The hot sun bearing down upon Riverside Park Thursday afternoon seemed to have no effect upon the hundreds of children roaming through the many exhibits of camp life during the Civil War.

As part of the annual Battle of Selma School Tours, children, teachers, and parents from all across the state spent nearly the entire day at the park learning about confederate and union soldiers who fought here during the mid-1800s.

These school tours are held every year before the Battle of Selma re-enactment to educate, entertain, and enliven young children about the Civil War.

Ray Hogg, organizer of the school tours, said around 40 different schools from across the area participated in the tours on Thursday.

All of these students were taken on a guided tour through 10 different &uot;living history&uot; stations around the park.

At the first stop on the tour, women in historic garb showed students the ancient art of looming and weaving to make cloth.

The infantry drill station demonstrated to students how soldiers on the battlefield loaded and shot their weapons.

There was also a blacksmith teaching his craft and a medical tent displaying all the tools used by surgeons at the turn of the century.

By late afternoon, the most popular spot in the park was refreshment tent. Long lines winded their way around the tent as several hot, tired, and thirsty children waited on their turn to purchase blue bottles of homemade lemonade.

There was also lots of activity at the souvenir tents, where children of all ages admired or bought hats, flags, swords, and toy guns.

As the buses were finally loaded up and the children headed back to their schools, the re-enactors and organizers took a well-deserved rest and started preparing for another exciting day tomorrow.