Friends’ of Fort Knox, executive director Leon Seymour said that the organization is pleased to be able to open up the Fort and Observatory to provide area school children a fun place to visit during their school vacation. He said that now that the Friends have assumed complete management of the facility through a lease with the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands, the organization is able to expand operational possibilities. He thanked the Maine Department of Transportation’s flexibility with readying the Observatory for an early start.During the early opening, on Saturday, April 26, from 10 AM until noon, volunteers are needed to team up with the Friends of Fort Knox and the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) to help clean the Civil War era State Historic Site. The nationwide effort – dubbed Park Day – is underwritten with a grant from The History Channel. In past years, over one hundred and eleven sites took part in Park Day throughout the country.
Park Day, now in its fifteenth year, is an annual hands-on preservation event created by CWPT to assist local groups with the maintenance of Civil War sites. Participants gather at the sites to help with activities that range from trash removal to trail building. In exchange for their hard work, volunteers receive t-shirts and have an opportunity to learn about the historic site they are helping to clean.
Volunteers are needed to sweep, rake and ready Fort Knox for its ongoing season May 1 through October 31. Helpers are asked to bring rakes, shovels, wheel barrels, leaf blowers, tarps and work gloves. Participants should plan on arriving at 10 AM and helping to noontime. For more information about Park Day at Fort Knox, please call 469-6553 or email FOFK1@aol.com.Individuals, who would like to help the Friends in their ongoing mission to preserve the Fort, learn about Fort history, Friends’ 2014 special events or hours of operation for the Penobscot Narrows Observatory are encouraged to visit their web site at fortknox.maineguide.com. Fort Knox is owned by the people of Maine, managed by the Friends of Fort Knox, and supervised by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.
