July 2008

Artist-in-Residence at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
(Iowa) -- Photographer Linda Staats will be the Artist-in-Residence at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site from June 20 until July 5. Staats is known for her imagery of the Midwest heartland and the Pacific Northwest. Her photographs are in private and corporate collections and have appeared in galleries, brochures, note cards, and calendars. She recently returned to the Midwest after living in Washington State, where she spent countless days photographing national parks, and is now working on a project of Midwestern images. She will be on duty Friday through Tuesday during her residency and will interact with park visitors while she works. On Saturday, June 28, she will present a free public program about her photography at 1:00 p.m. in the visitor center. For more information, please contact Adam Prato at 319/643-7855.

Teacher-Ranger-Teachers
(Maine) -- Four teachers will be spending their summer at Acadia National Park and Saint Croix Island International Historic Site as part of the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT) program. The program has been made possible by Parks-as-Classroom grant funding and the National Park Service’s Centennial Challenge matching funds. The teachers will learn about the National Park Service, work with park staff, and present programs for families and children. When they return to the classroom in the fall, they will take the park back to their students through lesson plans developed during the summer. The TRT program is an exciting way to introduce national parks and our nation's heritage to children. This year's teachers are from Maine, New York, and Missouri. For more information, please contact Cynthia Ocel at 207/288-8822 or Meg Scheid at 207/454-3871.

Aquarium in Stone
(Wyoming) -- Fossil Butte National Monument invites visitors to participate in the scientific collection of fossils with members of the park’s paleontological staff. It's a great opportunity to get your hands dirty and see a fossil revealed after being buried in stone for 50 million years. The program is offered every Friday and Saturday through August 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Marcia Fagnant at 307/877-4455.

New Park Visitor Center in Boston
(Massachusetts) -- Boston National Historical Park will open a new visitor center in Building 5 in the Charlestown Navy Yard, adjacent to the USS Constitution, on July 3, 2008. The ribbon-cutting will take place at 11:00 a.m. with Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, National Park Service Deputy Northeast Regional Director Michael Reynolds, Superintendent Terry Savage of Boston National Historical Park, and other dignitaries. Entertainment will be provided by the American Belles, a trio of high-energy performers who sing American standards and patriotic favorites in rich, three-part harmony. The new, 8500 square-foot visitor center will feature exhibits on the history of the Charlestown Navy Yard, which opened in 1800 as one of the first naval shipyards in the United States and was the birthplace, repair center, outfitting base, and port of refuge for thousands of U.S. naval vessels. It will also have a new bookstore, a ranger desk where visitors can pick up maps of the Freedom Trail and brochures from area attractions, a new theater, and a new orientation film that features interviews with former navy yard workers and provides an overview of the yard's history from the time it opened in 1800 until it closed in 1974. The $3.3 million, handicapped-accessible facility will serve as a formal entry point to the 30 acres of the Boston National Historical Park portion of the Charlestown Navy Yard, allowing National Park Service rangers and volunteers to provide better orientation to the more than one million visitors who tour the site each year. For more information, please contact Sean Hennessey at 617/242-5616.

July 4 Citizenship Ceremony
(New York) -- Saratoga National Historical Park will celebrate Independence Day with a 10:00 a.m. citizenship ceremony. There will also be traditional readings of the Declaration of Independence, with free lemonade toasts, at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. On the anniversary of our nation’s birth and upon grounds where freedom was won, 20 people will become new citizens of America. Fife-and-drum music, a color guard, and musket firings will frame this special event. At 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., a messenger from 1776 will read the Declaration of Independence with authentic 18 th-century toasts reflecting the insightful wit of the document signers. There will be free lemonade, so that all may share in the toasts, which will be followed by celebratory musket firings. For more information, please contact Gina Johnson at 518/664-9821 x227.

