“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

MTHE is open to all groups or individuals who have a desire and ability to educate the American public and to the visitors from around the world, on the history of civilizations both past and present.

MTHE is one of the largest time-line living history events west of the Mississippi River. MTHE has over one-thousand historical interpretive specialists representing many different aspects of world history from Ancient Rome, to Elizabethan England, to Colonial America and beyond. Our timeline starts with the beginning of the civilized world and marches its way through history to the current conflicts in the universal War on Terror.

MTHE is a family-oriented, educational atmosphere, celebrating the history of those who have defended their civilizations throughout history. Visitors are invited to walk through the camps of the participants and learn about the lives of the common man or woman or of the great names in history through interpretive specialists. There are reenactments that demonstrate the technology of the times, and each encampment is an opportunity to walk back into time and relive the rich history that is now only available in two-dimensions – through reading materials or the internet.

MTHE allows for all of your senses to become active while you march with your friends and families through the history of the civilized world. Come out and join us one and all… camping is available through Prado Regional Park for all scout, fraternal, school, or family groups who would wish to experience MTHE as a weekend event.
We go to great lengths to provide an environment that is conducive to the education of the American Citizenry and to offer the same citizenry the opportunity to reflect for an afternoon on those brave men and women of the our nation and their sacrifices to keep the United States of America the greatest experiment in the history of the world.

Jeff Sharp – Executive Director

The Marching Thru History Exposition began out of the lessons learned from a now defunct event in San Diego called the Grand Military Encampment of San Diego. In May 1997, two of the former members of the GME Board, George Craig and Jeff Sharp were sitting in George’s work area of his home in Fountain Valley when a call came from a County of Orange regional parks employee - Bruce Buchman about an event that was already scheduled to occur on the first weekend of October 1997.

In that year, Irvine Regional Park was going to celebrate its 100th year in existence as the County of Orange’s oldest regional park. A couple of the employees for the County, Eric Fredrickson and Jon Reed had mentioned to their boss Mike Miniachi – a Union Infantry re-enactor himself – that they knew a small group of guys that could put on a small time-line living history event as an adjunct to the event(s) already being planned for the Irvine Park Celebration.
Next came the phone call to George and Jeff and within minutes of hanging up the phone, Jeff looked at George and said; “This is a job for Ron Lane – he knows everyone in the reenacting world and has ties to the 40th Infantry Division – California’s Own National Guard Division.” Turns out Ron and the then Adjutant General of the State of California – Major General Tandy Bozeman were pilots together in the California Air National Guard and Tandy flew many times as Ron’s co-pilot.

After several meetings and six months of HARD planning, the first Marching Thru History Exposition was presented on 1-2 OCTOBER 1997. The event was such a success that in real terms, the MTHE overshadowed much of the remainder of the celebration in the park’s honor.

MTHE was off and running… there was another MTHE event at Irvine Park before the event was moved to the County Operations Center in Santa Ana after a one year hiatus to get organized. AT this point, co-founder George Craig passed on from a sudden heart attack at 57 years old… Our event was so shaken at his loss that we considered folding our tents. Instead, because of his character, we collectively decided to make this event the largest of its kind in the area and our goal is now to someday be a destination stop drawing tens of thousands.

After three more successful years at the County Operations Center, the event quickly outgrew the confined spaces and the MTHE Board then decided that even though the MTHE was the single largest veterans event held annually within the OC, AND the fact that the event was sponsored by both the United Veterans Organizations of Orange County and the County of Orange Veterans Service Office, it was time to take the MTHE out of Orange County to a place that has become our home and hopefully will be for many years to come… Prado Regional Park in Chino California.

First in 2003 under the watch of Sam Arce, MTHE established itself as a patriotic juggernaut in San Bernardino County. Although not well attended because of a time schedule change (from May to November) and a short work up period because of our move from the OC, the MTHE still managed to overcome all these challenges and the show went ahead as scheduled. Mother Nature even threatened us with rain; however, we managed to dodge the weather bullet.

In 2004, with almost a year to plan, the event moved its timeframe again, this time to October, and the event had over 700 participants and over 7000 visitors. Wayne Watkins and his Prado Regional Park Staff did their usual spectacular job as the event added both a JROTC Drill Competition and a timeline shift from beginning with the Colonial American Period to encompass what we now consider “The Ancient World” portion of the exposition. Since this incorporation on the Ancients they have received the Best of Show “George A. Craig Award for Excellence.” Needless to say, their addition has added much to the flavor and interest of our exposition.

In 2005 the MTHE added the AMVETS Brotherhood Rally Motorcycle Run to raise dollars for needy veterans and 1/6th scale Armor RC modelers. We added new units including the 1812 HMS Surprise Jolly Boat Crew, The Louisiana Special Battalion CSA, and Haslet’s Delaware Regiment, to name a few… we also had first timers join us from the Air Force ROTC Unit at Loyola Marymount University. The 18th Cavalry of the 40th Infantry Division was also a nice addition to this year’s event and we hope that we can get more 40th ID participation in the future.

Our JROTC Drill Competition was a huge success as was the addition of the new units and the scale modelers. Lastly, we have the King of AMVETS Post 18 – Orange County - Del King – and his partner Scot Norton, along with the assistance of the Tustin Young Marines and their adult staff, who together create the best dinner served at ANY event of this type anywhere in the United States!

In 2007, the event was canceled weeks before the event… We couldn’t raise the necessary funding to cover the expenses of the exposition. Many were disappointed… but none more so than the fantastic volunteer staff that toils all year long to bring you a spectacular two day event. The Director, Chief of Operations and the World War II Coordinator spent a long weekend at the gate apologizing to those who had not received the word of the cancellation.
2008 MTHE has been a long, difficult pull… This year we have not secured any funding to operate… We came down to a 1 July 2008 deadline to go or not go… The Executive Board itself put up thousands of dollars in order for the 2008 Marching Thru History Exposition to go forward this year…!!! Please shake their hands – they’re usually in the white MTHE hats – if you see them during the event…

We are continually adding units and impressions and expanding the event… This year in addition to the Long Beach Poly JROTC who operates the JROTC Color Guard Competition on Saturday, we have four squadrons of the Civil Air Patrol and for the first time ever… a contingent of Boy Scouts…

Please come out and support us in any way that you can. We need more public participation from boys and girl scouts, public and private schools, homeschooler groups, veteran organizations, displays from state and local entities - Police/Fire displays, and links to any and all other websites that might promote our event to those who might consider coming and seeing all the hard work of the MTHE staff and from the participants that make up our MTHE Family.