CWTrust Volunteers sought to clean up Maine battlefields, historic sites during Park Day

USS ALASKA

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Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Volunteers needed at two Maine sites for Park Day 2018

By Brian Swartz

Civil War buffs and history fans can help spruce up two war-related sites in Maine as the Civil War Trust sponsors Park Day 2018.


The CWT website, www.civilwar.org, describes Park Day as “an annual hands-on volunteer event to help Civil War, Revolutionary War, and War of 1812 battlefields and historic sites shine their brightest.”


Volunteers carry out various site improvement- and maintenance-related activities, including “routine grounds keeping, fence and trail maintenance, painting,” and whatever else needs doing, according to the CWT.


Many Mainers are unaware that some Civil War action took place in the Pine Tree State. Confederate sailors captured the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing in Portland Harbor in 1863, Confederates attempted to rob a bank in Calais in 1864, and persons unknown fired on the Coast Guards garrisoning Fort Madison in Castine. One soldier was wounded in that night action, which remains murky to this day.


Park Day always takes place in April, and this year the CWT has designated Saturday, April 7 as Park Day 2018. “Park Day is open to all history enthusiasts, young and old,” the CWT states.


The two sites in Maine for Park Day 2018 are the Thomas Hill House/GAR Memorial Home owned by the Bangor Historical Society and Fort Knox State Historic Site in Prospect.


• Volunteers will meet on the front porch of the Thomas Hill House (159 Union St., Bangor) at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 7 and help prepare the mansion for its May opening.


The Thomas Hill House is located at 159 Union St., Bangor.


Park Day hours are 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Volunteers only need bring their work gloves. Depending on the weather, planned activities include clearing brush from the Thomas Hill House site, landscaping, and painting and tidying up various rooms inside the mansion.


Water will be provided, and volunteers can participate in Civil War-focused tours of the Thomas Hill House.


For more information, contact Amanda Black at 207-942-1900 or [email protected].


• Park Day 2018 will take place Saturday, April 21 at Fort Knox State Historic Site in Prospect.


Volunteers will meet at the Fort Knox Visitor Center at 10 a.m. Bring rakes and work gloves; the planned clean-up activities are clearing and removing brush, landscaping, and removing trash.


Water and snacks will be provided.


If the weather is bad, the event will be postponed until Saturday, April 28.


For more information, contact Leon Seymour at 207-469-6553 or [email protected].


Brian Swartz can be reached at [email protected]. He enjoys hearing from Civil War buffs interested in Maine’s involvement in the war.


http://maineatwar.bangordailynews.c...-needed-at-two-maine-sites-for-park-day-2018/

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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