Two state parks that preserve Civil War battlefields will celebrate Park Day a little later than the American Battlefield Trust's nationwide cleanup campaign, which took place Saturday.
On that day, other battlefield parks welcomed volunteers for a day of trail work or maintenance. Jenkins Ferry Battleground State Park at Leola and Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Prairie Grove plan to do the same, but on their own schedules.
In south-central Arkansas at Leola, the Friends of Jenkins Ferry Battlefield will greet volunteers at 9 a.m. April 27. Organizer Jerrell Harper says the first 25 will receive a Park Day T-shirt, and the friends group will provide hot dogs, chips and water.
Volunteers will help clear brush and remove trash. The park will host a program titled "Bullets Not Ballots," which explores the 1864 Battle of Jenkins Ferry.
For more information, contact Harper at harperfamily@windstream.net or (870) 942-6087.
At Prairie Grove in Northwest Arkansas, history buffs, community leaders and preservationists will gather at the Borden entrance to the park at 9 a.m. May 4.
They will focus on restoring the Borden hillside landscape so it's as it was in December 1862.
Park Interpreter Matt Mulheran asks that volunteers sign up in advance by calling him at (479) 846-2990 or by emailing matt.mulheran@arkansas.gov.
The American Battlefield Trust is a national nonprofit land preservation organization devoted to the protection of America's battlegrounds of the Civil War, Revolutionary War and War of 1812.
Arkansas facilities that held Park Day are Arkansas Post National Memorial in Gillett, Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville, Historic Washington State Park in Washington, Jacksonport State Park in Newport and Poison Spring Battleground State Park in Chidester.
Style on 04/08/2019