Fifty volunteers arrived early at the Vicksburg National Military Park on a sun-drenched Saturday morning for the 6th annual Park Day.

Park Day, held on the first Saturday each April, encourages the public to volunteer on service projects such as painting signs and cannons, planting trees and clearing nature trails.

Volunteers started arriving before 8 Saturday morning.

“We do have people who volunteer here on a regular basis, but on this day in particular it is special,” park superintendent Mike Madell said. “We can get a lot of things accomplished with this amount of people.”

Park Day is sponsored by Civil War Preservation Trust and the History Channel.

The volunteers ranged in age from youngsters to senior citizens and several groups pitched in. Boy Scout Troop 102 from First Presbyterian Church, Cub Scout packs 107, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, and 193, sponsored by Redbone United Methodist Church, and Girl Scout Troop 5107 all turned out in force to help the cause.

“Scouts need to do volunteer service in order to get badges,” said Colin Crasta, Cub Master for Pack 193. “We do this anytime we get the opportunity.”

“It was fun to make the old cannons look nice,” 7-year-old Logan Johnson of Cub Scout Pack 109 said. “I also liked the plastic gloves.”

As the work was completed around noon, the groups met at Tour Stop 12 for lunch and a program. Two actors portraying U.S President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave speeches defending their actions at the start of the Civil War. The two took questions from the audience.

Lincoln portrayer Larry Elliott of Louisville, Ky., said his goal when he represents the 16th president is to communicate the gravity of the situation in which the country had found itself.

“I want to make sure the audience knows the significance of Lincoln saving the country,” Elliott said.

George Buss, an actor and teacher from Freeport, Ill., who portrayed Davis, said he enjoys roles as historical figures because of the young people who hear him speak.

“I really like taking questions from the kids,” Buss said. “If we create a historian out of any of these kids then we have done our jobs.”