4th of July at the Historic Reserve
(Washington) -- On July 4, for the 46 th year, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will host "Comcast Presents 4th of July at the Historic Reserve" -- the Pacific Northwest's annual Fourth of July celebration. Managed by the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust, the park's cooperating association, the event annually draws 60,000+ visitors, making it one of the largest Fourth of July celebrations taking place in a unit of the National Park System. The traditional, festival-style event features food and craft vendors, family activity areas, and an entertainment stage with over 10 hours of live, family-oriented music, culminating in a 30-minute fireworks display billed as "the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi." The event footprint includes lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Army, State of Washington, and City of Vancouver within the boundaries of the congressionally-established Vancouver National Historic Reserve. Lands managed by NPS are the heart of the event, including the preferred viewing area for the main stage, fireworks display, and family activity areas. Throughout the day, more than 30 NPS staff and Volunteers-in-Parks will provide roving interpretation and special programs for visitors. Staff and volunteers involved in the annual Public Archaeology Field School will interpret an active NPS archaeological excavation for the public, and members of the U.S. Army Reserve will lead traditional games, including sack races and three-legged races, on the park's historic main parade ground. For more information, please contact Greg Shine at 360/816-6231.

Old-Fashioned Fourth
(Colorado) -- Join the staff and volunteers of Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site as they celebrate the country's birth 19 th-century style. The Fourth of July festivities will take place between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. and will start with a parade featuring the fort's oxen-drawn wagon and patriotic music. Great orations will follow, along with games and stories of the period for both children and adults. Refreshments will include lemonade and virgin mint juleps as the fort inhabitants celebrate the holiday. Too much celebrating will result in an untimely death -- leading to a fiery temperance speech and a somewhat solemn funeral. The festivities will end with one lucky visitor departing the site with a wonderful souvenir -- one of the 27-star U.S. flags that have flown over the fort. For more information, please contact Rick Wallner at 719/383-5024.

Freedom’s Trial: A Unique Walking Tour
(Massachusetts) -- Boston African American National Historic Site will offer a special, 90-minute walking tour focusing on the time when the promises of the American Revolution were “on trial” in Boston’s 19 th-century African American community. The new tour, offered on July 4 at 11:00 a.m., will take people to places where Boston’s developing black community struggled to realize the full promise of citizenship. Hear the stories of men and women, black and white, who worked to secure freedom and equal rights for all. Learn of the struggle to maintain churches, the ongoing fight for equal school rights, the Abolition Movement, and the burgeoning social welfare services and organizations of the community. Tours will start at the Samuel Adams statue in front of Faneuil Hall in Boston and conclude at the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. For more information, please contact Sean Hennessey at 617/242-5616.

Declare Your Independence
(Washington, DC) -- Visitors to the White House Visitor Center on July 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. may experience what it is like to be a “Signer of the Declaration of Independence for a day.” During a full day of free, fun, and engaging interactive programming, visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to sample some of the sights, sounds, activities, and personages that helped to form the United States of America on July 4, 1776. The day’s events will include games, crafts, and other activities for both children and adults. “Chat” with John Adams about the decision that he and his fellow delegates made to commit treason against the King of England by signing the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Fine-tune your congressional correspondence by writing with a quill pen and protecting the privacy of the letter with sealing wax. Have your portrait taken in a tricornered hat while you are affixing your signature to America’s most famous document. Sample period games and entertainments of the 18 th century. Participate in a formal reading of the Declaration of Independence at 1:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Kathy Langley at 202/208-1631.

Civil War Artillery Demonstrations
(Maryland) -- On July 6, Fort Washington Park will host musket demonstrations at noon and a series of artillery demonstrations at 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m . At 12:00 noon, members of the Fort Washington Guard dressed in Civil War uniforms will demonstrate the firing of muzzle-loading muskets. At 1:00 p.m., procedures used during the muzzle-loading era of American artillery will be demonstrated using a six-pounder field gun. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in a non-firing artillery drill after each demonstration. In recognition of Independence Day, 13 shots will be fired to commemorate the original colonies. For more information, please contact Kirsten Talken-Spaulding at 202/690-5165.

Teacher Institutes at Acadia
(Maine) -- On July 8-9, park rangers will present the first of three institutes funded by the National Park Service’s Centennial Challenge. The two-day workshop for teachers of grades four to eight will present methods for integrating field research into classroom activities. Teachers are eligible for continuing education credits, stipends, and deferment of costs. Institute activities highlight studies of forest community structure, marine biodiversity, geology, soil development, and New England history. For more information, please contact Kate Petrie at 207/288-8808.

