As we look forward to family and food here at Civil War Tails on Thanksgiving Day, we would like to take a moment to reflect over this past year.

Thank you to all of our wonderful visitors for making Civil War Tails a part of your trip to Gettysburg. Thank you for supporting us another year (our best yet!). Thank you for your kind words and the joy you bring us! Thank you for letting our clay cats bring you joy. Thank you for letting us share our museum with you, and for sharing our museum with your family, friends, and even total strangers!

We have taken to jotting down memorable comments and interactions on a daily basis. It is so much fun to look back over a month or year! I would guess the most-heard comments this year are “Amazing!” and “Fantastic!” We love seeing our dioramas afresh, through the eyes of our visitors.

Thank you for making our little clay cats feel like celebrities! One favorite memory is of one visitor who had seen our post about the 2000th cat installed on Little Round Top. When she saw him “in person,” it was like she was meeting a celebrity! Another favorite memory is of a guest who saw our diorama “Desperation at Skull Camp Bridge” on our website. The story fascinated her so much that she researched the action before coming. When she finally saw our diorama “in the flesh,” she commented, “I have goosebumps!”

As with every year, we love thinking back over how our museum has inspired kids. We received a very sweet note from a little boy who has been inspired by our dioramas. We also enjoyed repeat visits from kids who have been here before and asked their parents to come again or who were bringing first-time family members. (Theron, we still plan/hope to finish Little Round Top before you return in the spring!)

Thank you also for your outpouring of support when we lost our sweet, perfect museum dog Kelly. Thank you for welcoming Joanie and for helping to give her a pawfect job and furever home. (Thanksgiving Day is the 3-month anniversary of her adoption!)

Thank you, as always, to our mom and dad, without whose encouragement this would never have happened, and without whose support Civil War Tails would not be possible.

Last, but most importantly, thanks be to God for giving us not only 8 years of Civil War Tails but our best museum year, by far!

We look forward to 2024 and hope to enjoy many more moments with you, our visitor-friends, whether in person or on social media.

Happy Thanksgiving!!