Vicksburg National Military Park is looking for volunteers to answer the nation’s call to service.
The park is seeking volunteers to help paint battlefield cannons and carriages and the historic iron gates at Vicksburg National Cemetery on Saturday, April 5 as part of the annual Civil War Trust Park Day, VNMP natural resource program manager Virginia DuBowy said in an email.
Volunteers should meet at 8 a.m. at the USS Cairo Museum Parking lot. The first 75 volunteers to sign up will receive a free t-shirt, DuBowy said.
“Come dressed for outdoor work and wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty or paint-spotted,” DuBowy said. “For safety reasons and due to the nature of the work, clothing should include long-sleeved shirts, long pants, tennis shoes or work boots, and work gloves.”
The park will provide a pizza lunch for volunteers at noon at the USS Cairo picnic area. The lunch break will also include a presentation by the park’s interpretive staff.
For more information about Park Day, call DuBowy at 601-619-2921 or email virginia_dubowy@nps.gov.
The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the country. The group began holding Park Day in 1996. In 2013, nearly 8,000 volunteers donated more than 36,00 services hours at 105 historic sites across the country.