Cultural Festival Celebrates Year of the Paniolo
(Hawai‘i) -- Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park’s 28 th annual cultural festival is set for Saturday, July 12, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Kahuku Unit in Ka‘u. This year’s festival honors the rich heritage of the Hawaiian cowboy. The free event, offering fun for the whole family, will be held at the park’s Kahuku Unit, located between the 70 and 71 mile markers on Highway 11. Jazz Yglesias will emcee, and Skylark will broadcast the happenings live on KAPA radio. The festivities start at 10:00 am when the echo of the pu (shell trumpet) and a heartfelt pule (Hawaiian prayer) will remind us that the culture of Hawai‘i is very much alive. Enjoy hula by Leo Nahenahe o Pohai Kealoha; Halau Hula Kalehuaki‘eki‘eika‘iu with Kumu Hula Ab Kawainohoikala‘i Valencia, Lori Lei, and Wai‘ohinu Hula Studio with Kumu Hula Lori Lei Shirakawa; and Halau Hula na Pua ‘O Uluhaimalama with Kumu Hula Emery Aceret. Listen to the sweet sounds of Hawaiian music by ‘Ulelewaihu‘i, Kenneth Makuakane, and Diana Aki. Join in and make a lei and feather kahili, weave a coconut basket and a lauhala bracelet, play musical implements and Hawaiian games, and taste traditional foods such as kalua pig, taro, sweet potato, sugar cane, and breadfruit. Watch skilled practitioners demonstrate their arts. Learn how to fish, throw net , build a canoe, craft drums, do lomilomi massages, beat kapa, carve wood, use plants as medicine, make a ti leaf cape and sandals, stamp with bamboo, decorate gourds, make a lauhala hat and feather lei, create a native plant garden, and plant dryland taro. Participants will be able to buy locally made Hawaiian crafts from the cultural demonstrators. Food, drinks, and special-edition festival T-shirts will also be available for purchase. For more information, please contact Mardie Lane at 808/985-6018.

Western Arts Day on the North Rim
(Arizona) -- Western Arts Day at Grand Canyon National Park on July 14 will celebrate the Western culture that helps define what the Grand Canyon, northern Arizona, and southern Utah are today, focusing on music and poetry. Programmed activities will take place in various locations throughout the North Rim developed area. Presentations will include cowboy poetry, a mandolin presentation, flint-napping, rug weaving, quilting, beading, and 1850s-era survival skills. For more information, please contact Shannan D. Marcak at 928/638-7958.

Acadia Adventures: Family Fun Day
(Maine) -- Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia will hold the third annual Family Fun Day on Sunday, July 20, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Sieur de Monts Spring. This fun-filled event will include activities for families with children aged two to ten. Park rangers and volunteers will present a wide range of activities, including storytelling, nature walks, kayaking, arts and crafts, and more. This year's event is hosted by Wild Gardens of Acadia and the Abbe Museum. For more information, please visit www.friendsofacadia.org/familyfun or contact Kate Petrie at 207/288-8808.

Predator Prey Study Anniversary
(Michigan) -- On July 25 to 27, Isle Royale National Park will celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the Isle Royale wolf-moose predator prey study. Island events begin on July 25 with the premiere of the documentary film Fortunate Wilderness by George Desort. On Saturday, July 26, there will be an anniversary ceremony and sessions with current and past wolf-moose researchers. On Sunday, the wolf-moose island research camp will be open for visits. For more information, please contact Liz Valencia at 906/487-7153.

Park Lifeline Celebrates Anniversary
(Michigan) -- On July 31, Isle Royale National Park will celebrate 50 years of service for the National Park Service vessel RANGER III . Carrying employees, freight, fuel, and passengers to and from the island each week from April through October, RANGER III is the lifeline for park operations. Tours of the ship with interpretive talks will be available in the morning, and a free cruise of the Keweenaw waterway will be available in the afternoon. For more information, please contact Liz Valencia at 906/487-7153.

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Last Update July 01, 2008- 03:29 p.m.
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