Local National Park Service employees are reaching out to form relationships with the Vicksburg community this weekend.

The Vicksburg National Military Park is hosting its annual Winter Open House as well as a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service over the holiday weekend.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service will be from 8 a.m. to noon Monday at Beulah Cemetery.

“It should be a lot of fun,” Molly Cadwell, park volunteer coordinator, said. “We’re partnering with Beulah Cemetery, which comes up right next the park.”

Volunteers will help maintain the cemetery by clearing the land of tree branches and leaves as well as cleaning off headstones.

“It should be a nice way to honor Martin Luther King Day by doing service. It’s not a day off, it’s a day on,” Cadwell said.

There are only 25 spots available for this volunteer opportunity because it is a smaller project with a limited staff. Volunteers are asked to bring their own water bottle, to dress weather appropriate in clothing that can get dirty and to wear sturdy boots or athletic shoes. The park will provide equipment, protective gear, a light lunch and water.

The cemetery is located on Old Jackson Road, which is at the end of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“Service honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,” Cadwell said. “It’s important to do something useful and productive with that day. I hope our project helps people do that a little bit.”

To register, contact Cadwell at 601-629-8133 or molly_cadwell@partner.nps.gov.

The park’s Winter Open House will be Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Visitor Center. Those attending the open house can get into the park for free. There will be a photo booth with props and costumes for people to have a little fun at the casual gathering. Refreshments will be served and park employees will be on hand to speak to the public.

“There will be park staff there all day,” Cadwell said. “We’ll have some volunteers there as well to help us run the whole thing but also to talk about volunteer experiences in the park.”

The park hosts an open house each winter to invite the community to talk to park employees about what they want to get out of their park. There will be an opportunity for park guests to write down on paper their ideas for the future and their favorite park memories from the past.

“Anyone is invited; tourists who are just passing through, and community members are highly encouraged to come. We want them to come enjoy their park. They’re the ones who are here all the time. We want to know what they think of it so we can make it the best park for them,” Cadwell said.

She said it is important for the park to connect with the public because the park belongs to the community and everyone should be able to voice their thoughts and concerns.

“It’s important because this park, it belongs to the people, especially the people of Vicksburg. It’s really important that we have a good relationship with the people of Vicksburg, and it’s important that we get to hear from them and they get to hear from us,” Cadwell said.

This year, she said the event is also going to be a way to commemorate the end of the National Park Service’s centennial year by celebrating the park’s recent accomplishments as well as looking ahead to the park’s second century.

“This year we thought we’d do it as a kickoff to our next century of the Nation Park Service,” Cadwell said. “We’ll be looking to hear what people thought of our centennial year but also to talk about ideas and peoples’ hopes for the next century of National Parks and Vicksburg specifically.”

Some of last year’s accomplishments include:

• The VNMP hosted over 1,000 students on field trips in 2016, and many of those students were from the Vicksburg Warren School District.

• Events held in the park included Memorial Day, the 4th of July, the 50th Anniversary of the Historic Preservation Act, living history demonstrations, special presentations, and a concert featuring the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the Jackson Mass Community Choir.

• Over 2,000 hours of community service have been recorded since June 2016. Cadwell, who came to Vicksburg in June as a Centennial Volunteer Ambassador, revamped the volunteer program by recruiting and training volunteers and creating community service events.

In 2017,

• Park employees want to build on the previous year by expanding the park’s educational programming to a variety of grade levels.

• Cadwell is scheduled to remain in Vicksburg through the end of 2017 to continue to grow the volunteer program in the community.