tour. Smoley is a real estate broker and current president of the Lake County Historical Society.

“Lake County was created just as The War commenced and played very little into it. However, California played a significant part in The War, and we hope to discuss that in depth,” Smoley stated.

The goals of the LCCWR include having monthly robust discussions on chosen topics, and investigate ways to assist Lake County students and teachers in learning more about the Civil War period.

“Bringing a Civil War reenactment to Lake County would be something we want to look at,” according to Jensen.

For more information, contact Phil Smoley at 707-264-4905, or Zane Jensen at 707-349-6546.